Strength Training & Conditioning For the Rugby World Cup 2011 by Pulling a 12 Ton Truck Or Plane
Have you seen the strongman competition? Won by Zydrūnas Savickas in 2009, it is held annually and often involves giant men such as Bill Kazmaier, Mariusz Pudzianowski and Magnus Ver Magnusson performing feats of strength that are unimaginable and awe inspiring. Performing stunts like lifting atlas balls, the ‘Hercules hold’, keg toss, flipping over giant tyres, ‘duck walk’ and car carry, against both the clock and competitors; the strong man competition is the ultimate strength event in the world. The strength and conditioning of these athletes is phenomenal. There strength conditioning not only involves the ability to lift fantastic weights but to carry them over distances which takes into implication the cardio vascular aspect of their schooling. When you see the strongman events you cannot help but notice that some of these athletes push themselves to the point of flow of blood owing to their noses. The effort and dedication place into the event is out of sacrificial like to be the best no matter the cost. I would not want to tread lightly into the gym workout or schooling program of any of these Incredible Hulks let alone compete in Strongman.
One of the strongman events is the pulling of a truck or airplane with a rope. Vehicles such as convey trucks, trams, buses or airplanes are pulled across a 30 metre course by hand as quick as possible. In 2007 a fire engine truck was pulled and in 2008 a coal truck. The truck itself now and again weighs over 12 tonnes. How is a human being able to pull a truck that heavy? What kind of weight schooling, strength schooling implementation, strength conditioning or gym workout would one follow to attain such monster proportions of strength? Some of these athletes are able to pull the truck past 30 metres in approximately 30-40 seconds. This demonstrates raw strength collectively with endurance and speed. How is a human being able to go such a feat? Does science hold an answer to this? Is this all geometry and physics? Or is this a touch to do with the strength schooling anatomy of the party concerned i.e. is he a hero?
Yes it takes phenomenal strength to do this. But is there more to it? Tentative the truck or airplane pull in detail – when you look at the stance of the athlete in the event, you notice his stance is somewhat similar to a 100m sprinter in the blocks. Have a close look at Dwain Chambers, Usain Bolt or Assafa Powel in their blocks before their sprint off in the 100m. The strongman stance is similar. They all tend to lean forward at a 45 degree angle.
A ball thrown into the air at a 45 degree angle travels the furthermost. A cricket batsman like Vivian Richards from the West Indies or Aravinda De Silva from Sri Lanka are able to hit the leather cricket ball out of the cricket ground, past the audience, over the sea gulls and into the nearby housing complexes by targeting their hits at a 45 degree angle. This is pure physics. A pellet fired at 45 degrees travels the furthermost as at this angle most distance is roofed at maximum force. This theory is implemented in firing missiles and rockets. Consequently by maintaining a 45 degree angle to the ground, the strength schooling anatomy of a strongman is able to drive the most force against the truck / plane he is pulling. A higher angle exerts less force and possibly causes difficulties in balancing as his centre of mass / gravity is thrown off course. A lower angle reduces the frictional pull the strongman has on the ground. The strength energy at a 45 degree angle is the greatest.
Having a look at the truck / plane pull reveals that a strongman does not go one single pull (or thrust forward), but as a replacement for exerts a sustained set of relentless repetitive pulls. His strength conditioning involves momentum. He does not explode with one pull alone but uses the speed from each pull to drive the next pull. Bodybuilders often avoid this sort of schooling as momentum uses physics rather than muscle fibre to make the weights go in their schooling motion. Each pull from the strongman slackens the rope before being pulled again. Friction causes the truck to slow down after each pull. This strongman event is likened to a strength schooling implementation of performing a 220 Kg squat for more than 40 repetitions in less than 30-40 seconds. Does that sound doable to you?
What does all this have to do with Rugby? The World Cup is not too far away and a lot needs to be done in schooling. Strength schooling and more so – functional strength schooling, is likely to be the decisive factor in the Rugby World Cup 2011. The Tri Nations 2009 revealed that strength, force and endurance crowned South Africa the victors. There is just about time for teams across the world to tap into functional strength schooling and drink the spoils of warrior grade schooling. Who better does one learn from than the kings of strength and endurance? The strongman.
Rugby League or Rugby Union; it really does not matter which version of the game you play. Pouring forward with fixed force, sustained waves of attack with the hope of penetrating the opposition defences and forming thundering walls of defence are part and parcel of the game. The strongman truck pull at once reminds me of the Rugby Union scrum. The body positioning, the stances and the goals i.e. moving forward against a force, (the force of the opposition scrum and the frictional force on the truck are in the same directions!) are prominently similar. Following the strongman example, if a rugby player positions himself at a 45 degree angle when pouring forward, he is likely to exert the most force and power. Thereby he is able to achieve the most from his strength schooling owing to the leverage of his angle of attack. When the whole scrum comes collectively in this formation they are a force to be reckoned with. Some scrum teams weigh over a tonne and I wonder how many 747 s they would be able to pull. The scrum also needs to go forward in repetitive bursts of thrusting forward. They all need to be synchronized to exert the most force. I at once start to envision the movie 300 where the Spartan Warriors came collectively to form a defensive protected group that thrust forward in synchronized harmony. The maximum force is exerted in this manner.
Most crowd pleasing moments in the game of rugby are when a carrier or defender are pummelled to the grass in a tackle. The more ‘road runner cartoon type’ the tackle, the more reaction one gets from the crowd. We are like the ancient Romans during the gladiator battles. Most ‘victims’ of such tackles are those who stood tall in the tackle. We cultured that if you position physically above 45 degrees you may have issues with weigh and you certainly cannot exert much force whilst you are not balanced. Your centre of gravity / mass is easily shifted from a point of weigh and you could easily be tipped over no matter how strong, powerful or heavy you are. If you are below 45 degrees you are likely to fall forward or slip in wet grassy situation. At 45 degrees any defender has a honest chance of using his utmost strength to floor an mugger. Any mugger is most effective when maintaining a 45 degree angle when charging forward. Any defenders caught above or below 45 degrees are vulnerable and open up a weak link in the 300 Spartan Warrior formation. They will also find it hard pressed to get down to position quick enough. As a carrier, keep your eyes always open for such opportunities. As a defender, always keep to formation.
Have you ever wondered why Power Lifters go their schedule speedily? Whilst bodybuilders go slower repetitions but much more of them. Power lifter schedule such as the bench press, dead lift or squat are performed speedily. Power lifters are the peak; the top of strength conditioning individuals. In fact, for bench critical or squats, lowering the weight promptly and using that momentum to burst upwards is one way to trick your muscles to pushing heavier weights; although that would have bodybuilder Olympia gurus like Dorian Yates swear out at you. Momentum is vital. Physics dictates that F = MA i.e. Force = Mass multiplied by Acceleration. The quicker a player is moving, the more force he is likely to exert on impact. In the scrum, charging, rolling mauls or defending, the more momentum the more force. The opposition needs to exert an equal force to stop you. Even if they tackle you by your ankles, their forearms, arms and shoulders will have to absorb the force of your impact and they are cast iron never to forget about you. Strength and speed attribute to power. Power will choose who wins the Rugby World Cup 2011. Will it be the All Blacks? Or the Springboks? England? Fiji? Functional strength schooling will reveal the new champions.
Olympic lifters (watch out for them in the London Olympics followed by Samba in Rio!) also make the most of on speed. In strength conditioning it is vital to include repetition. That is, train your muscles repetitively for the passage you want to go. There is a very excellent reason why Olympic athletes may not be able to bench press as much (I often find people on the internet criticize strongman competitors when they find out they cannot bench as much either).That is because of our strength schooling anatomy. Diving into human ecology, our brains build neural pathways. A neural pathway tells the brain that a particular set of muscles need to be used in a particular sequence under a particular amount of force. Our bodies adapt to the strains forced upon them and build the de rigueur strength schooling anatomy to handle the load. This adds strength to the proclamation – practice makes perfect. Determining one person’s strength over another is futile as it all depends on the gathering they have been schooling for. Now and again the lanky looking guy is more shifty down the dark alley than the huge bench monster. Using momentum collectively with conditioning your body (by repeating the strength exercises) is what delivers the most power. As a part of your strength schooling, weights schooling, gym workout or schooling program, include speed and repetition to push or pull heavier weights.
There is still a lot be cultured from the science of strongman competitions. Strongman competitors, Power Lifters and Olympic lifters all grant unique learning points for Rugby players. It is wisdom to learn battle plans from Spartan Warriors; it is wisdom to learn about combat from Gladiators and it is wisdom to learn from the professional strongmen of this world on how a corporal game like Rugby could be mastered and taken to a whole new level.
There will be much more to come.
I’ve been lifting weights on and off for about 10 years now. The most I’ve benched to this point is 184Kgs at the age of 27. I’m setting myself the goal of benching 200 Kgs by the end of 2009. After which, I m going to have a crack heavier; maybe 220 – 240 Kgs.
Join me on this journey. I will also give you some thoughts of mine on life, its function, how I’ve gone owing to some hard patches without being burnt and what I look forward to in the future.
http://www.StrengthTrainingChronicles.com
Author: Johann Tambayah
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