Training must be specific

I am not a trained sports scientist but I have been involved in sport all my life. Since I was a child I have participated in sports at various levels. I have played rugby, football, hockey, cricket, and tennis. I have lifted weights, swum, and taken part in athletics. During this time I have developed an interest and body of knowledge regarding how the body works and how to prepare it for sport.

One of the main principles of training is that the training you do must be specific to the event or sport you are taking part in if you wish to be properly prepared. I have recently been training for triathlons - an endurance event swimming, biking, and running at a fairly constant rate for an extended period of time.

Rugby is an explosive sport based on sprinting with lots of high level and maximal efforts interspersed by short periods of recovery. You need to be either mad or stupid to think training for triathlon would prepare you for rugby. Hopefully I am neither of those things so why did I agree to play rugby last week? I have been extremely sore since I played - two years ago I wouldn't have felt a thing. It was very enjoyable though and great to see that my old skills are still there. I was winning ball on the ground, making tackles, and making breaks. But by the end of the game it was getting very hard to keep going and now I am suffering. It was great fun and worth it though.

Motivation for training is not good at the moment. I have had my lay-off from illness and injury and in a couple of days I am off on holiday for three weeks. When I get back I need to sort out a proper training schedule that I can make myself stick to. That can wait until I get back though because right now my thoughts are filled with three weeks of hot weather and relaxation (I am trying to blank out thoughts of the 17 hour flight). I probably won't post until I get back so see you in a few weeks.