Circuit training has many benefits, and can be made directly specific to the sport you are aiming to improve. I can design my circuit to concentrate on things which I feel I need to improve more than others.
I will start my training programme with two sessions per week. One will be at school and the other at home. The one at school will involve aerobic fitness, and some weight training. It will be circuit training. At home I will do weight training.
Circuit training has many benefits, and can be made directly specific to the sport you are aiming to improve. I can design my circuit to concentrate on things which I feel I need to improve more than others.
As my fitness improves I can increase the difficulty of the circuit by increasing the:
- number of stations
- time spent at each station
- number of repetitions at each station
- number of complete circuits
My circuit: will consist of 8 stations: In week 1 I will do each of the following stations for 40 seconds.
Shuttle Runs: Running without rest at 85-90% of my maximum between a 15-20metre space. This will improve my endurance, which is vital in rugby.
Press-ups: Back and legs are straight, and buttocks are in line with both. Lower arms until chin is almost touching the ground, then push up again.
This will improve my upper body strength.
Step-ups: Stand in front of a bench, Keeping a quick speed simply stand up on to it, put one foot after another; then step back down again. This will improve my endurance, and strength in my gastrocnemius (calfs). (Needed for line out jumping)
Bicep Curls: Making sure your back is straight and that you completely extend your arms. Curl a pair of dumbbells to your shoulders and then lower arms to the side. Will improve my biceps.
Squat Jumps: Crouch down on your feet. Then spring up as high as you can. Keep doing this at a quick speed. This activity will be particularly useful to me because I need to be able to jump high and quickly in the line-outs in rugby.
Overhead Press: Grip bar with weight on. Put the bar behind neck, then press the bar overhead. This works the deltoids and trapezius particularly well. Which are important in tackling and scrumming.
Burpees: Similar to squat jumps except start in a sprinters position, then jump up your knees and do a squat jump. Useful for line-out jumping.
Tricep Dips: Put arms behind back, rest on bench then dip.
It is important to have exercises which concentrate on the same muscle groups not next to each other. It allows muscles to recover and disperse of the lactic acid build up. It also avoids a strain or pull.
At home I will use my weights bench to do the bench press and Inclined bench press(works pectorals harder). I will also do bicep curls, press ups, and sit ups. I aim to improve my upper body strength which is done by doing heavy weights for lower repetitions.
Upper body strength, is needed practically every part of rugby. I.e. tackling, rucking and scrum. It also gives you a greater impact when you make contact with an opposition player while running with the ball.
I will now plan my training sessions:
WEEK 1
I will start week1 with two training sessions. I will have the sessions on days where I will not be playing rugby in order to avoid fatigue.
TUESDAY:(weight training)2x 10reps of bench pressing 65lb’s
2x10reps of inclined bench pressing 65lb’s
2x1min of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
FRIDAY: (circuit training) 40 secs for each station, 2 full circuits, with 30 second rests in between stations.
Evaluation: Weight training felt fine although I found the inclined bench press much harder than the normal bench press, so I will keep the number of reps to 10 rather than increase to 20- as I will do with the regular bench-press. circuit training I found was a bit short so I will add Squat jumps and Sit ups, and increase the time spent at each station.
WEEK 2
I will increase the number of training session to 3 for this week
TUESDAY: (Weight training)2x 15reps of bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 10reps of inclined bench pressing 70lb’s
2x1min of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
FRIDAY: (circuit training) 40 secs for each station, 3 full circuits, two extra stations.
SUNDAY: (weight training)2x 15reps of bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 15reps of inclined bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 1min of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
Evaluation: Good week training, although I struggled with the inclined bench press, which suggests my pectoral muscles are not as strong as my shoulders and triceps. Next week I will lower the number of reps for the inclined bench press.
WEEK 3
I will increase the number of training sessions to 4 this week. With one of the sessions this week being continuous training.
TUESDAY: (Weight training)2x 20reps of bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 15reps of inclined bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 1.5mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
THURSDAY: continuous training.10 minute run.
FRIDAY: (circuit training) 50 secs for each station, 3 full circuits.
SUNDAY: (weight training)2x20reps of bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 10reps of inclined bench pressing 70lb’s
2x 1.5mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
Evaluation: weight training felt ok . I again finished my circuit training a little early, therefore I will increase to 4 circuits next week. I did a 10 minute run in my area on Thursday, which I have found very tiring.
WEEK 4
TUESDAY: (Weight training)2x 20reps of bench pressing 75lb’s
2x 15reps of inclined bench pressing 75lb’s
2x 2mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
THURSDAY: continuous training.10 minute run.
FRIDAY: (circuit training) 50 secs for each station, 4 full circuits.
SUNDAY: (weight training)2x20reps of bench pressing 75lb’s
2x 15reps of inclined bench pressing 75lb’s
2x 2mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
Evaluation: I missed Thursdays training session due to a strained ankle picked up in Rugby on Wednesday. I found Fridays circuit training hard, although I believe I have improved a great deal, as I am feeling as tired as I was in week 1s circuit training and my circuit is now twice as long as it was then.
WEEK 5
In my final week, I will increase to 5 training sessions, and try to reach one of my goals of bench pressing 80lbs for ten reps. I will also attempt to do 5 full circuits in my circuit training session.
TUESDAY: (Weight training)2x 20reps of bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 20reps of inclined bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 2mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
2x 20 press-ups
THURSDAY: continuous training.10 minute run.
FRIDAY: (circuit training) 40secs for each station, 5 full circuits.
SATURDAY: (weight training)2x 20reps of bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 20reps of inclined bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 2mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
20 press-ups
SUNDAY: (weight training)2x 20reps of bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 20reps of inclined bench pressing 80lb’s
2x 2mins of bicep curls, 15lb’s on each arm.
2x 20 press-ups
Evaluation: I was only able to do an upper body work out in Fridays circuit training. This was due to a groin injury sustained in rugby practice two days earlier. Therefore, I went to the gym to use the weight machines. The exercises I did were upright rowing, bicep curls, bench press, and pull ups.
Overall Evaluation
Overall , the training programme was a success. I achieved my primary aim of being able to bench press 80lb’s and I think I have improved my line–out jumping, although I will need to play in more Rugby matches to find out if this is true.
My training programme started slowly, as it was more of learning curve in the first week or so. My circuit was too short in the first week, but in the following weeks I managed to set it to the right level for me. Due to the circuit training I have done I feel that my aerobic fitness has improved somewhat, and that I have improved the strength in my legs i.e. my hamstrings, quadriceps, calfs (gastrocnemius). My upper body strength has improved, as I am now able to bench -press 80lb’s - something that I struggled to do before I started the training programme.
If I were to give my training programme a mark out of 10 I would give it:
8/10.
