Rugby Combine

Last Friday I was in town before heading to SF for a Crossfit Football clinic and I did a "Combine" for rugby players.  It's a work in progress at the moment but I think we got some good results.

We ran through 7 tests: Vertical Leap, Broad Jump, 40yd dash, 5-10-5 shuttle, "L" shuttle, 60yd shuttle and a new "Work Capacity" test which was 1 minute of max reps burpee to KB snatch w/1.5 pood.

The first 6 tests are the same as you will see in the NFL combine.  I think some of them have merit for rugby players and some do not, a fast 40 time is great but even among football coaches it's efficacy in determining true "game" speed is questionable.  Athletes don't run in straight lines with nothing in their hands.  Having a good vertical leap is nice too but there really isn't a whole lot of solo jumping in rugby and even if you do, absolute height is more important than vertical leaping abilities.  I feel that the various shuttle runs do the best job at displaying athletic ability relative to the rugby athlete.  The other major difference between rugby players and football players is the time domain we work in.  Football plays virtually never last more than 15 or 20 seconds.  This requires a tremendous amount of repeatable explosive power.  A sequence in rugby can last for 3 to 4 minutes of sustained work.  For our test I went with 1 minute as the time domain to simulate something on the longer side of one player constantly working using a complex movement, the burpee/snatch. I think it's a pretty good start and we're going to keep messing with this thing until we get it right.

M5W1D5

Met-Con
7 rounds for time
7 Power Snatches 115lb
2 70m runs

M5W1D4

Heavy Day

Back Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Power Snatch 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Clean 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Push Jerk 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Clean Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

M5W1D3

Light Met-Con

20-14-8

95lb thruster

30m run (cones 15m apart, run out and back for 1 rep)

M5W1D2

Medium Day

Front Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/3)x4

Clean 60%/3, 70%/3, 75%/3, (80%/3)x2

Clean Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Bench Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Endurance: 

40m sprint on the minute for 15 min.  Stop early if you fail to maintain a true sprint.

M5W1D1

You should have tested new maxes last week.  We will be going to 5 workouts a week for the next 4 weeks.  I recommend going 3 on 1 off 2on 1 off.  this would look like Mon, tue, wed work, thur, rest fri, sat, work, sun rest.

Heavy Day - Remember to recalculate your percentages off your new 1RMs

Back Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Snatch 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Power Clean 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Snatch Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

M2W4D4

Heavy Lift/ 1RM Retest Day

Back Squat: Find New 1RM

Snatch: Find New 1RM

Power Clean: Find New 1RM

Press: Find New 1RM

Become a savage like Ma'a Nonu

Reminder!   We will be conducting a Rugby Combine Test this Friday at Toomey Field, UC Davis at 10am

M2W4D3

Medium Lift Day

Front Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/3)x4

Clean 60%/3, 70%/3, 75%/3, (80%/3)x2

Clean Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Bench Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Endurance:  Tempo

2K run

1st 400m 85%

2nd 400m 80%

3rd 400m 90%

4th 400m 80%

5th 400m 95%

If possible, try to get split times for every 400m.  Times should not necessarily be faster, percentages are based on perceived exertion, not actual speed increase although you may find that to be the case.

M2W4D2

Light Met-Con

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes:

Max Rep Pull Ups

Run 200 m

Max Rep. Push Ups

Run 200m

*Goal…total pull ups+push ups

Endurance:  Interval Day

1:3 Work to rest ratio

40 sec. max effort sprint

2min. rest

X8

M2W4D1

Heavy Lift Day

Back Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Power Snatch 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Power Clean 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Push Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Snatch Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Kelly Starrett's Mobility WOD

Listen up you bunch of inflexible, stiff jointed, injury prone messes!  Kelly Starrett A.K.A. K-Starr is a jjoint mobility rockstar.  Normally, he costs lots of money to go see or you can pay even more to go to one of his certs and in the end, you will move pain free and be a more flexible/better athlete.  Well, now, you can get some K-Starr for free.  He just launched a new blog where he gives out a bunch of free mobility exercises.  These are all really good to do, especially if you play a sport like rugby.  Check it out and incorporate what he says into your daily routine.  This stuff will keep you on point and in the game longer.

http://www.mobilitywod.blogspot.com/

Here's a taste. Go to the site, subscribe to it, do what he says.

M2W3D4

Medium Day

Back Squat 60%/4, 70%/3, (80%/3)x3

Muscle Snatch 60%/3, 70%/3, 75%/3, (80%/3)x2

Bench Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Pendlay Rows (85%/5)x3  Pendlay rows are similar to bent over rows except the weight should touch the ground between each rep)  For weight, use the same as you would for bench press.

Endurance:  Interval day

1:1 work to rest ratio, perform sequence 3 times

200m run

rest

400m

rest

800m

rest

M2W3D3

Light Met-Con

21-15-9
Dead Lift 100kg
Knee to Elbows (hang from pull up bar, touch knees to elbows)

Endurance: 5K tempo run.  Run first 1600m @75%  Run 2nd 1600m @90% run next 1200m @80% run final 600m at max effort.

M2W3D2

Heavy Day

Front Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Clean 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Snatch 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Rack Jerk 60%/3, 70%/3, (85%/3)x6

Clean Pull 95%/4, 105%/4

M2W3D1

Medium  Metcon Day

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps of:

Overhead Squat 60kg

Handstand Push Ups  -  If you can't do handstand push ups, scale this work out by either putting some rolled up towels/a pillow under your head or do an inverted push up with your knees on a box above your head.

Endurance:  Tabata Run  Increase speed 5% from last tabata run, incline remains the same.

M2W2D4

Back Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Power Snatch 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Clean 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Push Jerk 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Clean Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Endurance:  Swim, 20 min. for max distance, all out effort.

M2W2D3

Front Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/3)x4

Clean 60%/3, 70%/3, 75%/3, (80%/3)x2

Clean Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Bench Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Endurance: Set up cones or markers every 20m over a 100m field (goal line to goal line).  Every time you get to a cone, preform 2 burpees.  Work to rest ratio is 1:1 (rest same time as you work.

100m

rest

60m

rest

200m

rest

40m

rest

200m

rest

60m

rest

100m

rest

400m

rest

40m

rest

40m

rest

40m

rest

40m

M2W2D2

15, 9, 6 reps of:

DB Thrusters 50lb

KB Swings 2pood (72lbs)

Ring Pull Ups (chest to hands)

Endurance:

2k run @ 90%

M2W2D1

All lift percentages based off 1 rep max

Back Squat 60%/5, 70%/4, (80%/4)x4

Snatch 60%/5, 65%/4, 75%/4, (85%/4)x2

Power Clean 75%/4, (85%4)x2

Press 60%/5, 70%/5, (85%/5)x3

Snatch Pull 95%/3, 105%/3

Endurance:  20X 20 sec sprint followed by 20 sec rest.  Go for max distance.

Paleo Brands New Site Launches Today

The best internet food company in the known universe is Paleo Brands.  Granted, there isn't a whole lot of competition but on the whole they do a great job of offering super healthy, prepackaged food for the power/performance minded athlete in addition to general nutrition information.  Guys, I can't emphasize this enough, NUTRITION IS CRITICAL!!!  It can literally make or break your athletic career.  I'm not saying you guys need to go out and spend all your money on prepackaged cave man fodder but you do need to educate yourselves and you probably should reevaluate how you spend your food budget.  People always complain that they can't afford to eat healthy, that grass fed beef costs an extra buck or two at the market and yada, yada, yada.  I see those same people drop $50 a night at the bar three nights a week.  I promise you that if you spend one less night a week at the bar and instead invest that money into buying high quality, fresh, local foods you will see an improvement in your fitness.  This is not rocket science.  For those of you who are too lazy, incompetent or just not good with fire, try getting some pre-made paleo food from Paleo Brands.

M2W1D4

Warm Up:
Run 200m forward, 200m backward
10X OH Squat
        push ups
        Bulldog Pointers (Bulldog position - hands and knees.  Extend right hand/left leg and vice versa)
        Bulldog Fire hydrants (raise leg like peeing on fire hydrant)
        Bulldog Hip Circles (rotate bent leg 360)
        Bulldog Straight leg hip circles (same as before but with straight leg)
        Mountain Climbers (lay on belly, alternate bringing knees up to elbows)
 5X  Clapping push ups


Core training
25X Med Ball Crunch/extend
20X Partner Straight leg Throwdowns (lay on back with legs straight up in air.  Partner pushes lags to ground)
20X Bicycle crunches (ea. leg)
25X med ball side throw/catch (ea. side)


Lift: Press 8-8-8-8


Met-Con: 12 min AMRAP 3 Press (60% 1RM), 6 Pull ups, 9 Box Jumps (24")


Endurance: (note once again, endurance is always done with significant rest time before or after main workout)  1 mile tempo run, first 800m at 85%, second 800m at 95%

M2W1D3

Warm Up:
Run 100m, run 100m Backwards X 2
10 squats
10 lunges
10 back lunges
10 lateral lunges
10 high leg kicks
20m high knees (focus on fast touches, pump arms)
20m butt kicks (same focus)
10 push ups
hold planche for 1 min.
10 push ups
L.W.T.Y X 10 w/5lb plates/dumbbells


Lift: Spend 20 mins working up to a 1 rep max back squat


Met-Con: Death By Back Squat
Using 50% of the 1RM Back Squat you just established, perform 1 back squat on the minute, adding 1 rep every minute. i.e. time = 0sec-1min, 1 squat.  1:01-2:00 = 2 squats. 2:01-3:00 = 3 squats... etc until you are unable to complete the required number of reps in the minute.  If you fail before the 10th minute, continue on at what ever rep you failed at until 10 minutes is reached.

M2W1D2

One more note, at this point you should be moving to 4 work outs per week.

Warm Up: Your choice of about 2-3 mins of light aerobic activity.
Spend about 10-15 mins on dynamic warm up, make sure to cover hip and shoulder mobility as well as core areas.

Lift: Bench Press, 8-8-8-8

Met Con: 21-15-9 reps of 95lb bench press, Chest to bar chin ups

Endurance: 1:1 work to rest ratio, run 100m, rest, run 200m, rest, run 400m, rest repeat sequence three times straight through.

M2W1D1

Sorry for the delay in between workouts guys, Friday was my 30th birthday and things got a bit out of hand.  I am mostly recovered now and I'm pretty sure every thing can either be replaced or will grow back...

Anyways, we're now on to mesocycle 2 where we will be going a bit heavier with the weights and doing crossfit style metcons more often.

For the warm ups, use the old warm ups, mix and match what works for you but don't ignore any of the movements.  Try and incorporate the muscle groups you will be using in the work out into your warm up.

Lift: over the course of 15 minutes, work up to a 5 rep max dead lift.

Metcon:  On the minute for 15 minutes: 3 DL, 3 Hand Stand Push Ups.  For DL, use 80% of 5RM established earlier.

Endurance (to be done 3+ hours before or after rest of workout): Tabata run on treadmill, use 7 min mile pace and at least 10% grade.

Crossfit Football Clinic August 28th & 29th In San Francisco

Hey ruggers, if you're interested in taking your training to the next level in terms of fitness and nutrition, I would highly recommend you attend this clininc.  It is a two day event run by John Welbourn, creator of Crossfit Football and it contains everry thing you need to know about programming your workouts, lifting technique and guest nutrition lecturers.  It will also feature me, as a guest coach.  This is great for players but it potentially has the biggest impact for coaches so let all your old highschool or college coaches know about this.  The title is Crossfit Football but it definitely applies to Rugby.

Crossfit Football Clininc

What Would Chuck Norris Eat?

I get two basic questions via email over and over again; A) Are you interested in great deals on Viagra and Cialis! and B) What should I eat?  Well, the answer to A) is YES! and the answer to B) is a bit more complicated.  Every person is different both in body composition and in regards to what your fitness goals are.  For the majority of readers on this blog the answer is to become jacked and powerful so you can dominate on the rugby pitch and as Thomas Jefferson famously said "slam mad hoes".  Recently on John Welbourn's blog, "Talk to me Johnny", there was a great article titled "Just Tell Me What To Eat", in which Chuck Norris tells you what to eat and then roundhouse kicks you in the face.

"It seems that I needed some counseling, so I did what any intelligent individual would do, I contacted Chuck Norris for his views on nutrition. I asked for an accurate prescription for what I should be eating. Chuck responded and delivered the information via a mechanical winged messenger given as a gift by the Gods of Olympus..."

Read up and educate yourselves!

M1W3D3

Warm Up:
3 Mins. jump rope
10 squats
10 push ups
10 sit ups
10 pull ups
30 sec. samson stretch

10 squats

10 push ups

10 sit ups

10 pull ups

30 sec. samson stretch

Work Out today is from CFFB; "Lizzie"

12, 9, 6, 3 reps of:

Power Cleans 185 lbs ( scale down to 155 or 135 is necessary)
Ring Dips (use regular dips if necessary)

Record time, this  should be done as fast as possible.

Endurance:

60 yd. shuttle started every other minute X 10

60 yard shuttle - set up a cone at starting line, 5 yds, 10 yd and 15yds.  Sprint to 5 and back, 10 and back 15 and run straight through the finish.

For this drill you will run the shuttle 10 times starting ever 120 seconds.

Time yourselves, if your effort falls below 90% of your first time you incur a 5 burpee penalty for every slow shuttle run.

Finally, if you want to learn more about nutrition for the power athlete, check out the site "Talk To Me Johnny", it has lots of great info and quick replies if you post in the comments.

M1W3D2

Warm Up:
Run 100m
skip 100m
run 100m
skip 100m

10 walk outs to arches
10 cobras
10 mountain climbers
10 bird dogs (bull dog position, point left arm/right leg and switch)
10 Hip circles (from bulldog pos.)
10 squats
10 lunges
10 back wards lunges
10 lateral lunges
10X through ITWY
hold dead bug position for 2 mins

Core work
30 bicycles, full extension
25 v-ups w/25lb plate
30 berry pickers w/25lb plate
cycle through twice

3A Back Squat 10-10-10
3B Bench Press 10-10-10

4A Weighted step ups 5ea leg X 3 (hold 50lb dumbbells in each hand, step up to a 20-24" box)
4B Man Makers 5ea. side X 3 (hold 50lb dumbbells in hands in push up position, do push up then pull up one db to chest)

5A 1 min hand stand hold X 3
5B 1 min L sit hold X 3

Endurance:
It's pretty hot out there, lets do some swim intervals!
1:2 work to rest ratio 50m all out sprints X 10

Also, I'm doing a lot of work for Crossfit Football these days and we have some cool new features coming out that you should like including some rugby stuff and a new look website so be sure to check the site often and let me know what you think.

M1W3D1

Warm Up:
Bear Crawl 50m
Bear Crawl Backwards 50m
10 Planche Push Ups
10 Cobras (lay on stomach with arms stretched out to side. Arch back and go from thumbs down to thumbs up)
10 Mountain climbers (lay on stomach, touch knees to elbows)
Flip over onto back
3X30 sec. dead bugs.  First do same leg/arm, then alt. leg/arm and then both legs and arms
10 squats
10 scap pull ups
10 pull ups
30 sec. hand stand hold

Core Training:
Hold L-sit from hanging position. Use a stopwatch and hold until failure.  Rest 1:1 ratio, repeat 4 times

3A Romanian Dead Lift 8-8-8-8
3B Dumbbell Push Press 8-8-8-8

4A Weighted Reverse Lunges (barbell on shoulders, step backwards to knee and then back up) 10-10-10 (5 on ea. leg)
4B Weighted wide grip pull ups - grip should be 4-6" wider than shoulders.  3 sets, work up to max weight you can pull for 5 unbroken pull ups

5A Weighted Dips 5-5-5
5B I.T.W.Y.  3X10 for each w/5lb plate in each hand

Endurance:
1K time trial w/35lb sand bag or plate