Muscle in rugby

We all know rugby is a very physical sport. The confrontational nature of the game and the emphasis on contact makes it such. But do we have the right emphasis on muscle building, or is it having a detrimental effect?

Go back 30 even 20 years and rugby players' physiques were completely different. OK, the game wasn't professional so players were not able to train as much, but even so, weight lifting was just not part of the game.

As time has gone by, initially influenced by bodybuilding, rugby players have realised they can enhance their physical presence and strength and become more effective players by lifting weights. We have seen a complete transformation in the body type of players, and most people who play rugby nowadays go to the gym.

The size, strength and power gained by players by weight lifting has created a more confrontational, dynamic game, with bigger collisions and new skills created from physicality. This is all fine, and games can be more exiting with the increasingly larger than life players providing great spectacles.

The question I pose is are we are getting the balance right in terms of weight lifting? Yes, it can create a great spectacle, but at the same time, there are down sides to players becoming bigger and stronger.

Rugby is a skilful game, and silky half-backs and fast wingers can turn the heads of even non rugby fans. Put on too much muscle, add more of an emphasis on becoming a physical presence, and these skills can become secondary. Less skilful players can get further in the game as they can negate natural talent and skill with work ethic in the gym.

Some players are having careers ended and even more are sustaining long-term injuries, which asks the question, can our bodies cope with these new(ish) demands? It is not just the damage inflicted by players who have become physical specimens, but the old saying "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" also comes into play.

To sprint, to sidestep, to tackle all put stress on our bodies. Take for example stepping off your right foot. Momentum and the sudden explosive change of direction means your whole body weight is shifted from your central core through your body into the ligaments, tendons and joints of your right knee and ankle. For a player of 115kg this is some force, and although the muscles are big and the strength is sufficient to provide the step, these tendons, ligaments and joints are being put under immense strain.

Players have become more "athletic" but in the literal sense of the word rugby players are not athletes. A 100 metre sprinter runs in a straight line. Add in all the stresses of a rugby match and a sprinter's highly tuned, low body fat physique wouldn't cope.

I am not for a second saying we need to stop lifting weights, but how far do we need to take it, or how far can we take it before it becomes a problem? There is much more to professional rugby training than lifting weights, and I am sure most teams do have a balance, and the extra muscle is compensated for in other injury preventative activities.

The extreme example of a sport which takes this type of physical training to the next level is American Football. However the two sports are very different and American Football is played in bursts. Players exert themselves for a maximum of 30 seconds at a time, and then have minutes to recover. Rugby player usually play non-stop for 80 minutes. However, even with this stop/start style of play, the physiques and force going through these players' bodies has created a culture in American Football of cortisone and painkiller injections which in the long term are extremely dangerous.

We are hopefully nowhere near this in our sport, but it is concerning when you hear of a player having to be "jagged" (local anaesthetic) in order to play a game. As I said weight lifting definitely has a place in modern day rugby, and I hope the balance stays in check.

In a following article I will at the different lifting techniques and what they do, how useful they are, but also the potential problems they may cause.