Mon 1 Feb 2010
Getting your programme on the right track
The key to a successful conditioning programme is thinking about your role on the field, and preparing your body for the specific tasks you have to perform.
For example, if you’re a winger it won’t be much use if you only do long-distance running in your training, because this won’t help you develop the speed you need in your position.
If you’re a coach, you should begin by developing a profile of each player. Identify what aspects they need to focus on, as well as any other things that may impact on their conditioning, eg health issues, and other sports/training commitments they have (you don’t want to under-train, but you don’t want to over-train, either).
Of course, you shouldn’t jump into hard-out training straight away. Instead, follow the principles of ‘progressive overload’, and increase the frequency, duration and intensity of training gradually.
It also helps to be aware of the principle of ‘active rest’. This refers to activity that works one function of the body but not another. An example is light jogging, which keeps the heart pumping and legs working (the ‘active’ factor) but reduces upper body involvement (the ‘rest’ factor).
By incorporating active rest into your conditioning programme, you can keep training hard without overtaxing yourself.
What should a conditioning programme consist of?
An effective conditioning programme should help you improve your strength, speed, power, flexibility, endurance and proprioception (body awareness). Here’s how you can achieve this.
Strength
The best way to improve strength is through resistance training, using body weight, free weights, machine weights or resistance bands. When doing strength-building exercises, remember that balance is important. Muscles don’t work in isolation, so don’t focus on one muscle group at the expense of all others.
Speed
Interval training is a proven way to enhance speed. This involves short bursts of speed, integrated into less strenuous activity. To achieve the best results, run for short distances at a speed much higher than your normal strong running pace.
Power
Power – the ability to play with explosive force – is essentially a combination of strength and speed, so the above exercises will help you increase your power on the field.
Flexibility
Flexibility can boost your performance on the field, by enabling your body to perform a greater range of movements.
Regular stretching and exercises such as yoga and pilates are all good for flexibility. Pilates is also a useful way to improve your core stability, which can enhance your performance and help you avoid injury.
Endurance
Endurance is the ability to keep performing an aerobic or anaerobic exercise for a relatively long period of time. The best way to build endurance is to do the hard yards, by exercising at the desired threshold for prolonged periods.
Proprioception
Proprioception is another word for body awareness – that is, the ability to know where your different body parts are in space and in relation to each other. If you have good body awareness on the field, you’ll be less likely to trip, fall or land in an awkward position.
Exercises that challenge balance, especially those that involve removing a key sense such as sight, are especially good for enhancing proprioception.
For actual demonstrations of all these techniques, visit www.rugbysmart.co.nz