Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...
Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...
Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...
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highest training loads were conducted in-season rather than during the general preparatory<br />
phase <strong>of</strong> the season.<br />
5.4 SUMMARY<br />
Thirty two <strong>elite</strong> female <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>players</strong> who were members <strong>of</strong> the South African Rugby Union<br />
High Performance Squad for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup were assessed on three<br />
separate occasions (pre-season, mid-season and post-season) during the 2009 competition<br />
season. The <strong>players</strong> were sub-divided into two positional categories consisting <strong>of</strong> 17 forwards<br />
and 15 backs. On all testing occasions, the <strong>fitness</strong> testing protocol was specifically completed<br />
in the following order: stature, body mass, skinfolds, sit and reach, vertical jump, speed, bench<br />
press, pull-ups, push-ups and multi-stage shuttle run. The aim <strong>of</strong> this study was to assess the<br />
physical <strong>fitness</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>elite</strong> women’s <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>union</strong> <strong>players</strong> <strong>over</strong> a competition season.<br />
For this study, it was hypothesised that there would be significant positional difference in<br />
stature, body composition, explosive leg power, speed, upper body muscular strength,<br />
muscular and aerobic endurance. This hypothesis was supported in that body composition<br />
varied according to position as the forwards had a greater body mass, higher sum <strong>of</strong> skinfolds<br />
and larger body fat percentage than the backs. In terms <strong>of</strong> explosive leg power, maximum<br />
speed (0-40m), muscular and aerobic endurance, backs obtained superior performance values.<br />
The current data reinforces the pronounced difference in physical <strong>fitness</strong> <strong>of</strong> the forwards and<br />
backs as forwards as spend greater time in physical contact with the opposition while the<br />
backs spend more time running, allowing them to c<strong>over</strong> greater distances. Players within<br />
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