Lateral thinking

Muscle balance in your training programs is an important factor in helping to prevent injuries. A lot of programs are set up to make sure you’re getting the right balance of quadriceps to hamstring strength, chest to back and hip extensors to flexors. You may be doing a split routine or perhaps super setting opposing muscle groups (like chest and back, bi’s and tri’s), but generally you want to make sure you’re not too dominant in one muscle group as this might set you up for an injury. This is a great idea, but too often the only muscle balance that is trained for is in one plane of movement; forward and backward/flexion and extension. The problem is that rugby is a game involving lateral and rotational movements as well and by also addressing strength in these planes, you’ll really be on your way to decreasing injuries while improving your game.

I’m going to focus on the lower extremity, because lateral strength and stability around the hips is such an important factor in transferring all that gym work and running to the rugby field. Your strength and power for lateral movements comes from your glutes. Gluteus maximus has a couple of lesser known siblings (medius and minimus) that work to stabilize the hip and lift the leg out to the side. When you’re running in a straight line, these muscles are working hard to dynamically stabilize your pelvis and knee, but they really kick in when you start changing directions as in cutting or swerving. Weakness in your glutes can make you vulnerable to knee, pelvic and lower back injuries, while also impacting your performance in defensive and attacking situations on the pitch.

In attack, you need these muscles to accelerate out of a side step or take an arcing run to get outside a defender. In defense, lateral strength and power allows you to come forward quickly, but then turn and run with a defender without all you energy going into slowing down. In the tackle situation, when an attacker shifts at the last moment from what would have been a front on tackle, strong glutes will allow you to transfer all that forward energy into a powerful side on tackle.

Here are a couple of ways to add some lateral strength and stability to your training programs.

The “Punisher” (Glute med.): Lie on your side with your heels, buttocks, back and head against the wall. Bend your bottom leg so that the flat of your foot is against the wall. The top leg remains straight with only the heel touching the wall. Your goal is to slide your leg as high up the wall as you can take it (maintaining wall contact with your heel) and holding the top position for a slow count of five before sliding the leg back down the wall. Repeat. Make sure that you do not allow your body to come away from the wall. The most common mistake with this exercise is that people allow their upper torso to come away from the wall. Also, be sure that the heel stays in contact with the wall at all times.

For those of you out there that think it looks too much like a Jane Fonda special, give it a try. There’s a reason we call it the ‘punisher’ at the clinic. Once you’ve given it a shot, you can move on to a bit more integrated glute work. I know that with all the focus on

core work, there are a lot of people already doing side plank exercises. To increase the difficulty of a basic side plank, try these progressions;

Side Plank with Reverse Fly: Lying on your side, support yourself up on your bottom elbow. Make sure the elbow is directly under the shoulder and that your feet and hips are perfectly stacked. Hold a dumbbell in your other hand. Now activate your core and lift your hips up off of the ground. Keep your body in line. Try not to allow yourself to tip forward or back. While holding this position, attempt to perform a modified fly with the arm holding the dumbbell. The finish position is when the dumbbell is directly above the body in line with the side of the chest. Slowly lower the arm back down toward the ground in an arc­like movement. Perform 3 sets 10 repetitions of the fly on each side. To make it harder try keeping your top leg off the bottom one.

Side Plank with Leg Lift: In a normal side plank position, lift your top leg out to the side (like the punisher). Hold for a second at the top of the movement. Lower the top leg back down, so that it is resting on the bottom leg again, but don’t lower from the plank position. Repeat 15 times. Perform 3 set on each side.

Now that you’ve got your hips fired up in the gym, you’ve got to transfer it into functional movements. Side shuffling and carioca movements are great for warming up, but really don’t offer the punch needed to challenge your glutes. Side to side hopping is a great way to integrate lateral power from your glutes and push off from your quads.

Lateral Hopping: Start on one foot and jump sideways to land balanced on the other foot, pause for a second, then jump back to the other. Start with a short distance between the two feet, say a meter, and either do a set number of repetitions or go continuously for 20­30 seconds. As you’re able to generate more lateral power, increase the distance and shorten the pause on each foot. Just keep your center of gravity low and absorb the landing by bending your knee and hip.

The final transfer for this strength is into rugby specific situation, and that is up to you and your imagination to figure out. Be creative. After doing a few straight ahead sprints, try accelerating around a curve, like the 200 meter bend on the track. To make it competitive, run at a defender then do an arcing run to get outside of him or her. This will also work on the defender’s ability to turn and run with you. Work on your side step and your ability to accelerate out of one. You can also work on slalom course running. Start with small arcs, and gradually increase the degree of the curve. Try to run as quickly as you can through the course, and maintain your speed into and out of the curves.