I ranked the best speed exercises for rugby and American football athletes.
S+:
- Sport ‘Specific’ Sprinting (i.e. practice 1 vs 1 situations and training the sport with high speed)
S:
- Acceleration Sprinting
- Top-end Speed Sprinting (>30m)
- Curved Sprint
A:
- Resisted Sprints (10-30% BW)
- Wickets
- Downhill Sprints (~3% decline)
- Resisted Sprints (10-30% BW)
B:
- Bounding
- Hops
- Lose body-fat
C:
- Med Ball Throws
- Broad Jumps
- Drop Jumps
- Hurdle Jumps
- Back Squat
- RDLs
D:
- Heavy Prowler Pushes
- Hip Thrusts
- Kickbacks (heavy)
- Olympic Lifts
- Loaded Jumps
- Pogo Hops
E:
- Nordics
- Leg Curls
- Knee Drives
- Seated Calves
F:
- Agility Ladders
Exercise order is based on ability to improve on-field speed in Rugby and American Football Athletes.
Aside from F tier, none of these exercises are useless. B-E tier is mostly GPP exercises for sprint performance.
*I haven’t included technical speed drills such as wall drives or A-skips, as the effectiveness with be dependent on the individuals technical weaknesses’.
What do you think the best speed exercises for rugby and American football?
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