This home isolation has gone on for a while now, and I’m sure all rugby players are itching to get back out onto the rugby field.
I’ve had a lot of rugby players ask me what they should be doing at home to ensure that they are not behind the eight ball when the footy season does kick off again.
Here are my 4 tips that every good rugby player should be doing at home whilst Covid19 dominates our lives.
1. WHAT IS YOUR WEAKNESS?
I’ve never come across a rugby player that doesn’t have a weakness, so this one is definitely for everyone.
The easiest thing to work on at home is your muscle imbalances and movement restriction as these two things form the basis of the majority of rugby skills.
When I talk about muscles imbalances, I’m talking about what I talked about in my last blog (Click here to check it out) ensuring that opposite muscles are off equal strength and power.
Not only can you focus on muscle imbalances, but you can also focus on rugby skills imbalances. For example, passing to the right maybe stronger than passing from the left. Use this time to practise passing from the left.
When it comes to movement restrictions, flexibility plays a major role. If a muscle is tight, you will not be able to produce maximum power. Use this time at home to stretch all the major muscles in your body.
Once you improve your muscle imbalances and movement restrictions, your speed, strength, power and everything else will improve. Your game will improve!
2. IMPROVE YOUR RUGBY IQ
Make use of YouTube. There are many rugby games (both past and present) that you can watch in the comfort of your own home.
Use this time to study those games, taking special notice of those players in your position to study how they play the game. Then work on those skills that you are missing from your game.
One of my favourite games to watch is 2015 Rugby World Cup when Japan stunned the world against South Africa. It was a real David versus Goliath story with 2 lessons to learn. The first lesson is to play to your strengths. The Japanese players were small in stature so played running rugby instead of a physical game but the biggest lesson to learn is that anyone can win as long as you have belief which is what the Japanese had WATCH THE GAME HERE
3. FUEL FOR ENERGY, STRENGTH & POWER
Lounge to fridge, to bed, to lounge, to pantry. Being stuck at home can make it easy to eat more than you normally would. I can testify to that!
There will come a time (hopefully, very soon!) when we will be back on the rugby field. If you’ve been working on your speed and rugby skills at home, don’t let all that hard work go to waste by not fuelling you body with the right foods.
Food provides us with energy, strength and power enabling us to train and perform on the field. Without sufficient energy, strength and power, it is like driving a car on empty. You’re not going to get very far. Even if you’ve been a little relaxed with your eating, start today with better nutrition – as they say, “we are what we eat!”.
4. SPEED MECHANICS – HOW ARE YOURS?
It wouldn’t be right for me not to include speed mechanics in my tips.
The beauty about improving your speed is that you don’t need equipment, and when you work on your speed, not only are you becoming a faster rugby player but you’re also becoming stronger and more powerful.
Want to make a massive difference to your game? Then make sure you are working on your acceleration. You can do this from home.
Concentrate on exploding out of the blocks as this will allow you to break through tackles, beat defenders and catch defenders. All you need to do is accelerate over 5m.
If you want help with this, then you can check out my proven online speed programs that can be done at home with minimal or no equipment.
Every exercise, drill, sets and reps are mapped up for you, so you don’t need to guess.
It contains everything that will make a rugby player from 9 years old to 40 years old, faster, stronger and more powerful.
Check it all out below