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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provide a good measure <strong>of</strong> the upper body strength, both in terms <strong>of</strong> absolute and relative<br />
strength.<br />
<br />
Absolute strength<br />
Forwards generally have high levels <strong>of</strong> upper body strength when compared with the backs, as<br />
they are required to perform optimally in scrumming, rucking and mauling. Data from the<br />
present study revealed no significant difference in 1RM bench press between forwards and<br />
backs at any stage <strong>of</strong> the competitive season. These findings are unexpected as backs<br />
traditionally distribute possession <strong>of</strong> the ball won by forwards, which requires high level <strong>of</strong><br />
strength. Thus, it appears that the upper body strength <strong>of</strong> these forwards is not optimally<br />
developed for their positional demands.<br />
The goal for a pre-season and in-season conditioning program is to maximise muscular <strong>fitness</strong><br />
before the competition season and maintaining the pre-season gains, respectively<br />
(Hrysomallis, 2010). In this research, the 1RM bench press surprisingly remained constant for<br />
both backs and forwards throughout the season despite the <strong>players</strong> being prescribed a specific<br />
periodised strength and conditioning program. Although this study did not research the<br />
training program per se, the unchanged strength results could possibly be due to a lack <strong>of</strong><br />
direct supervision <strong>of</strong> a strength coach on daily basis during gym training. This notion is<br />
supported by Coutts, Murphy and Dascombe (2004) that direct supervision <strong>of</strong> resistance<br />
training in athlete’s results in increased strength gains compared with unsupervised training.<br />
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