Retired Springbok and USA Eagle Riaan van Zyl shares fitness and nutrition tips with the rest of us.
Carbohydrate:
Carbohydrate is the most important fuel for the working muscles during rugby, and should consequently comprise the bulk of your diet. This should be approximately 65% of the overall calorific intake.
It’s a given that we need to warm up before we sprint, hit a tennis ball or attempt a clean and jerk. The process prepares us mentally and physically for the task ahead. Traditionally, athletes from most sports have been used to raising their body temperature with 5-15 minutes of gentle cardiovascular (CV) work and then stretching off.
As an elite rugby player, your cardio respiratory system needs to be maximally developed, so as to supply adequate amounts of oxygen and fuel to your working muscles during a game, and allow the removal of toxic waste products which build up during periods of high intensity activity.
This consists of running a specified number of distances from 300 to 400 meters in a given time at about 70 - 80% effort level with short walk back recoveries or rest periods of up to 2 minutes.
These training sessions consist of high quality endurance work (not speed development), which is carried out over distances of 100-150m. This will improve your ability to work at near maximal speed with rugby specific recovery intervals.
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