Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Today is my daughter’s birthday and she is 3 years old! It changed my life to be a parent and helped put a lot of things in perspective. One of the biggest things that I learned is that sometimes life gets in the way of training and that is OK! I no longer structure my schedule around my workouts, but around my family. If on occasion I miss a day of training c’est la vie. That is life and I need to get on with it. If you can learn this lesson earlier in life than I did, you can become mentally stronger and more adaptable to all the challenges life throws at you.

Following on with the week of active recovery. The lift and conditioning will be part of the same workout. This gives a break, shortens up your time in the gym and gives you the chance to go out and enjoy the offseason,

Workout:
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 12 deadlifts, 9 hang cleans and 6 push press. The weight should be no heavier than 115lbs, for most a bar will be plenty. This is a brutal little workout and takes a lot of focus to maintain your form, which impacts your efficieny of movement.

Stretches:
Calves, hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, lower back, shoulders and neck.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

This week use Tuesday and Thursday as active recovery days. This would be a long bike ride, swim, row or run. Something that takes 20-30 minutes. My preference would be something that you can keep a constant pace for the whole period. I would probably do a 5k row or run. This allows you to find a rhythm and just switch off.

This will be a nice change of pace and allow you to hit the the agility and speed work of the off season with gusto. Take your breaks, the off season is going to be hard.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Congrats to BYU on winning the USA Collegiate Championship. An amazing effort and a game worth watching on replay if you have ESPN 3. This week is a deload with a few circuits for active recovery. If you are still in-season then these workouts allow you to stay fresh and fighting, if you are at the end of the season take the time that you need off.

Lift/Conditioning:
Follow the matrix work, rest and play. For each minute you will complete 20 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest and 20 seconds of play. The work is a shuttle run to a 35m cone and back, if you complete the run under 20 seconds then you get some extra rest. The play is one of the 12 exercises listed below. Complete the circuit then rest 3-4 minutes before completing it again. If you want to get after it do it 3-4 times.
1. Pushups
2. Situps
3. Air squats
4. BB bent row
5. Plank
6. Jumping lunges
7. BB push press
8. V-ups
9. BB front squat
10. BB hang clean
11. Situp twists
12. Burpees

Stretches:
Calves, Achilles, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, glutes, lower back, chest and shoulders.

Saturday,May 19, 2012

If this is an off week it is time to get after it. It this was an offseason week, it is time to test yourself.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
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Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Conditioning:
Complete rounds of 20 KB Swings, 2 burpees, 18 KB Swings, 4 burpees, 16 KB Swings, 6 burpees …. 4 KB Swings, 18 burpees, 2 KB Swings, 20 burpees. This is a brutal workout because it requires your mind to push the body to work when you are tired. Are you capable? Without a doubt, but can you will need to go to the uncomfortable place for a long time.

Lift:
1. BB Walking Lunges. 4 (sets) x 10 (reps) each leg. Focus on keeping your torso upright over the top of your hips. This is a hard movement to do, so start the first set light and add weight cautiously.
2. BB Shoulder Press. 4 x 6. Keep your core locked and drive from your belly button to your arms. This core to extremity movement is the same as tackling or lineout lifting or passing a rugby ball. The movement starts in your core and you take that power to your limbs.

Stretches:
Calves, achilles, hip flexors, lower back, shoulders.

Friday, May 18, 2012

A team is a dynamic entity and everyone within the team brings their own personality traits and life story. This creates conflict within the team. The question is whether this conflict is good or bad for the team?

Let’s start by defining conflict as different approaches and ideas to rugby. Basically, conflict is the fact that everyone wants to play rugby differently. This may be a different game plan, different technical skills or a different mental attitude. From this very broad definition it is easy to see why there is conflict within a rugby team…everyone has a different opinion.

Now what is good conflict? Good conflict occurs when differences of opinion are discussed. Sometimes compromises are made, sometimes it is an either or choice and sometimes it is best to agree to disagree. In all situations the team grows from these discussions. The different perspectives help the team’s personality develop and often the best way to play develops out of conflict. A good example of this occurred when I was coaching at Stanford. The head coach wanted to teach rugby through playing different games and I wanted to teach the game by developing technical skills before playing rugby. In the end, we developed a coaching structure that combined both. We would use games to teach a specific technical skill and then grow the game. This conflict created a positive solution.

Bad conflict is unspoken and unresolved conflict. The whispers in the locker room, or the disagreement of players with the coaches on selection or game plans. Depending on the source of the conflict, the best way to deal with it is head on. Take the time to go to the parties involved and discuss the conflict. Every situation will be different but if you don’t deal with it, it will become a cancer to the team.

So is conflict bad? Absolutely not. Conflict can help the team grow and develop, but unresolved conflict can destroy a team. The decision to take action lies with the players and coaches.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
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Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Speed:
1. 8 x 40m sprints with 2 minutes rest between reps. 2 sprints from a 3-point start, 2 from a standing start, 2 from a falling start, and 2 from a lying start. Focus on staying relaxed, keeping your elbows at 90 degrees and driving your arms from your shoulders. If your elbows are at 90 degrees then you will be able to drive your hand from your cheek (face) to your cheek (butt).

Ball Skills:
1. Finger taps at arms length. 60 seconds. Move the ball around and focus on keeping the ball on the pads of the fingers.
2. Shazams. 1 handed passing facing your partner/wall. Start with your hand underneath the ball with the ball touching your belly button. Drive with your forearms before finishing the pass by flicking your wrists. The object is to develop wrist strength. Complete 20-30 each hand.
Sideways Shazams. Turn side-on to your partner or the wall and complete as above. Complete 20-30 each hand.
3. Pop Passes. Face your partner and practice using on your wrists to flick a pass to your partner. Complete 20-30 facing your partner then practice while running 5m apart and then 7m apart.

Stretches:
Calves, hamstrings, quads and lower back.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

This is the first lift back after the weekend for those in the play-offs. It is time to get some good work in the gym but at the same time realizing this is to keep you ready to play. Don’t push too hard, if necessary modifying the rep scheme to allow you to complete the movements. For example switching a 5 x 5 to a 10 x 2 or something similar.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Lift:
1. Back Squat. 4 (sets) x 12 (reps). This one should be a low bar back squat to ensure you are engaging your hips, hamstrings and quads in the movement. Keep your core tight and send your hips back and down. Remember, unlike the front squat and the high bar back squat, your torso will pivot forward. The key is to ensure this happens from the hips and the spine stays locked.
2. Push Jerk. 5 x 3. This should be heavy and needs to force you to rebend your knees to catch the bar in the overhead position. The key is to think about pushing yourself under the bar instead of pushing the bar into air.
3. Bent Row. 5 x 5. This movement requires personal discipline. The goal is to bend 65-75 degrees from the waist and row the bar into the bottom of your sternum. To stay strict is difficult because you will want to use your legs to assist you. Use a weight that you feel you could do for 8 and this should prevent you from needing to use your legs too much.

Conditioning:
Complete 3 x 800m fast runs and rest 4 minutes between reps. The goal is to go out hard in the first 200m, find a pace in the middle 400m and then maintain your speed at the end. This is a difficult distance but because you can’t sprint this distance it will stop you from over stressing the body.

Stretches:
Calves, achilles, hips, hip flexors, hamstrings, quads, lower back, upper back.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Agility:
1. Ladder Work: 4-6 reps of each skill, if you don’t have a ladder grab a bunch of full water bottles and use them as cones spaced 18-24 inches apart. Single Foot Skips, Double Foot Skips, Single Foot Run, Double Foot Run, Bunny Jumps, Right Foot Hops, Left Foot Hops, Half Icky Shuffle, Full Icky Shuffle
2. 5-10-5: Complete 6 repetitions (3 going right first and 3 going left first). Recover for 1-2 minutes between reps and give it everything you have.
3. T-Drill: Complete 4 repetitions (2 right and 2 left). Recover about 1 minute between reps. Focus on short steps around the cones and driving out of the turns with low hips.

Ball Skills:
1. Tactile Pressure shuttle: Set up 10m shuttle and run while tapping the ball in your hand above your head. Complete 6 reps on each hand with 10 pushup penalty for every drop ball.
2. Ball Toss: Throw the ball into the air using a perfect spiral. Complete tosses for 1 minute using your dominant hand and 1 minute using your non-dominant hand.
3. Scrumhalf passes: Practice approaching the ball on the ground and picking it up and passing in the same motion.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Congrats to all the teams that participated in the USA Rugby Men’s Playoffs. The geography of the country creates a unique playoff structure and many have battled twice in less than 40 hours. If this was you, take today off! At most go for a swim or a long walk. For everyone else, it’s time to do work.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Lift:
1. Thrusters. 5 (sets) x 3 (reps). The weight should be very challenging today. Take the weight from the ground and clean it to your shoulders. Keep your shoulders shrugged during the front squat to keep the bar prepped and ready. Attempt not to jerk the weight by re-dipping under the bar to finish the lockout.
2. Deadlifts. 5 x 8. High volume and the weight should be heavy (85%). You will need to keep your core locked and take your breath at the start of each lift and while in the upright position.
3. DB Incline Bench Press. 3 x 12. The object is a little hypertrophy work. After completing the 3 sets, finish with max rep pushups.

Conditioning:
Complete 5 rounds of 10 Thrusters @ 50% of your heaviest set of 3, 10 Pullups and 100m run.

Stretches:
Calves, forearms, chest, back, lower back and hips.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

If this is your off week or you are in the off-season, today is the day to get after it.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
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Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Lift:
1. Power Clean. 7 (sets) x 2 (reps). Go as heavy as you can, but don’t go to some weird form where you spilt your feet out to the side. The key is the be patient until the bar goes past your knees then drive explosively with your legs. This will get the bar moving then it is about having having fast elbows to catch the bar on your shoulders. Rest at least 3-5 minutes between sets.
2. Back Squat. 5 x 3. This back squat should be an increase on last week, if you are in-season do all 5 sets at the same weight about 75-80% of 1RM. If you are out of season, then look to increase the weight every set and look to set a new personal record for a 5RM
3. Behind the Neck Push Press. 3 x 8. Look to keep your core tight and your body upright over your hips. Use your legs to drive the bar off your shoulders and then punch through the roof to a full lockout overhead.

Conditioning:
Complete three rounds of 800m run, 20 power cleans @ 65% of your heaviest set and 20 lunges total (10 each leg). The goal is to keep moving. The power cleans will be difficult and you may need to break them up; just focus on minimizing the rest time.

Stretches:
Calves, quads, hamstrings, hips, lower back, shoulders and upper back.