Student Scholars Day

A Periodization Program for Collegiate Level Rugby Players

Henry Hall Atrium 4

Rugby, a hybrid sport, requires an athlete to have the aerobic capacity of a soccer player and the agility, power, and physicality of a football player. A preplanned strength and conditioning regiment that addresses aerobic and muscular endurance, muscular strength, and power is crucial. The purpose of this project was to develop a periodization program that addressed these combined components. While much investigation has been done on concurrent training, the literature is somewhat inconsistent. Research has shown negative returns in adding endurance activities to strength based sports and positive returns when adding resistance training to endurance based sports. It is the authors' belief that through a periodized concurrent training plan the athlete will see increased athletic performance. Limitations include the inconclusive evidence in previous studies. This research should benefit rugby athletes by providing them with a model of combined methods of training for their sport.