How to teach my team to train

Hey y'all. Most of my training logs have been going to my rugby team's new facebook group where people post their workouts. So far, it's obvious that few know what they are doing, and even the ones that do don't really have a plan, program, or goals. This also translates to coaching sometimes, where practices or drills aren't exactly designed with specific athletic objectives, other than 'fitness'. One example: sprints are never done with anything approaching full rest, so we never train speed, but 'sprint endurance'.

Anyway, I want to find some good articles to post about having goals for training, programming, workout structure, etc, to get the discussion going. Normally I cite Practical Programming or similar but no one will read that. Any favorite blog posts or articles the group would recommend?

Dee 2/2,3

Wed - indoor practice:
omg sprints.

Thurs - Sheiko 37 wk 8:
Bench: 1x5@65lbs, 1x4@75, 2x3@90, 2x3@100, 3x2@105
Deadlift: 1x4@135lbs, 1x4@150, 1x4@180, 2x3@210, 2x3@240, 3x2@255
Bench: 1x5@70lbs, 1x5@85, 2x4@95

Rene said bench looked fresh. I hope this bodes well for wednesday.
Deadlift doubles had nice first reps, ugly seconds, but locked out everything.
Missed last two bench sets as the gym closed.
One more light workout tomorrow then test day.

Deirdre: 4/5-6

Monday:

On this new program designed for rugby players, loosely based on westside. This is the second week of a 3-week cycle, but I missed the upper day last week due to shifting practice times.

Power cleans:
~35kgx4, 40x6, 45x5, 50x4, 55x1x3
Last was supposed to be 55x3, but after the first rep I would fail, so it ended up being 3 singles instead.

Weighted jump squats:
45lbsx6, 95x2x8 (8 sets of 2)
Minimal rest between sets, 45-60seconds

Back Squat:
135x5, 145x4, 155x3
About 1-2 minutes rest. Felt good, my quads were definitely tired at the end of this.

Good mornings:
45x5, 95x5
My lower back was too trashed to hold these.

Makeshift hamstring curl/glute-ham raise:
(30lb counter weight)x8x3
Meh.

Back hyperextensions:
3x20, hold to fail, hold to fail +10lbs

&Superset with&

Abs:
raised leg crunches, bicycle, v-ups, +10lbs


Tuesday - Practice:

Indian run, 3 laps around the pitch.
Passing drills for ~15mins
Running through plays with multiple phases for ~45mins
Practiced back row plays with scrum
Unopposed phase play, ~20mins.
X-drill interval sprint training x 5 laps.

I felt my hamstrings cramping up during the x-drill. Need to do more sprint training on my own when legs are not already tired, will try to fit that in before my upper training, which is tonight.

Deirdre: heavy skwatting

So Nathan says I'm doing this meet. If I actually want a chance at matching my competition weights from August, I need to train heavy now. Bench is in good shape, I'm not worried about that, but squat and deadlift have been light this off-season. To warm up for a test day on Saturday, I did some heavy triples/doubles.

Warmup: Walking 15-20mins

Back squat: 45x5, 95x5, 115x5, 135x3, 155x3, 175x1+fail, 185xfail, 135x4x4

On the 175 fail, I pretty much gave up too early, that should have been a go.
On the 185 fail, I made it out of the hole and got stuck less than halfway up.
While not the best ever, failing within 10lbs of my competition 1RM on a day where I hadn't prepared well and a time where I haven't been training above 155 in months, is not bad.

Hyperextensions: bwx10, bw+25x10, bw+45x6, bw+45x8, bw+45x10x2?

+45 is finally challenging. I felt this in my upper hamstrings all weekend.

Abs: (Vups+10x10, bicycle crunches +10 x20) x 4


PL aside, I need to start thinking about rugby season. I found some better agility/speed drills for my cardio days, and if I have time closer to the season I may do a circuit training day once a week. We'll see.

Dee - Last few days

Monday 10/5:

Warmup: 12 minutes elliptical.

P. Snatch: 55x4+4 overhead squats, 75x5-6?x3
P.Clean: 95x4, 105x4x4
Concentrated on whipping elbows around for a solid rack, and getting the hyperextension without stomping.

Hip thrusts: 95x6?

Back squat: 45x8. 95x6?, 115x4, 135x4x3

Decline crunches w/ sandbag: 20lbs + bw x 10x3

Saturday 10/3:

North Shore vs Middlesex - 10-0

Wettest game I ever played. Scrumhalf'd, passes sucked because of rain, made some decent tackles and yelled my head off. I want to be a flanker.

Friday 10/1:

• P.Clean into Front Squat: 85x4x4

Went light so as not to be sore or stiff for gameday.

• DB press: 30sx8x3

&&

• Glut ham raise: BWx10x3

• Sandbag slams: 40?x10x3

Thursday 10/1 - missed practice

Wednesday - 9/30

Warmup: ~20 mins elliptical

Hang P.snatch: 55x5x3?

P. Clean: 50kilosx4x4?

Tuesday 9/29: practice.

Scrumhalf drills, ran through plays, set pieces, backrow plays.

9/26, 9/28

9/26: North Shore @ Springfield: 42 - 0

Drove 2 hours to springfield. We dominated. Had an amazing play in the second half where our flyhalf kicked, I chased, girl on other team tried to grab the ball and I flattened her. Some other chick tried to pick it up, and I got up and flattened her too, then two girls supporting me picked up the ball and scored. Nice.

B-side game I played scrumhalf, and had some of my best passing as scrumhalf so far. Got a few picks off the scrum and made one nice try off that. Won bside ~20-0.

9/28 - TPS

Warmup: 15 mins fast elliptical.
I wanted to go longer on this because it was feeling good, but then one of the trainers started teaching about how to flip tires, so I stopped.

Tire flipping: 350x2, x7x2, 450x2xFAIL

This was awesome. Will do more. Legs were too tired to flip the 450, but will get it eventually.

Back squat: 45x6, 95x5, 115x5?, 135x4, 155x3x5
These felt good, not too easy but not too hard. Yay.

Bench: 65x6, 85x5?, 95x5x3
I ended up using the monolift bar by accident, which was a bit unwieldy. I'm finally getting used to and utilizing the leg drive, so all of these were solid and fast.

Hanging side crunches: 3/side
Decline rotating crunches: 20+BWx10x3

Rugby and Stuff

Hai d00ds. Sorry I disappeared for a while, moving and busy work kept me from wasting time on the internet.

Here's some stuff I did in the last few days.

▼ 1. 9/8/09 - Tuesday - Practice

I think I arrived late. I've been very sluggish and 'meh' about getting to practice.

▼ 1. 9/9/09 - Wednesday - Lifting

Got my teeth drilled immediately before this, so I was lifting with a numb mouth and kept biting my tongue. Special.

I'm now on the USARugby in-season lifting program, so there is less PL stuff, higher reps, more Oly, some jumping things. I'm changing things around to fit in more cool stuff like the prowler, the glut-ham raise, and making time for deads, bench, and back squat.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These may have been hang snatches.

• P.Clean: 95x4,105x4x3

These were heavier than I normally do, but went fine, I just took a little more time to set up between reps.

Not doing jerk for a while, because it's not a priority and slows me down.

• Front Squat: 105x4x4

These were murder on my hamstrings, I'm still slightly feeling it 5 days later. Oof.

Concentrated on keeping a good tight arch, knees out, and trying to use the rebound

• Alternating Incline DB press: 30x6x4

It's been a while since I did these, so I started comparatively light. My right shoulder was hurting a lot, but as long as I hit the full range of motion, it was ok.

&&

• Single leg RDL : 45x8eax4

oof. Right leg really tight, some sort of shin splints.

• Single arm seated cable row: 20x10eax4

These felt good, I could feel it in my back the next day.

&&

• Pitcher squats: 40+bwx6eax3

oof. Definitely need to work on these.

▼ 1. 9/10/09 - Thursday - Practice

Backs plays looked very good at the beginning. Practiced 6-in offensive plays where the weak wing inserts between the flyhalf and inside center. Pretty cool. Got stuck at mandatory bar night until 11pm. Not happy.

▼ 1. 9/11/09 - Friday - Lifting

Slightly limited on time because we were going to the Sam Adams octoberfest. Which was excellent, btw.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These were hang snatches. I think.

• P.Clean into Front Squat: 95x4x4

Lighter than wednesday because this is supposed to be a lighter lift before gameday. And my hams were still killing me.

• DB flies: 15sx8x3

Flies usually hurt my shoulder, so I went very light and slow.

&&

• Glut ham raise: BWx10x3

Initially set such that my hamstrings were mudered. Reset so the rest were slightly better.

• Sandbag slams: 45?x10x3

This was fun. Definitely worked me hard.

• DB rotational row: 20x8ea, 25x8eax3

I think I did these right. Reminded me of a turkish-get-up sort of movement, with good trunk rotation and shoulder extension.

• Foam roller: hamstrings, glutes, back.

▼ 1. 9/13/09 - Sunday - Charles River @ North Shore: 7 -20

Solidly beat our big rivals. First league game of the season. Turned into a brutally hot day, even the fittest of us were suffering.

We scored the first try, which probably was a big factor in giving us the confidence to push hard. I started as wing, got a few touches but didn't get to do much with them, I never had the space to run. Went to FLANKER when morgan went out. This was awesome. I was at every ruck and driving hard, helped us win a lot of ball, it was exhausting but really fun and satisfying. Then went to scrumhalf when katie went out, made some good tackles on their hesitating flyhalf, made some good plays, had a decent run that resulted in a try. Was wrecked by the end, but then we had a bside game. Played scrum for bside, but was really just done and not having as much fun with that one.

Contemplating leaving North Shore for Boston Women at the end of this season. The commute is killing me, all the social activities are several towns away and I have no car to get there. I don't want my love of the sport to be dampened by all the other bullshit I have to deal with to just play it, and that seems to be what's happening currently.

Rugby - Sheiko - Rugby

8/11/09 - Tuesday - Rugby

Arrived late yet again. Stupid bus.

• Sprints starting from the ground with some sets of 10 pushups thrown in: 6?

These were good because we had enough rest on the ground to actually sprint at near 100%.

• Tackling the bags (i think?)

• Rucking! 10 ft run up, hitting one person, driving for a count of 10. 4 stations, about 15ft apart. Run through all 4 then rest: x5-6?

These were great, haven't practiced just hitting and driving for a while. This is where the PL training serves me well, I was lower than almost everyone and actually driving hard and fast for the full count. Legs tired by the end, but felt great.

• Rucking against two people bound, 2 stations: x5-6

Same idea. I got an 'ow!' out of morgan on one. I chalk that up to a combination of hitting power and bony shoulders going into her butt.

• Running plays with backs: ~30mins

Full gallop. switched between wing and fullback. Looking pretty damn good actually. I'm definitely better conditioned for actual running play than say suicides.

• 6v6 full tackle: ~20mins

• X-drill - with a square area, jog the straightaways, sprint the diagonals: x6

This was the biggest damn box we've ever run this drill in ever. Definitely hard.

• Static stretching

8/12/09 - Wed - Sheiko

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x2x5 (80)

• DB bench: 20x10x4

• Deadlift: 135x3, 160x3, 185x3x2, 200x2x5 (75)

My hips were really tight and bothering me on these, likely due to falling on them during rugby. Started popping on the 185, then right one hurting on 200's. This made me try to lift completely with my quads/lower legs instead of using hip drive, thus hard and sucky lifts. Sucked it up and did it right on the last one, which wasn't comfortable, but because it was faster didn't hurt as bad as I expected.

• Good mornings: 45x10x2

Fuck good mornings.

8/13/09 - Thursday - Rugby

Arrived on time!

• Jogging: 10mins

• Dynamic Stretching: ~10mins

• Running lines of 4 with some looping and defenders: 25mins continuously

Brutal. So gassed by the end. We just kept going and going and going.

• Decision-making passing 3v2: 15mins

• Tackling the bags: x~5

• Tackling 2 bags one after the other: ~3times

• Lateral tackling of bodies: ~20mins

Not bad, only missed one with morgan running full out. She earlier tackled me such that I landed hard on my grumpy hip. Oof. I also banged tammy's head up a bit. oops.

• Mauling against pads: 20mins

• 6v6 full tackle: ~20mins

• Sprints down and back to 20m starting from the ground alternating with partner: 8

Considering how gassed I was at the beginning of practice, these felt good and !gassed.

• Static stretching

Talked with Coach Karen a bit about the merits of suicides/exhaustive sprinting. She noted that one school of thought for rugby training is to almost over-train during practice, so that in actual games, it is that much easier.

Deirdre: 8/3-8/6

8/3/09 - Sheiko

• Squat: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3x2, 135x3x2, 155x2x4 (80)

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x3x5 (80)

• Dumbell bench: 20x10x5

• Squat: 105x3, 125x3x2, 145x3x4 (75)

8/4/09 - Rugby

Back to the hot and humid and bug-riddled GEAA field. Luckily we had the whole field this night, instead of being relegated to our little corner by the softball peoples. First practice wrecked me, but I usually adapt back to conditioning pretty fast.

• Warmup: 2 laps, dynamic stretching.

• 'Beep' test. Confirmed I should have done more cardio this summer.

• Quick pass in a circle drill

• Conditioning: 8 stations, 30secs/station, 10secs rest in between: squat jumps, hurdles, lunges, serpentine sprint, burpees (YAY BURPEES), situps, pushups, lateral hurdles.

Originally was supposed to be 60 secs i think, but that was impossible. I like this a lot, it totally destroys the fast twitch fibers and builds endurance for fast changing activity.

• Tackling the bags

Oy, my neck.

  • Wrestling

Forgot about this. My partner and I seemed evenly matched. Turned out later that I separated her shoulder at some point. Oops.

• 6x6 full tackle: 15-20 minutes

I made a few tries.

• Conditioning: groups of 4 running suicides in pairs, 1 with 2, 1 with 3, 1 with 4, then 2 with 3, 2 with 4, etc. I was 2 and 4 in our group of 3.

We were short so I chose to be two people to punish myself. Hard push through the final sprint at the end.

• Static Stretching

8/5/09 - Sheiko

After feeling destroyed from the first practice the night before, I actually woke up feeling fine today and none of this was a problem.

• Deadlift to knees: 135x3x3, 160x2x2, 175x2x2, 185x1x3 (70)

• Bench: 45x5, 65x3, 75x3, 85x3x2, 100x3x2, 105x2x3 (85)

Was feeling off balance during some of these, so towards the end I tightened everything up (esp. my 'bad' shoulder) and really braced against the bench, which seemed to help. I think I'm learning.

• Dumbell bench: 20x10x5

• Deadlift: 135x3, 160x3, 185x3 185x3, 215x3x5 (80)

Tended to focus more on squeezing the bar off the ground as opposed to jerking it, which I sometimes tend to do. Thus I concentrated less on a tight, straight back, and rounded a little during my last set, but nothing very significant.

• Foam roll back, hips. Stretch.

8/6/09 - Rugby

My bus was 20 minutes late so I missed proper warmups.

• Passing drills: step over and place, pop pass, stomach punch, something else.

• Pop pass from the ground drill, for several minutes.

• Conditioning: 6 stations, 30secs/station, 10secs rest in between: hurdles, jump split lunges, serpentine sprint, burpees (YAY BURPEES), situps, lateral hurdles. X2

Felt easier than the first time. Done twice, with a few minutes between cycles. I did v-ups for crunches the second cycle, and we ended with burpees on that one, which were terrible-looking because I couldn't jump anymore.

• Tackling the bags (with squishy balls in our hands to force wrapping instead of grabbing)

• Spin passing

• 4x4 full tackle: 15-20 minutes

I made a few tries, good tackles at the beginning, began to get too high towards the end as I got tired. Getting better at just attacking, rather than waiting to catch the ball carrier.

• Conditioning: pairs running suicides alternating, placing and picking the ball: 15-20 mins?

I ran with some girls slower than me, so instead of suicides they were more like brisk jogs.

• Static Stretching