By David Boyle

David Boyle in training

David Boyle is a level 3 Master Coach and board member with the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association. David has also worked with the Wallabies (national Rugby Union team) and Kangaroos (national Rugby League side), and is one of the best Rugby Union trainers in the world.

In Rugby Union training, resistance training is often synonymous with strength training and, indeed, we do lift weights to get stronger. However, we also lift weights to become powerful. Do you know the difference? What do you imagine of when you think of a strong person, and what do you imagine when you think of a powerful person? If it's the same for both then you may want to read further to learn the difference between strength and power and how to achieve both.

Strength is the maximum amount of force produced (or weight lifted), regardless of time. For example, when doing a very heavy deadlift it may take up to 5 or 10 seconds to get the weight off the floor. The speed of the movement is slow, but the amount of force produced is large.

In physics, power is the amount of work completed over a period of time. Therefore the more work completed over a shorter period of time the greater the power. With regards to Rugby Union, power is the combination of strength and speed. For example, when performing a clean the idea is to get the weight above your head quickly and in an explosive movement. The weight combines with the speed of the movement to produce power! This is the same for a Rugby Union tackle. It is how your strength and speed of movement combine that is important.



As you can see on the curve, the lower the velocity, the higher the force you are able to produce. Towards the left end of the curve is your strength and in the middle of the curve is the optimum combination of strength and speed, or power. You may be asking yourself why all this is important. Here's why.

Within Rugby Union you need to train differently to become stronger or more powerful. To do this, you need to tailor your workout accordingly. Typically, strength training will involve heavy weights, moderate reps, and an even tempo. Power training will involve moderate weights, lows reps, and a quick tempo. Strength training typically involves multi and single jointed exercises, whereas power training will focus on multi-joint exercises such as Olympic lifts, Below are some general guidelines for strength and power training based on recommendations from the ACSM.

	Strength	Power
sets	1-3	1-3
reps	6-12	3-6
resistance	60-80% 1RM	>80% 1RM
tempo	2-1-2 / 3-1-3	4-0-1
rest	2-4 min for heavy, multi-joint exercise 1-2 for single joint, low fatigue exercise	2-4 min for heavy, multi-joint exercise 1-2 for single joint, low fatigue exercise

This model can be adapted depending on your training experience.

	Strength	Power
F - Frequency	2-3x weekly 2-4x weekly 3-6x weekly	2-3x weekly 2-4x weekly 3-6x weekly
I - Intensity	Moderate/High	High
T - Type	Multi-joint and single joint Full Range of Motion	Multi-joint Full Range of Motion
T - Time	20-30min	20-30min

Happy training!

David Boyle

David Boyle is a Level 3 Master Coach and Board Member of the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association

Please click here to learn more about David Boyle and purchase his Rugby Union Training Programs.