The popular image of rugby players suggests that they enjoy hoisting a beer after a match as much as they like hugging the ball during one. But while the stereotype may not be far off the mark, it’s also arguable that ruggers may be among the fittest of all amateur athletes.
Indeed, in an annual competition that tested players from several sports in the United Kingdom, the rugby players came out on top six years in a row, says Neil Rushbrooke, head coach of the Queen City Rugby Football Club in Denver.
“It’s because you get that mixture of endurance and explosive power, the aerobic and anaerobic conditioning,” he says. “You’re able to keep going when others cannot.”
Like most other coaches for the roughly 40 men’s, women’s and college teams in Colorado, Rushbrooke puts his players through twice-a-week drills designed to build speed, strength, stamina and agility — key factors in what is mainly a game of flat-out sprinting and all-out pushing, (Well, yes, there’s also mud and blood, veterans of the sport admit. But that, they insist, can be said of almost any outdoor sport.)
“There’s nothing like rugby fitness,” testifies Eric Stollar, a Queen City halfback who began playing nine years ago in Montana. “I used to run cross country, and that gives you endurance. But it still doesn’t prepare you for how tired you get in an 80-minute rugby game.”
When it comes to conditioning, rugby also edges out skiing, says Adam Nance, a teammate who learned the game as a freshman at Cherry Creek High School and continued playing through college at Colorado State University.
“As the fall season ends and it’s the beginning of skiing, I can feel myself getting less and less fit as the winter goes on,” Nance says. “Then as the spring rugby season picks up, you get fitter and fitter.”
A dynamic sport
The typical rugger’s high fitness level stems in part from the dynamic nature of the game itself. Unlike American football, in which the action stops once a player is tackled, rugby calls for play to continue until a foul is committed, the ball goes out of bounds or a goal (try) is scored. Under the rules, a tackled player must give up the ball and let opposing players scramble for it.
Rugby fitness also results from the multiple demands the game places on the body, says Robyn Smith, a personal trainer who is both a conditioning coach and player for the Black Ice women’s team in Denver. She’s also a certfied kettlebells instructor.
“In rugby, you have to train whole muscular systems, because you’re never using just one muscle,” Smith says. “Bench presses and leg pushes are not going to help us much, because they’re not functional exercises. We need more than just brute strength. We have to be fast and explosive. We need to be able to get tackled and get right up off the ground and back on our feet.”
The all-around fitness that rugby promotes is transferable to many other sports, notes David Williams, the Boulder-based conditioning coach for the U.S. national team. He’s also captain of the elite “Super League” squad fielded by the Denver Barbarians, a perennial powerhouse in Colorado rugby.
In addition to soccer, hockey and football, for example, the need for quick acceleration and deceleration in rugby may enhance one’s performance in trail-running, particularly in starting a climb or controlling a descent.
“Everybody can break into a run or come to a stop, but can you do it faster and more efficiently?” Williams asks. “It’s full-body control, basically, and more awareness of your body.”
Even long-distance runners can profit from rugby-style training, he adds. “Marathoners need to do sprint work to build their endurance and to get up hills. Rugby can also be used as cross-training to prevent overuse injuries and to help in recovery after competition.”
The mental game
In addition, rugby training leaves players “a lot more energized during the day, and therefore more efficient at work,” Williams says. “They also have better sleep patterns at night, and they’re eating highly nutritious meals, which is a huge part of any good training program.”
Rugby’s biggest benefit, though, may lie in its capacity to improve a player’s discipline and self-image.
“I have a hard time getting motivated to work out without a compelling reason,” confesses Black Ice club president Diana Larson, who started playing rugby at the University of Iowa in 1994 and is still going strong at the age of 33. “Being part of a team gets me out, and knowing that I’ve got 14 other people on the pitch depending on me helps keep me motivated. Also, being a leader on the team gives me confidence. It’s had a huge impact on me, both professionally and personally.”
Smith, who directs Black Ice workouts on Monday and Thursday afternoons at Garland Park in southeast Denver, spent about 10 years coaching basketball and track athletes before she became certified as a Level I rugby coach five years ago. Compared with her former charges, she says, “These women are a lot stronger, and a lot — much — more mentally tough.”
Jack Cox is a former Denver Post staff writer who played rugby for more than 30 years with the Denver Highlanders, Queen City and Colorado Senior Olde Boys. He is proud to call himself a retired hooker.
