Im 17 and play rugby, i have been training for 9months cardio&gym work making little progress can anyone help?

Question

Hi, i have played county leval rugby at 16,17,18. Im currently 17, 6.1 (ft) I have been training for over 9 months both cardio (3/4 hours per week) and muscle work (3/4 hours in gym), however i seem to be making verry little progress (putting on a small amount of muscle, and hardly altering my rugby specific fitness). Could any one offer any advise of any sort? Training programmes/nutritional info/balance between sleep and training etc. Mant thanks.

Answer 1

if you are already in good shape then you are only going to make incremental advances as you continue to train. you are not going to make some major breakthrough.  you arent suddenly going to find a new level.

dont give up. as long as you continue to work you will do alright on the field. if you arent happy with your progress, then i suggest  you change you your training a little. start doing some cross training; swim, play basketball, run at the beach, do plyometrics, run stairs, play frisbee soccer, do manual labour instead of lifting weights, kayaking etc etc etc.

you might have hit some sort of mental plateau. you can get over that rut by challenging your muscles in different ways.

also, you want to vary your workouts. when you lift weights, vary the speed at which you lift. you want to train both your fast twitch and slow twitch muscles.  dont just lift weights. doing reps over and over and over again.

try lifting your max for one extended contraction

example;  load up the bench press to your max, lift, but instead of bringing it down, you hold it up but not with your arms locked. just hold it up there with your arms slightly bent, hold for about 8 seconds then put it down. you are still training your muscles, but you are doing something they are not used to. you should be able to lift more than your max doing this.

anyway, keep the faith. and remember, at some point, your muscles and fitness dont count for p**p. your ability to  play smart rugby will. so  try doing some some more complex and intricate things when you are tired. force your mind to stay sharp even when you are tired.