i play on a high school rugby team. last season we were 18-0 and won the entire championship and this year we're already 1-1 and just a noticeably worse team (much worse). i know that the responsibilities on the field don't lie solely on me but i feel like i'm dragging the team down. being a bigger girl (5'8", 180lbs, trying to lose fat), i can't keep up with the plays usually. i just feel my chest tighten, extreme trouble breathing, my body even starts to become numb at the end... it's just total exhaustion.

this season ends in late May or early June (depending on how far we get) but i wanted to know if i could be doing specific exercises for now and for the summer to train for next season. i really want to be that player that always seems to be in the right position and gets the ball and just has breakaways. i'd LOVE that but i'd also love to just see some improvement and not feel so down on myself.

thanks :)

Well, I think dropping some weight so that you can get around the paddock faster and for longer would be a good idea. Follow the usual advice given on fat loss in the main forums, LISS or HITT and eat cleaner. This will build your endurance as well.

As for conditioning for the specific anaerobic demands of rugby maybe look at www.crossfit.com. Watch the "nasty girls" vid under "exercise demos". Follow a few of their workouts to supplement what your coach might give you and you should perform better at the collision zone.

Keep a journal and put up a wallplanner dedicated to training and use a big red marker to note completed sessions. A long unbroken train of red Xs is motivating!

Also just increasing strength and working on mobility and stability will help a lot (and help you lose weight in the process)

i play on a high school rugby team. last season we were 18-0 and won the entire championship and this year we're already 1-1 and just a noticeably worse team (much worse). i know that the responsibilities on the field don't lie solely on me but i feel like i'm dragging the team down. being a bigger girl (5'8", 180lbs, trying to lose fat), i can't keep up with the plays usually. i just feel my chest tighten, extreme trouble breathing, my body even starts to become numb at the end... it's just total exhaustion.

this season ends in late May or early June (depending on how far we get) but i wanted to know if i could be doing specific exercises for now and for the summer to train for next season. i really want to be that player that always seems to be in the right position and gets the ball and just has breakaways. i'd LOVE that but i'd also love to just see some improvement and not feel so down on myself.

thanks :)

My niece played rugby for Dartmouth (she graduates this year) and she had a typical program of big compound weight lifting. You should at least be doing basic big compounds.

It also sounds like you need more VO2max and possibly lactate threshold. For this, you want to use interval based stuff like shuttle runs, wind sprints, HIIT.

There is at least one rugby player here (gazareth) and a couple sprinters (Big_D and Pete5) and you should check their journals.

Just an idea, but maybe you could do intervals or something similar with side to side movements as well. So the slow running could be sideways, and the fast running forwards, maybe? Or just incorporate it in to your routine some how. I play touch footy and find it really helps- but I imagine you likely do something already in your training?

What position do you play? :)


ETA: I know the feeling when you feel really unfit and like the person that lets the team down (even though you know that you're not the only player on the field, sometimes it feels like it!) Good work for the effort! :tu: