The rigorous world of elite rugby demands a unique blend of strength, power, speed, and endurance. Unlike many sports that prioritize a singular athletic trait, rugby players must embody the complete athlete, capable of explosive sprints, sustained powerful collisions, and remarkable durability. Consequently, their training regimens are meticulously designed to cultivate this all-encompassing physical prowess. The accompanying video offers a rare glimpse into the training philosophy of Ellis Genge, a prominent England international rugby player, as he walks Men’s Health’s Andrew Tracey through some of his core strength and conditioning practices. This deeper dive expands upon the specific techniques and principles that underpin an **elite rugby workout**, providing valuable insights for anyone aspiring to enhance their athletic performance or simply build a more resilient physique.
The Cornerstone of Strength: Squats and Heavy Lifting
In the realm of athletic development, the squat remains an undisputed king for lower body strength and overall robustness. Ellis Genge, weighing in at approximately 120kg, emphasizes the foundational role of heavy lifting in his routine. While many might assume daily squatting for an athlete of his caliber, Genge reveals a more strategic approach: a heavy squat session typically occurs just once a week. This allows for maximal recovery and adaptation, crucial for managing the intense demands of his sport.
Furthermore, Genge highlights the importance of periodization, adapting his training to the specific phase of the rugby season. Towards the “tail end of the season,” his focus shifts from chasing personal bests to maintaining strength, often working with lower repetitions—threes, twos, and ones—rather than higher rep ranges common in earlier phases. He has achieved impressive lifts, including a 223kg squat, though he humorously notes it’s “not too much” compared to double his body weight, demonstrating the relentless pursuit of improvement among elite athletes.
Squat Variations and Depth for Rugby Performance
While the video touches upon the distinction between high bar and low bar squats, Genge typically employs a high bar squat, a common preference in rugby training for its emphasis on quadriceps development and upright torso position, which can mimic scrummaging stances. The debate around squat depth, often a topic of online discussion, is also playfully addressed. Genge acknowledges aiming for “low enough” depth, particularly for a larger athlete, and demonstrates achieving the hip crease below knee standard. This pragmatic approach underscores that functional strength and injury prevention often take precedence over aesthetic perfection in elite sport.
Interestingly, Genge reminisces about his younger days, when he employed German Volume Training (GVT), a high-volume protocol involving 10 sets of 10 repetitions, often with weights like 100-120kg. This approach, while effective for hypertrophy and strength building in developmental stages, gives way to more refined, sport-specific training as an athlete progresses up the competitive ladder. Indeed, as Genge notes, “as you get higher up… you actually probably invest less time into your weights, and more time into your game.”
Eccentric Training: Overloading for Robustness and Growth
A particularly insightful segment of Genge’s discussion revolves around eccentric training, specifically “assisted eccentrics” during pulling movements. This advanced technique involves making the lowering (eccentric) phase of a lift heavier than the lifting (concentric) phase. For example, on a lat pulldown, a training partner would add downward pressure as Genge resists the descent, effectively overloading the muscle during its strongest contraction phase.
Andrew Tracey elucidates the scientific rationale behind this: muscles are inherently stronger during the eccentric portion of a lift. By intentionally increasing the load during this phase, athletes can stress the muscle more intensely than with concentric-limited loads, leading to greater muscle damage (a precursor to growth) and enhanced strength adaptations. Ellis Genge confirms its exhausting nature and the noticeable impact on muscle growth, noting, “When we do like big blocks, we always have like eccentric lifts in there.” This technique is a testament to the sophisticated understanding of muscle physiology integrated into modern **rugby strength and conditioning** programs, aiming not just for raw power but also for resilience and injury prevention.
Bench Press: Building a “Carles Rib Cage” and Upper Body Fortification
The bench press, often considered a benchmark of upper body strength, plays a significant role in Genge’s training, performed two to three times a week with various modifications. When asked to choose between squats and bench press for immediate rugby performance, Genge prioritizes squats due to their direct relevance to his position. However, he strongly advocates for the bench press’s long-term benefits, especially for front-row players.
Ellis Genge highlights a fascinating and less commonly discussed benefit of heavy benching: increased bone density in the chest. Referencing Dexa scans, he observes that “all the front rowers who lift a load of tin, their chests are like so dense.” This insight suggests that heavy compound movements contribute not only to muscular and connective tissue strength but also to skeletal robustness, a critical factor for athletes enduring constant impact. Genge prefers a tight, controlled grip on the bench, deliberately avoiding the wider, arched-back style often seen in powerlifting. This approach focuses on maximizing the work of the chest and triceps, prioritizing muscle engagement and robustness over simply moving maximum weight, aligning with the functional demands of **elite rugby workout**.
Genge’s bench press typically involves sets of three repetitions, with emphasis on bar velocity, a metric used to ensure consistent power output rather than just lifting a static weight. His personal best bench press, an impressive 180kg, was achieved during a period of lower body injury, underscoring how forced specialization can sometimes lead to unexpected gains in other areas.
Pulling Power and Grip Strength: More Than Just Aesthetics
Beyond squats and bench, a comprehensive **rugby strength and conditioning** program integrates a variety of pulling movements. Genge’s routine includes both vertical pulls (like pulldowns) and horizontal pulls (such as neutral grip rows). A notable feature of his pulling work is the use of specialized “MAG grips.” These ergonomically designed handles offer a more natural and comfortable grip, allowing athletes to focus more intently on the target muscles rather than being limited by grip fatigue or discomfort, especially given the “shot to pieces” fingers often experienced by rugby players.
The strategic variation in grip width—alternating between close and wide grips throughout the week—is also crucial. This practice, reminiscent of Westside Barbell methodologies, ensures comprehensive muscle development and addresses specific rugby demands. As Genge notes, these variations contribute to making the training “rugby specific,” enhancing both strength and the practical application of that strength on the field.
The Unsung Hero: Conditioning and Repeat Effort Capacity
While strength often dominates discussions of elite athletic training, conditioning forms the vital backbone of **rugby performance**. Ellis Genge readily admits that cardio “no one really wants to do it,” yet acknowledges its “important and integral role.” Rugby’s unique demands necessitate “repeat effort” capacity—the ability to perform high-intensity actions repeatedly after short recovery periods, such as sprinting after a scrum or lineout.
To simulate this, training often involves filling the legs with heavy resistance work before transitioning to cardio, intentionally inducing fatigue. The Watt bike is a primary tool for conditioning, offering structured protocols designed to develop peak power and anaerobic capacity:
- Short Power Intervals: Six seconds on, 24 seconds off; 10 seconds on, 30 seconds off; 60 seconds on, 20 seconds off. These are all max effort sprints targeting peak power.
- Mental Fitness Sessions: Five to six 1-kilometer intervals across three sets.
In contrast, the Assault bike is highlighted as the “biggest finisher of a body.” Genge recounts a particularly brutal Matt Fraser workout involving 20 calories every minute on the minute for six reps, highlighting the intense, body-shattering nature of such conditioning work. While challenging, these protocols are essential for ensuring that rugby players can maintain high-level performance throughout an entire game, even under extreme fatigue.
Building the Robust Rugby Athlete: An All-Rounder Approach
Ultimately, the training philosophy demonstrated by Ellis Genge and discussed with Andrew Tracey coalesces around the concept of building a “robust” athlete. This means cultivating an individual who is not only strong and fast but also durable, resilient, and adaptable across various physical demands. Rugby players are, by definition, all-rounders—big men who are reasonably fast, can take a knock, and possess significant strength. This necessitates a holistic approach to strength and conditioning, integrating elements of cardio, strength, power, and speed into a cohesive program.
The structured weekly cadence of heavy lifting days for squat and bench, followed by accessory and eccentric work, and interspersed with demanding conditioning, reflects a sophisticated understanding of athletic development. This comprehensive strategy ensures that every facet of physical performance is honed, preparing athletes like Ellis Genge for the relentless and varied challenges of the **elite rugby workout** and the professional rugby field.
Scrumming for Answers: Your Q&A
What makes an elite rugby workout different?
An elite rugby workout is designed to build a “complete athlete,” focusing on a unique blend of strength, power, speed, and endurance to handle the diverse demands of the sport.
Why are squats so important for rugby players?
Squats are considered the “king” for lower body strength and overall body robustness, which is crucial for the powerful movements and durability needed in rugby.
What is “eccentric training” mentioned in the article?
Eccentric training involves making the lowering part of an exercise heavier, often with assistance. This technique helps build muscle and strength because muscles are strongest when resisting a downward load.
Why is conditioning, or cardio, so important for rugby?
Conditioning is essential for “repeat effort” capacity, allowing rugby players to perform intense actions repeatedly throughout a game without becoming too fatigued.
Besides lifting weights, what other type of training do rugby players do?
Besides heavy lifting for strength, rugby players also do intense conditioning, or cardio, using equipment like Watt bikes and Assault bikes to build endurance and the ability to maintain high performance.