Some of the best athletes in the world have pretty average physiques.
I like the motorsport analogy:
When building an elite athlete, you're building the car AND the driver.
The car = your physical capacities (speed, strength, power, size)
The driver = technical skill, tactical awareness, game IQ
You could be absolutely shredded*
But if you can't drive â it's pretty pointless.
*Being shredded doesnât mean youâll be fast, strong, and fit. But letâs be generous for the example.
Building contact power isnât as simple as squats and deadlifts.
Itâs not even a power exercises like cleans or weighted jumps.
Thereâs no magic exercise.
Itâs not the simple.
But research shows a strong link between momentum and collision power.
Momentum = your bodyweight x your speed.
(Usually measured over 10m)
Plus, 110kg loaded sprint time over 5-10m has been shown to predict collision dominance in international rugby.
Makes sense to me.
But you also need to use that momentum â the skill and body positions â in real situations.
Thereâs no secret exercise.
But if I could only pick 7, Iâd pick these.
People are waking up to the power of zerchers
You should use Zerchers because theyâre excellent for:
⢠Grooving squat mechanicsâ¨â˘ Building the upper back and trapsâ¨â˘ Reinforcing strong trunk bracingâ¨â˘ Being easier to learn than front squatsâ¨â˘ Requiring less mobility than front squatsâ¨â˘ Being friendlier on the wrists and shouldersâ¨â˘ Opening up the hipsâ¨â˘ Look badass
But donât use Zerchers just because they âlook like the sport.â
The 6 upper-body exercises I use most
with contact athletes:
1. Push press / jerk
2. Heavy bench variation
3. Chest-supported row
4. Heavy chin-up
5. Smith machine bench throws
6. Manual-resistance neck
Not very fancy.
Very effective.
The best exercises have the highest risk of injury
* Sprints tear hamstrings
* Plyometrics blow out knees
* Deadlifts hurt backs
* Dips stress shoulders
The secret isnât avoiding, itâs dosing.
Stress drives adaptation.
How does an elite rugby player actually train?
Got to chat with Ireland and British & Irish Lions front rower Andrew Porter to find out.
We talked box squats vs deep squats, neck training, speed work for big men, and off-feet conditioning.
This one's packed with gems.
https://t.co/T7DQKgQbH4
How does an elite rugby players actually train?
Got to chat with Ireland and British & Irish Lions front rower Andrew Porter to find out.
We talked box squats vs deep squats, neck training, speed work for big men, and off-feet conditioning.
This one's packed with gems:
https://t.co/iKqfFeJGE0
Most athletes donât sprint enough.
And sprinting does more than just make you faster.
It can improve collision dominance too.
Because dominant collisions come down to 3 things:
Size â mass moves mass
Speed â size is useless if you canât accelerate it
Technique â body position and timing let you use both. No point having a Ferrari if you canât drive it.
Itâs simple physics.
Momentum = mass x velocity
Momentum score has been linked to collision wins in elite rugby (Cunningham et al., 2018)
And even career success in D1 American Football (Mann et al., 2022)
Obviously, thereâs nuanced details here.
But almost every contact should be doing a weekly sprint session.
A good start point is 150m per session,
broken up like this:
Weeks 1â2: 10m hill sprints
Weeks 2â4: 10â20m hill + flat sprints
Weeks 5â7: 20â30m flat sprints
Weeks 8â9: 30â40m sprints with smooth acceleration
Rest 30s per 10m sprinted
Sprint at 80â95% effort â smooth is fast
A better hamstring exercise than Nordics?
Nordics are great.
This version is particularly awesome with the overloaded eccentric.
However, like any exercise, theyâre not without limitations.
They donât train the biceps femoris long head at long muscle lengths.
And they can be impractical to load for bigger or weaker athletes.
If you constantly strain your hamstring, you might want to sprinkle in seated (2-1) hamstring curls.
Shout out to @niksotosek for the insane hamstring strength and his coach @curlycoach_ad
Play games > rigid conditioning programs
Well structured conditioning programs are awesomeâŚ
If you actually stick to them
and give them your full energy
But most athletes donât need it
Because they wont stick to it
Picking up another sport in your off season (tag rugby, tennis, football, padel â it doesnât matter) can be one of the best ways to build general conditioning without knowing it.
Plus get heaps of speed, agility, and real âathletic trainingâ
The âbig 9â for athletes
Skips, sprints, jumps, throws.
Push, pull, squat, hinge.
Your big rocks.
Sure, thereâs other valuable exercises:
- Heavy calf raises
- Rotation
- Neck work etc
But these are secondary.
The art of training isnât fancy exercises.
Itâs smart application of basic tools.
Never drift from them.
Via @ChicagoBears
Neck Strength Doesnât Prevent Concussions
I got this wrong⌠hereâs why.
I used to think neck training reduced concussion risk.
Now I think its effect is small, if it exists at all.
Back in the early 2020âs there was a study flooding instagram:
âFor every pound of neck strength, odds of concussion is reduced by 5%â (Collins et al., 2014)
Coaches and athletes were well intentioned in sharing it.
Logically it makes sense â
a stronger neck will resist head motion
Which reduces the risk of brain injury.
Turns out, no.
And Iâm still ashamed of my lack of vigor before sharing this study.
Hereâs my current view:
Neck research started on cats⌠(1940-1970)
The protocol was pretty fucked up.
They strapped cats heads down
And shot them with a bolt gunâŚ
They found if that cats head was in a fixed position
They didnât get concussed
(although a lot diedâŚ)
Therefore, researchers assumed that if you can increase your neck strength
You can resist head motion during impact (i.e. neck stiffness)
And, therefore, reduce concussion risk
Thereâs one huge problem
Peak brain strain occurs ~15ms after head impact (Viano et al., 2007)
Itâs instantaneous.
As soon as youâre hit, youâre concussed.
But, your neck only starts contacting 80ms after impact
i.e. by the time your neck contracts, the damage is already done, meaning strength isnât that valuable
Where neck strength may help is:
In situations where we know the impact is coming and we have the time to brace for it
However, youâd probably move your neck out the way⌠đ
So for now, isolated neck strength training has little to no effect on concussions (Ivanic et al., 2024)
However, please, donât bin neck training.
A stronger neck can help reduce neck pain and neck injuries, both of which are common in contact and combat sports. In some cases, it may also reduce headaches.
It may also help reduce head acceleration in controlled situations when the impact is anticipated.
How to Build âPowerâ
Most people think that increasing your power makes you:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â smash tackles
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â sprint faster
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â dominate collisions
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â jump higher
Thatâs not accurate. Â
In fact, chasing power (force x velocity) shouldnât be the end goal
If you want to move yourself faster, jump higher, or hit someone harder -
You need to change or express your own momentum (mass x velocity)
Power doesnât change momentum. Impulse does.
Thereâs two ways to increase impulse
(force x time)
You produce more force
And/or
2. You do it over a longer period of time
But usually in sport - you canât extend the time.
You need to produce force rapidly to hit someone hard, sprint fast, or dominate a collision.
Thatâs why I believe most contact athletes should focus on getting strong and sprinting. It will not only improve your force production, but your ability to apply it within the specific time period of the sport.
Yet, context is king. It does depends what your current strength and weakness are (see my last few posts). But for most contact athletes, I think this is a pretty useful ranking of power exercises.
Pet peeve is when people say dumb shit about always needing to âcontroll the eccentric" BRO.
Probably preaching to the choir, but eccentric strength already exceeds concentric strength by 20-50%. Fast eccentric contractions increase the rate of force development and, because force equals mass times accelerationa faster, intentional descent can actually create higher peak braking forces than a slow one..
Size matters butâŚ
Speed kills.
Speed is one of the most important qualities in rugby -
being a sport of evasion and collisions.
But most people only focus on the collision part.
Speed isn't just genetic. It can be built.
As a rule of thumb. You should be doing at least:
- 150m of skips per week (ankling, A-skips, straight-leg skips)
- 3 sets of heavy calf raises at least once per week (build ankle stiffness)
- 20-40 max effort ballistic jumps
- 30-50 hops and bounds per week
- 150m+ of sprinting at least once per week
But, most importantly, play.
Game speed beats gym speed every time.
Donât just spend more time playing rugby. Play tag rugby. Tag rugby. Football. Tennis. American Football. Whatever. Particularly from a young age.
A broad base of sports will build agility, âgame speedâ, elasticity, and game IQ more than any gym session.
If you put your kid in this âtrainingâ at 7yo it is nothing more than a fancy daycare
At 7-14yo your kid doesnât need training or to specialize in a sport. They need to be a kid.
Play multiple sports. Play pickup sports with their friends outside. Not every waking moment needs to be scheduled for kids.
If you disagree with me then go listen to all the pro athletes who say the same thing
Tantrums.
â¨Decent exercise. Not amazing.
Theyâre useful for two main reasons:
1. They teach the hamstrings to contract and relax quickly
2. They build high-speed eccentric rate of force development in positions that somewhat resemble sprinting
The study I mentioned was Tsaklis (2015).
Itâs worth noting that higher EMG activity does not automatically mean an exercise is more effective.
That study used the prone version of hamstring tantrums.
If I were going to program them, Iâd usually choose the seated version, as it trains the hamstrings at longer muscle lengths, in a position that looks more like late swing in sprinting.
That said, I rarely use them outside of hamstring rehab.
For most athletes, a solid sprint programme will give you most of the stimulus you need.
Credit to @alaga.eli and @ninnick for the clips.
Most contact athletes are missing these 6 exercises
Are you?
6. Heavy Calf Work
5. Sled or Hill Sprints
4. Neck Extension + Flexion
3. Off-feet Conditioning
2. Hops and Bounds
1. Flying Sprints