In-season vs Off-season

We are winding down the playing season for the year as the off-season fast approaches. For me, this was always the best time of the year as I probably liked fitness training more than actually playing rugby. Without any games, it is also much more likely you will be injury free.

The off-season is really the chance to transform your rugby fitness and jump up a level. There is only so much impact, or level you can get to with your current fitness abilities. Therefore, this is the perfect time to make that change. The great thing is that it does not take a massive amount of input to get huge results if you do the following –

–Work on Your Weaknesses – Rugby is as good as your weakest link, luckily as it is probably lagging behind other areas it does not actually take that much time up. For example, I have said for a long time hardly anyone does actual, genuine sprint training or plyometrics. This means you can get great results on just one short session a week. Likewise, if you do not do any strength training, just a few sets a week for a couple of months will get you going.

Another common one is mobility. Most players wait until something hurts, then try and fix it. If you spend just 10 minutes a few times a week on your hips, hamstrings or shoulders, you can massively reduce injury risk and actually improve performance. The same applies to aerobic fitness. If you have never done any structured running, then even two steady runs a week will move the needle very quickly. You do not need to suddenly train like a professional, you just need to do a bit more than you are currently doing in the areas you have been ignoring.

–Follow the performance Hierarchy pyramid – You could order rugby conditioning needs as the following:

Size
Skill
Strength
Speed & Agility
Aerobic Fitness

There is no way around it, rugby is an aerobic sport. What separates it from other big people sports is just how fit rugby players are. This is why few American footballers ever switch over to rugby if they cannot make it into the hyper competitive NFL. If you have a good engine you will be all over the field and cause havoc. The off season is the time to develop this.

You may be surprised to see size at the top of the pyramid, and thus the least important area to work on this off season. While size really does help, the amount of size you can gain in 3 months is not huge if you keep your body fat levels the same. Size helps, but this is a multi-year project. Immediate and transformative fitness gains can happen in the other areas much more quickly this summer.

I think people forget about how small yet successful many of the world’s top rugby players are. Antoine Dupont is around 85kg and widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Faf de Klerk is even lighter and dominates games physically way beyond what his size would suggest. Then in the back row you have players like Hamish Watson, who is not particularly big for an international flanker but is one of the most effective around due to his engine, positioning and work rate. These examples show how conditioning and skill can outweigh raw physical size.

What Does This Mean For You

You do not need a perfect plan this off season. You just need to stop doing random bits and actually train with some intent. Pick one or two weak areas and put some focus into them for the next 8 to 12 weeks. If you do that properly, you will come back next season noticeably better.

Most players just keep ticking along, doing the same sessions, the same runs, the same gym work and then wonder why nothing really changes. The off season is where the change happens. Use it properly and you give yourself a completely different starting point next year. Waste it and you are just repeating the same season again.

Photo – Some of the better known smaller players and the performance hierarchy pyramid –

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