Fitness Testings

[balderz10]

Hi Ashley,

Great site and very very interesting reading your articles etc. I was wondering whether you could give some detail and the protocols for some of the fitness testings you have carried out over the past?

Also, I spent some time working with Bath RFC during their pre season period of last year with head kiwi conditioner Paul Bunce and he was a big fan of using EDT training and admitted experiencing great results. What is your take on this type of training?

Kind regards

[ashley]

Hi there Escalating Density Training seems to be a very good protocol, but when I read and see new training protocols I am often reminded of what Louie Simmons says, “everything works, but nothing works forever” so by all means give it a go and hopefully you will get good results, but make sure you give it full 100% of your efforts to find out if it is
really good or not, there are no magic programs, if you do not work then the program no matter whose it is will be considered a failure, as to testing I really do not do a lot of testing, when I get the guys back I
do a 2.4km (1.5 mile) run for time and then compute VO2max from this time, I do a speed test over 10m and 30m for backs and 10m and 20m for forwards, I have done the Phosphate Decrement in the past which I still
believe to be one of the best tests 10 x 40metres going every 30 seconds and looking at the decrement between the fatsest and slowest time, we do not strength test at all as we go down to doubles regularly so we know
where players are at, so that is really all we do, cheers, ashley

[tomwill]

Hi Ash,
Can you let me know how you work out v02max from the 2.4km times please?

Many thanks in advance!
Tom

[ashley]

There are many sites on the www to enter the raw time into and you will
get the approximated VO2max from,

http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/OneAndHalf.html

I have a very old chart from ages ago which has these calculated and I
am sorry to say it is only on hard copy, cheers, ash

[judah]

Ash,
could you please give me your testing chart for 1500m, and speed test for both forwards and backs? did you do it with their position? prop to full back? much appreciate if I have an example of your chart to work it with my team,,, sorry and what are the level of the super 14 and the all black?

[ashley]

Hey Judah, my 2,400 metre time trial conversion are just on hard copy, I
have yet to get someone to convert it to a spreadsheet format, my speed
test is just 10 and 20 metres for forwards and 10/40 for backs, I am
starting to play with the Cheetah Speed probe device which will measure
metre by metre times and give me a profile almost step by step so that
should be interesting to play with, my best 2,400m time trial was 8:43
with all but a few under 10:00 hope the below information is of
assistance:

Players Time
Week 1: 110% of VO2max – 15 x 170 metres in 40 secs and rest 20 secs

Week 2: 125% – 20 x 140 metres in 30 secs and rest 30 secs

Week 3: 140% – 25 x 110 metres in 20 secs and rest 40 secs

Based on the following:

10:20 time = 49.5 ml/kg

So 110% =54.45 ml/kg
9:30
570 secs
4.21 m/sec
170 m

And 125% = 61.875 ml/kg
8:30
510 secs
4.71 m/sec
140 m

And 140% = 69.3 ml/kg
7:30
450 secs
5.33 m/sec
110 m

[judah]

Ash,
domo arigato gozaimasu!!

[Author]

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