Willis Strength & Conditioning

Top 3 Tips For Training Around Injury

As a strength and conditioning coach working with contact sports

It is vital I can keep my athletes training through and around injury

Its a long season

And the likelihood of you picking up something along the way is pretty high

The difference though between you continuing to move forward and developing other physical qualities

Or completely deteriorating

Its up to you

Often athletes just roll over and do nothing

This is literally the worst thing you could do

Im all missing nothing and if needs be adding more where possible

For example you take contact on the knee at the weekend

Physio says - your out for 3 weeks 😩

What’s next?

1️⃣ Running becomes off feet conditioning - I usually turn 3 days running into 5 days off feet work including True aerobic work and interval training

2️⃣ Just because your right knee is sore doesn’t mean the left is done to - 1 day a week get some single leg strength work in

3️⃣ Returning to squatting again ASAP IS NOT the way - I would prefer you made unilateral work your focus now for 4-8 weeks once Physio clears you to

This is the difference between working with a coach and having a PDF programme

You need to adapt on the fly as an athlete or you will never perform to your true potential

The conversations I have on a daily basis with my athletes are what really make the difference to the overall programme

If you need help

Feel free to shout out 🤝

Yes you need to know

Are single leg strength exercises better than double?

There is no better this or that

Not all the time anyways - sometimes yes they are and sometimes for some people they’re not…

Think of this though

➡️ If recovering from a lower body injury single leg strength will be a huge emphasis

⁉️ So why not make it an emphasis before injury?

➡️ Do you cut, turn or sprint with both legs on the ground?

💡No to perform at high levels it requires huge unilateral strength and power

3️⃣ Nearly all my athletes who have been training with me for a period of time now can lift more than half on one leg than they can on two

For example - if you can split squat 120kg does that mean you can squat 240kg?

🛑 No you are far more likely to be stronger on one leg

There is merit to both

But if you are a rugby player hoping to perform at your highest level you better be doing single leg strength work

Sometimes you just got to go for it. Scrap thinking and dig in.

⏰Are you maximising your time?

15 minutes is all you need

15 minutes early to each pitch session and a band or a sled

If you are serious about your development and sport realistically you should have either or

Get out and ⬇️⬇️

⏭️ Resist marching

⏭️ Resist bounding

⏭️ Resist sprinting

⏭️ Race a mate sprint

Follow these 4 key steps and you will increase your speed

Load the movement

Force intent

You will progress 💪🤝

Weekly planning for rugby players

You have a lot on 😓

➡️ I know that

Planning my athletes week correctly to perform at their best is part of the Job 🗒️

It can be confusing though doing it yourself

⬇️ So I hope this helps ⬇️

📆 Monday:
- Not everyone feels ready to load their legs on a Monday

That’s normal

- So try using concentric focused movements
- Step ups
- Hex bar deadlifts
- Pin squats

📆 Tuesday - Team training
- Get a good volume and variation of skips in your warm up
- Get some high quality jumps and plyometrics in
- Then train speed before team training
- Top up conditioning can follow if needs be

📆 Wednesday
- X 1 LB unilateral push - Bulgarians maybe?
- X 1 LB hinge - Barbell RDL?
- X 1 LB hip - Barbell hip thrusts
- X 3 Uppers - 1 push and 2 pull

📆 Thursday - Team training
- Get a good volume and variation of skips in your warm up
- Get some high quality jumps and plyometrics in
- Then train speed before team training
- Top up conditioning can follow if needs be

📆 Friday - Rest or train smart
- Do something to get a sweat on
- Off feet low level cardio
- Put a light circuit together to grease the joints

📆 Saturday - Game time

📆 Sunday - Rest & recover
- Eat
- Sleep
- Nap
- Get out for a walk
- Or if you have a child - do whatever they make you do because you really don’t have a choice!

Hope this helps.

And if you are interested in a free 30 minute call to talk about training

Just send me a DM 💪

Love to lift?

I had an epic conversation with a past rugby player yesterday

He loves to get into the gym 3 times a week to keep the consistency

And this is great 👍

🤔 But you have to be smart in what you do

🛑 3 heavy lifting days a week this stage of year is probably not the best idea 💡

📝 So we dialled in his main two days

And then with the goal of being fresh on a Saturday for game time came up with a Friday session

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

A) General warm up - I don’t care what you say or who you are - Warm ups help

B) Explosive repeat method
⏱️10-15s of work
⛔️60s of rest
⏭️4-5 exercises

For example ⬇️
- Med ball squat jumps 10s
- Rest 60s
- Med ball rotational repeat throws 10s
- Rest 60s
- Med ball kneeling chest throw 10s
- Rest 60s
- Band assisted split jumps 10s
Repeat

The key here is to feel better walking out than you did walking in 🔑

Hope this helps.

And if you are interested in a free 30 minute call to talk about training

Just send me a DM 💪

Educate to Dominate

I am really quite proud of this to be honest

It may mean nothing to a lot of you reading this

Or if you’re a coach you may think so what?

In the fitness industry there tends to a lot of bashing traditional education

Getting certifications 📜

Getting a degree etc

But I believe there is huge value in accreditation, a degree and certifications

➡️ And so should you

Its not about the certificate its self or the letters, its about the journey to get them

I had to work bloody hard to get this.

💷 I had to spend a hell of a lot of money in travel and education over the last 2 years to get this - thousands actually

(On top of the money I was already spending on Mentors and other courses)

🤔Ive had to challenge my beliefs and current practices to get my head around some of it

The end certificate may not really make me a better coach, but the journey to achieve it has

The routes of education I may not have gone down without having to has expanded my understanding and practices

🛑 And as an athlete - if you are still reading lol you should care as well

There is more to training for sport and excellence than showing up and getting a sweat on

It can lengthen your athletic career or destroy it - I have seen it

🔥If you have a coach you make sure they are on a path of self & professional development

Because your sport and passion is on the line if they aren’t

What you are doing requires more planing & precision than Sally losing 10lbs for Tenerife

Feel lost with training? You know what to do

All i ask is… stick a thumbs up 👍 in the comments if you think this has helped you - which if you save them it will

Surgery ➡️ Rugby

It is difficult to describe sometimes how it all comes together

I may not have the fancy ass website

Or my own private branded app

But sometimes that is all just more noise

➡️ And its not what gets you playing again

Thanks Christian

I injured my knee requiring surgery and kept me off my feet for a good period of time. I had known Andy working with him previously and had seen his work with other lads in the team with their longer term injuries, so knew that he would be a great point of contact to start with. I had stagnated with my rehab and was lacking motivation - Andy helped put things in perspective and pushed me through the next few months until return to play.

The process was seamless - he wrote up programmes and these were given to me in advance along with a video explaining what the exercises were. Andy helped me by answering any questions within minutes of me asking.

I was back feeling strong and confident in my knee, whilst not only improving my overall power and strength but also my general fitness. My return to play was much quicker and my confidence in playing again having originally said I wouldn’t was all due to working with Andy. I couldn’t recommend him more to work with.

Want to work with me?

Just send me a DM

Planning and thought

How much planning do you put into your training?

Do you have the time to sit and really go into your schedule

Into sets & reps

Did the flow of the last block work?

Did the exercise pairings work against or with eachother

How did you feel on pitch

Did you get stronger

Did you have alternatives

What happens when your left knee is aching

Or your lowerback is playing up again

How do you keep moving forward and stay on pitch?

This is the process I go through with my athletes.

Can you do that and make it work?