Does intensive strength training for the season protect rugby players from contactless injury?
Each year, the Sydney University Football Club selects a group of players for its Elite Development Squad to prepare for the next season. For 2005, a team of 50 was selected that did not include any of the club's seven Wallabies, nor any players with Super 12 contracts. intensive training with six to seven weekly sessions of weights, skills, and fitness work regardless of whether they are full-time students or working full-time.
At the end of the season, the club's doctor, Katherine Rae, and physiotherapist Keiran Cleary released a medical report analyzing the injury experience of the club's eight teams. They highlighted, in particular, the members of the Elite Development Squad, noting that during the season "the EDS team suffered only two non-contact injuries, both muscle strains, which resulted in four 'matches lost only due to injury.'
More specifically, among the 36 players who completed the full EDS program, there was only one strain of the calf and one strain of the hamstring... They had no back pain or pain. in the hips, which resulted in a loss of playing time In contrast, for the club as a whole, there were 28 cases of low back pain, 27 hamstring injuries, 27 groin injuries, and 6 quadriceps razor.
Two contactless injuries in more than 1000 hours of playing time is an extremely low figure in itself and certainly compared to other club players who collect more than 80 similar injuries. The incidence of injuries for the whole club seems to be in line with that reported in various scientific studies, including those aimed at professional players.
Of course, it is not wise to give too much importance to the experience of one club in one season. However, the difference in injury rates between those in the EDS group and their peers is so large that it is highly unlikely that it can be attributed to ordinary chance. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate possible reasons for this very favorable outcome. I believe there were three relevant factors at work:
Duration and intensity of the training program
Off-season with around 90 uninterrupted training sessions creates an almost ideal opportunity for players to improve their health and basic condition for . And few professional players have such a large amount of time available. For example, full-time Australian players usually take part in at least two of the club’s three teams, provincial and international rugby, and therefore play most of the year.
The EDS team also had access to campus for physiotherapists, doctors, and nutritionists as well as regular dietary supplements. Therefore, even though the members of the team were not paid, they were trained in a very professional environment.
The focus is on health development
The health and fitness of the EDS program were structured and managed by Martin Harland, a sports scientist who had previously worked with the professional rugby league, Australian football, and basketball teams. Its rugby player programs place a high degree of emphasis on the development of basic strength and fitness for rugby. A distinctive feature of his approach is a focus on heavy lower bodywork through exercises such as squats, deadlifts, and cleansing.
Use the ScrumTruk
In addition to their free weight training, the group regularly used rugby-specific MyoQuip ScrumTruk as a key component of their leg health work. Certain unique features of this device may be relevant to injury protection. Although it works in principle the same muscle groups as the barbell squat, the fact that the resistance is in the horizontal as the vertical plane means that there is no adverse load on the lumbar spine. It is also more quadriceps specific than squat and effectively exercises the calf muscles.
But its main advantage in minimizing injuries may be the hamstrings. The ScrumTruk specifically works this muscle group as well as adjacent areas such as the glutes, quadriceps, and core stabilizers. But the main effect may relate to the frequently observed importance of the eccentric load in the development of hamstrings. rugby live stream
Both the barbell squat and the conventional leg press provide constant resistance. When performing these movements concentrically, the muscles involved are only under very partial load, as the hip and knee joints move to full extension. In contrast to the operation of the ScrumTruk, it provides increasing resistance in the movement of the exercise. As a result, the muscles follow logically that the more that muscles are being activated concentrically, the greater the eccentric load when the movement is reversed. Thus there is heavy eccentric loading on the hamstrings when they are near full extension.
The low injury incidence by Sydney University's elite training squad seems to suggest that other teams might benefit similarly by implementing a long and intensive off-season training program concentrating on the development of basic lower body strength through complex free weight movements and the use of the ScrumTruk. The potentially improved injury outcomes are added to the very substantial strength gains from such a program.
