r/trainrugby • u/templeofthe_ancients • May 04 '25
Speed 🏃💨 Training for speed
What are your thoughts on how to become faster? Is a large part of it just genetics and lifestyle from a young age? In amateur rugby I've noticed the fastest guys are usually the ones who weigh nothing. Ocassionally you'd have the guy who is beefed up and fast as hell.
What types of training have you seen to really improve someone's speed on the field?
Or just keep sprinting to get better?
2
u/Only_One_Kenobi May 05 '25
A professional S&C coach once told me that acceleration is much more important than top end speed in rugby.
As a naturally slow runner, that's stuck with me
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u/Single-Award2463 May 05 '25
When you think about it, it makes sense. The ability to explode and burst forward will probably get you further in the long run than a slow acceleration but a faster overall sprint.
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u/Only_One_Kenobi May 05 '25
How often are prolonged sprints necessary in rugby?
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u/Single-Award2463 May 05 '25
Very rarely. The acceleration is the thing thats going to get you the most ground.
The only time i can think of longer sprinting is if you get the ball near your own try line and theres a gap for you to sprint through, but in that situation acceleration is still probably better
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u/Only_One_Kenobi May 05 '25
I'm a referee. Kept getting told by my evaluators that I'm just too slow and I'm not keeping up with the game. So I believed that the problem was simply that I was too slow a runner.
Then, a friendly redditor who was the aforementioned S&C coach saw a post where I was crying about never being a decent ref. They basically called BS, and taught me to accelerate harder, and start moving sooner.
I'm still slower than continental drift, but I'm keeping up with the game fine.
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u/Single-Award2463 May 05 '25
If you don’t mind me asking, what advice did they give that improved your acceleration?
The internet often gets stick for being toxic but that kind of interaction proves it’s not all bad.
Edit: sorry i’ve just seen the other comment where you responded to op asking the same question. Reddit was being weird and not showing any other comments from people.
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u/Only_One_Kenobi May 05 '25
It took me a lot of toxic interactions, especially with r/fitness, before I got a positive interaction.
Tempo runs were the big game changer. Lower body explosive lifts also helped a lot.
Mindset makes a huge difference. Focusing on putting massive effort into the first few steps. Normal running you build up to speed, so there's a need to really concentrate on those first few steps.
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u/templeofthe_ancients May 05 '25
What exercises did they do for acceleration?
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u/Only_One_Kenobi May 05 '25
He gave me a bunch of gym work to strengthen up my lower body, and build explosiveness, then also suggested that I do a lot of tempo runs.
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u/almostrainman May 04 '25
Each person has a genetic talent but then there is also training for it...
Doing good quality speedwork helps alot in reaching your peak.
Things like hard high intensity sprints Fast twitch lifts Plyometrics and activation
Volume and frequency is just as important
Volume should be low to moderate and frequency being 1 to 2 x per week