What exercises get you in shape for rugby?

Question

I want to go out for my school intramural team but I've never played before. What can I do to get ready by spring?

Answer 1

Push-ups for sure!! Upper body is key, and you'll be doing soo many anyway. If you're slower/bigger/stronger then you'll be a forward and you'll want to work more on power/strength in your legs to drive in the scrum, and upper body to take down people!! If you're smaller/faster, then work on running, because you'll be doing a tonne of it!

Answer 2

Being at school I would expect you would have a certain degree of fitness. Jogging is always a good start, wind sprints, sit ups, push ups and definitely some ball work with friends  for variety.

Answer 3

General strength is good, but what's going to make you most successful is speed and maneuverability.  You'll want to work on running intervals (alternating sprinting and jogging) to simulate what you'll be doing on the pitch.  Leg strength will also be important, to help you drive through rucks and tackles, and to aid in scrums and line-outs if you're a forward.

Dan Luger's "Complete Conditioning For Rugby" is an excellent book to get advice from.

Answer 4

It depends what position you are wanting to go for, if it's in the forwards general jogging is a good idea because they do a lot of running around, however if you want to be a winger then you will have to be a rapid sprinter.

Answer 5

Blanksta is totally wrong. Upper body is not the biggest thing about rugby, Leg strength is. A close second is running speed and endurance. The strongest person in the world might not be able to make a tackle if they don't have technique. But also, don't totally ignore upper body, it does help.

What is a rugby game? Rucking, scrums, tackling, running, and line outs

Rucking relys on legs, scrums rely on legs, tackling is technique and line outs is leg strength if your jumping, and upper body strength if your lifting.