Bula, I’m the national coach for Weightlifting Fiji and I’m also a fitness trainer and a strength and conditioning coach for many sports including rugby, today I will be showing you how to do a basic warm up. In later shows we will do more strength training.
Our warm-ups are very important and there are two main reasons why we do warm-ups, one is to prepare the body and mind for the activities that are to follow and secondly to help in the prevention of injuries. Now for warm-ups if you’re in the gym you have the luxury of many different aerobic type equipment that you can use like treadmills cycles or rowing machines, but if you’re outdoors then any kind of light activity like jogging or skipping can help the body get ready to do your stretches and other activities to follow. Okay so after you have done your general warm-up with the aerobic activity whether it be cycling jogging then there’s a routine that you can follow and this routine is usually activation exercises and also some mobility exercises so today we have Curtis here and he’s going to be doing some exercises and showing us how we can get ourselves ready for the activities.
Let us start with some lumbar rotations. So these are lumbar rotations and this work the hip and also the lower back you can do it either seated or you can also do it lying down on your back.
Okay so probably around 10 to 15 on each side whether it be seated or whether you’re lying down following this you can take a very short break about uh five seconds or so and then we go into the next one which is the crucifix crossovers like so, so you’re extending your legs across at around hip level with your arms stretched out this can also be 10 repetitions also on each side at the end of that you hold it into a pose on one side with the knee bent while the opposite hand holds on to the knee and then with your thumb pointing down touching on each side you can do either five to ten repetitions on each side and then we move over cross over to the other side and continue on with the same thing thumb down come down open up the shoulder working also on the upper back.
Okay following this we can go straight into another one and this is called the cannonball into a split. So roll out split and reach forward cannonball into a split this is also 10 to 15 repetitions. The next one now is the reverse crucifix so you lie with the face down both hands stretched out and then crossing over like that so you touch at hip level you can do 10 to 15 on each side so once you completed that then you go into back extension pushes, so with this you’re stretching your chest your shoulders and also your lower back up and down and and occasionally just moving your arms in different positions so you get a wider stretch in the chest and the shoulders we can slightly move it forward from time to time there move it further in front a little and this is also 10 to 15. following this we go straight into lunge openers okay so like so and thumb pointing outwards we do five on each side like that and then when you’ve done the five on each side then you change to the other side of the leg and on the open side and then the closed side
Then when you’re done with that both hands out in front and just alternating lunges like that there and change one and one perfect two and two three and three and that’s the first part of your warm up ! . Following this is the multi-directional lunge so starting with one leg you go forward then to the side and then back and change to the other leg forward to the side and then back good now with this one here you can do anywhere from five to ten repetitions, next one is the prisoner good morning, so place your hands behind your your neck knees slightly bent and then hinge from the hip and up this one around 10 to 15 repetitions good.
Now its time to lay down
So one leg in front kneeling raised arm, reach so you reach over to the other side. You can do 10 to 15 repetitions on each side with this we’re stretching all along the lats all the way down to the obliques down to the hip and all along the side of the thigh
Okay so the next one is called the hipsters or hip thrusts place your feet about shoulder width apart like that pushing from the heel raise your hips up so that you have your knee, your hip and your shoulder in alignment and raise it up you can even hold it for a couple of seconds at the end and then release. Now our last one you’re on all fours and this is called the bird dog where you punch out with one arm and the opposite leg kicks back maintain a nice good straight back neutral head just as that is there about 10 to 15 on each side
And then change over to the other side so when you’ve completed all of this you are now ready to start your strength training session
One friendly reminder if you’re gonna be participating in any physical activity of any sort always remember to get clearance from a qualified medical practitioner also if you need any advice on health and fitness or strength and conditioning you can always contact me and the details are on the screen now.
Well everyone our skill for today is going to be the catch and pass mainly focusing on the pass, where you want to be receiving the pass, where you want to be passing and at the end we’ll look at catching a spiral pass. The most effective way to catch it and shift it straight across your body so you’re not wasting any time. So the first part of the drill is just standing square holding the ball in front of your chest. You want to be holding the ball catching and passing in the target window which is the bottom of your chest line straight across going down to your hip bones and straight across there, so ideally you want to get every pass here and you want to be moving it on into the same area for your receiver. Anything above above that target window below you’ve got to readjust before you pass and that wastes a valuable time. What could be the difference in getting over the gain line or maybe scoring a try, so just standing square and remember finish with your hands pointing at your target and for receiving you want to have a target up as well
So you can do 10 each side, and the second part of that is just the same thing but popping it on your side as as if you’re receiving a path and shifting it straight across
and you really want to focus here on just catching it and going pushing straight across your body across this line and pointing so it goes straight into that same target area you’re receiving in catching and swinging down can result in a u-shaped path floating up above your receiver’s head, and swinging it out can often result in it going behind your receiver. Again both those passes can chew up valuable time which could cost you a try or get you over the gain line so popping and pushing straight across
so work work each side ten each way and then the third third and last progression of the the pass is the same thing popping but we’re stepping with it and throwing the pass make sure your steps not too long, you want it nice and short and focusing on the speed of your upper body with the pass so catching and just shifting it straight away.
With this step it’s important that you that you keep square to catching and your foot’s coming straight out in front of you not going across, because going across going across allows the defenders to drift off you and put your your receiver under a lot of pressure. So staying square your defenders get to stay on you, and you buy more time and more space for the guy outside you. It also allows you to just catch and throw a dummy and go yourself, it’s a nice short step fast hands. And that’s it for the three progressions of the pass. Lastly we’ll look at catching the spiral pass, what position you want to be catching it in and how that allows you to shift the pass on really fast, and you don’t waste time, it buys the guys or girls outside you time to do their thing, especially if you’ve got someone really fast or a good step outside you which we often do with our Fiji teams. The last part we’ll look at is the catch for a spiral pass, catching a spiral pass in a good position to then shift it across so you’re not wasting any time. So if I’m receiving from my left and passing it to my right I want my my inside hand, my right hand a bit higher than my left hand that’s because my left hand is going to be at the back of the ball.
I want to catch it up around my chest so I can shift it straight on if I’m catching it any other way like this I’ve got to readjust my hands mid pass and again that that wastes time.
So that’s ideally what the movement should look like shifting straight across your chest. You can do this with one other person, even better with a third outside and you take turns running in the middle catching and passing. If you’re on your own you can do the first three progressions against the wall just passing either side. And that’s our skill for today, hope you you’ve learned something and you can practice this at home with your friends or at your rugby club.
