Help me with some rugby sport specific exercises that are fun to do with average clients.
Ball and passing is what you will be limited to if you want to work with everyone.
For Back position workouts, you can do running. Pretty much any ladder or competition exercise is good. A basic distance + a sprint at the end is best.
For Forwards, lifting would be the best bet, but you’d be limited to shoulder, leg and core.
If you wanted to get some fun in and had a few healthy clients, teaching people how to do lineouts is fun. If you have two strong and about the same height, they can lift another person in the air to catch a ball.
Marlan has already given you some great ideas. Don’t forget about passing drills. I often do ball & passing drills with clients to change things up. They love it! They get to practice coordination, partner work and concentration. Because they have to focus on catching or passing the ball, they often forget that they’re working out (I use a weighted ball for additional upper body strengthening!) and the time they’re with me passes quickly. They can’t think about work, family or their to do list, so it gives them an additional stress break. Plus, everyone will have lots of laughs as they try not to drop the ball. (Dropped balls in my sessions cost clients push-ups or sit-ups….I do them too if I drop the ball!)
I heard about this success! Go South Africa!
Sizwe,
In my opinion, rugby is one of those sports where it’s just plain fun to practice! However, not many clients are well-suited to rugby. It takes a special person to be able to play the game.
I’m going to let you know up front that I’m not making any assumptions about what you mean by “average” clients. Instead, I’m going to suggest some “average” exercises that would be sport specific to rugby, and you can adjust the intensity (speed in this instance) if you decide to use some of them =). Fair enough?
Rugby players rely heavily on power, speed, and endurance. Since your clients are probably not athletes, I would suggest doing some agility drills. Agility drills are easy enough to teach, and when you get the proper momentum going they can be really fun and challenging at the same time! A lot of laughs to be had by the trainer and client if they’re doing these together!
I’ve got this link for you because I believe in it! This guy is good, and even he messes up a lot. Even though I think his upper body position and arm movement need improvement through some of these drills, he demonstrates a lot of common agility drills very well. Agility drills can be done with a cheap rope ladder, there’s no limit to the configurations. There are about 30 different ones on this video link. This video is meant for basketball, but any competitive sport could benefit from agility training. If you decide to use these with your clients, just be sure to watch them and be ready to catch them if they fall. I suggest having them follow you on the ladder at a slow, safe pace until they feel comfortable. Agility drills can be challenging, but if you’re looking for fun, nothing beats these agility drills with a rope ladder, in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhPN7B9bisU
I hope this helps you out Sizwe!