Rugby fitness drills to build body weight

Before your players are physically ready to start weight training programmes, there are plenty of rugby drills players can do to improve skills, get stronger and develop the techniques they will need later.

Body weight training drills are simple, adaptable, cheap and can be performed anywhere. Drills involving press ups and abdominal crunches are well used but often performed with poor technique and so lose effectiveness. Introduce the following exercises and follow these tips to mix things up.

Down and ups: Players start from standing and have to lie down with their chest touching the ground. From the prone position
they have to get back up to a full standing position and then repeat the exercise. These rugby drills develop all-round strength and power and a vertical jump can be added at the end to develop extra leg power.

Jump squats: Players perform a squat with good technique and jump vertically as high as they can from the bottom position of the squat. They must land on both feet, regain their balance and repeat. Players should aim to do sets of between five and ten repetitions. These rugby drills work all the muscles in the legs and develop power throughout.