Programme Justification

Training Frequency:

As the athlete has been classified in the advanced training status category, there is a set allowance of 4-7 sessions per week (Baechle & Earle, 2008). The athlete has been given 4 sessions a week as it has been shown to give significant hypertrophy gains over 1, 2 or 3 sessions (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004; Wernbom, Augustsson & Thomeé, 2007). Also Gamble (2004) specified within the off-season of rugby union, players should not be training more than 4 times a week with minimal technical training.

Exercise Selection:

Core Exercises:

Core exercises comprise of one or more muscle groups (Baechle & Earle, 2008). These exercises are followed in the training session (Kramer & Ratamess, 2004), by assistance exercises which use smaller muscle areas (Baechle & Earle, 2008). Lower body core exercises have been used to target the lower body and have been seen to producer hypertrophy adaptations when associated with the correct amounts of sets, reps and rest (Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Gamble, 2004). Along with the upper body core exercises performed on a separate day, these exercises have been used in Rugby specific hypertrophy phase of training (Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Gamble, 2004).

Assistance Exercises:

Lower body assistance exercises are being performed to cause hypertrophy in the targeted muscles. The exercises have been used in rugby specific hypertrophy phase of training, with modifications to suit the athletes training level (Bompa & Claro, 2009; Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Gamble, 2004). Upper body sessions are performed in a push alternated order (Baechle & Earle, 2008). All the exercises have been used in rugby specific hypertrophy phase of training (Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Gamble, 2004).

Prehabilitation Exercises:

Rotary cuff exercises were selected as the shoulder is the main point of contact in tackles and ruck cleans (Gamble, 2004). Strengthening the rotator muscles aids shoulder joint injury prevention (Gamble, 2004). As the athlete has a history of ankle sprains, a strength training protocol has been proven to increase strength and joint position sense (Docherty, Moore & Arnold, 1998). Wobble board training has been shown to improve discrete ankle inversion movements, causing greater accuracy of inversion movements in preparation to ground contact, resulting in fewer incidences of ankle sprains (Waddington, Seward, Wrigley, Lacey & Adams, 2000).

Flexibility Exercises:

Utilising the specific adaptation to imposed demand (SAID) principle, dynamic flexibility exercises are beneficial as they mimic sport specific movements (Mann & Jones, 1999) and increase power output (Yamaguchi & Ishii, 2005). The sets and reps for the dynamic flexibility exercises are in-line with the ACSM guidelines (Kovacs & Forbord, 2010; Pollock et al., 1997).  Pilate’s flexibility exercises (PFE) were incorporated into the training as the athlete is prone to deviating from the training programme due to boredom and it has been shown to increase flexibility (Segal, Hein & Basford, 2004). The PFE incorporates variation into the training programme, but also allows for the progression of advanced PFE.

Core Stability Exercises:

Core stability is crucial in rugby as a strong core stabilises the trunk, which helps maintain upright posture when changing direction (Gamble, 2004).  A strong core will also help with transfer of force to the ground during collisions and protect the spine from potentially injurious forces (Brumitt, 2005; Gamble, 2004). An isometric hold is performed during some core stability exercises as Danneels, Vanderstraeten and Cambier (2001) found increased hypertrophy of the lumbar multifidus muscles when a 5-second isometric hold was performed between the concentric and eccentric phase.

Exercise Order:

This programme has been split into an upper- and lower-body work-out so that a high volume can be maintained (Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004) without increasing the session length (Baechle & Earle, 2008). Within the split routine, the large muscle group exercise will be completed first, due to the high strain on the body (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004). The multi-joint exercises will be completed before the single-joint exercises and opposite exercises will be rotated (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004). All strength training will be completed in a circuit like manner to mimic the demands of a rugby match (Gamble, 2004).

Training Load, Repetitions and Volume:

In order to elicit hypertrophy, 3 sets will be completed within a range of 70-85% 1 rep max (RM) will be used for all weight training (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004). The volume load for the weight resistance exercise was calculated for each session using “repetitions x set” to discover the volume load is 1080 (Corcoran & Bird, 2009). Wernbom et al. (2007) has found that training with 3 sets of 10-12 reps at 70% of 1RM increases hypertrophy over 7 sets of 1-3 reps at 90-100% of 1RM. Within rugby union literature, 3 sets of 10 reps at 75% of 1RM have been used to elicit hypertrophy responses throughout training programmes (Corcoran & Bird, 2009; Gamble, 2004).

Rest & Unloading weeks:

In-between sets there will be a rest period of 60-90 seconds (Baechle & Earle, 2008). It has been shown that less than 1 minute rest will stress the ATP-PC energy system (Kraemer & Ratamess, 2004), but will allow enough time for it to recover before the next set. A suitable rest period between sets will minimise muscle damage and muscle fibres fatigue, so hypertrophy will continue (Wernbom et al., 2007). There will be an unloading week every 4^th week, so that fatigue can be managed throughout the training, allowing supercompensation to occur (Wernbom et al., 2007).

Periodisation & Peaking:

Periodisation is used for the athlete to peak at a specific point in time, by the adaptation, arrangement and combination of exercise training.  The variables that can be changed are: exercise selection, duration, total training volume and training intensity (Chadd, 2010). The athlete will peak at the beginning of the season, autumn internationals, 6 Nations internationals and premiership semi-final/final, as stated in the annual periodised training programme. This allows for the athlete to achieve highest performance in the most demanding games (Pyne, Mujika & Reilly, 2009).