Top flight players strength and fitness

I was thinking the other day about how strong and fit the top level rugby players are...

Ie What they're benching or deadlifting.

How they do on the bleep test etc. - I know David Beckham and Neil Back completed it.

Do you have any ideas.

The Franks brothers are amazing. 230kg I think Owen benches? There are articles on NZ papers (Stuff.co.nz is great) about it. They do their own nutrition etc and the coaches just let them go. When SBW did his boxing training in SA they joined him.

McCaw got about 21 on the beep test. Brad Thorn (!) was the second with I can't remember what. Jon Preston was a machine he went till the tape ran out (almost)

I believe that Sheridan can bench a stupid amount, but Henry Tuilangi and rep the same weight. Or at least that is the story one of teh gym monkeys at work keeps coming out with.

I'd be genuinely amazed if any rugby forward got to 21. 16 or 17 would be impressive considering the body shape they have to maintain to endure the contact involved. Peak Football / AFL players are apparently around 16-18.

Here's a story on the AB's beep test from last year (after the SBW guff). There's video of it here (Flash required)
though all it really tells you is SBW and a lot of other backs managed 19, while Conrad Smith topped it with 19.4. I've seen some suggestions that McCaw reached 19.2.

And Neil Back is rumoured to have passed 20.

rumoured

read comments 1,12 and 35

kiwi, Im not claiming to be any fitness guru as I spend my life driving a desk, but 21 or even 19 in a beep test is a stretch to my understanding of it.

Boomeranga, it's impressive - though I wonder if the ABs test is a variation with slightly higher scoring?. Eric Rush was known as the fittest man in NZ rugby back in the day, and his best was apparently 16 back in 1998.

I suspect I'd be lucky to manage a 2

I got this off the internet, this was the minimum requirements for the Boks in 2007.

Test Inside backs Outside backs Loose forwards Locks Hookers Props

Body fat
(mm) < 56 < 56 < 72 < 90 < 72 < 96

Vertical Jump
(cm) 65 68 62 65 60 55

Sprint 10m (sec)
on grass 1.65 1.68 1.72 1.75 1.75 1.80

Sprint 40m (sec)
on grass 5.25 5.10 5.30 5.50 5.50 5.65

Max Bench Press
(factor times
body weight) 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.5 1.5

Max Squat
(kg/kg.bw) 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.8 1.8

Repeat Sprint Ability
(m) on grass 780 780 760 750 750 720

Bleep Test (Level) 13.5 13.5 13.0 12.5 13.0 11.5

3km run (min/sec)
on track or similar 11.15 11.15 11.45 12.15 12.00 12.45

I think with regards the bleep test or the multistage fitness test that this can be done using 15metre or 20metre shuttles and there are different versions of the test.

I heard the Sebastion Coe and beckham completed the test years ago but after just googling it apparantly Coe reached 17 and no one has ever completed it so there is obviously a bit of false info circulating.

I rememeber watching Warrington Wolves U-14's(or was it 16's) I think and the top lads got to level 14 I think.

My best was 12 I think in my university team (I was a wing) but no one else got higher than 11. I read on another site the average for an International RL team was L13 S2.

I find it hard to believe those scores of 19+ and can only presume that they were doing 15 metre shuttles. Even a top distance runner would struggle to get that high and their VO2 max would be superhuman.

Am sure Preston got 20-21. I thought he was the best of the NZers-I remember reading about it in the Evening Post (aah those were the days of an evening scroll)

I think the point here is that compared to the likes of you and I professional atheletes are shockingly fit. I came top of our clubs test recently on a 10.7 ( I had run 20 miles the previous day mind).
To think that the Boks were asking propos to do a MINIMUM of 11.5 seriously puts me in my place. The enstrance requirement for the Para's is 14.

Rodders...i just sreached seb coe and the artcile i found said he did 21, and that several atheletes claim to have comepleted 23. Top distance runners are suppossed to be 19+...i wouldnt be suprised if top cyclists way above that especially if they are on borrowed blood and nandrolone.

It still makes a Back claim of 20 dubious at best, so yeah it does seem theres variation in starting speed and/or shuttle run distance here.

Pete I thought Coe did 21 too but I've just read somewhere it was 17. I'm sure people have reached 20-21 but they would be exceptions to the norm.

I agree that of course the top athletes are far fitter but 21 seems incredible aerobic fitness for a rugby player. The thing with the bleep test though is that results can vary depending on the venue i.e. temperature, surface, accuracy of the shuttles etc.

I would like to add that I voluntarily stopped at 12 to make my team mates feel better and could have continued .....

Yeah yeah.
The test is certainly something you can learn to do more efficently, its really the accelartion between shuttles thats so tireing. This was my first attempt and we hadnt a clue what was going on and never really got into a rythm with it, thats (another one of) my excuses anyway!
I got drilled last night and beaten by two girls in a 200m race so I cant even claim to have raw speed, I make up for it with brains charm and popularity though

Fromw hat ive read elsewhere rugby players fitness levels whilst way above those of mortal humans are still well behind those of the elite in pure athletic sports ( running, rowing, cycling, darts) .
Theres and artcile somewhere where Johnson talks about the difference between the kind of fitness required for rugby and maercian football too, pointing out that whilst both are anerobic sports rugby requires much more stamina but as a result the players have much lower levels of explosive power than NFL players would require.

Its clear that the results arent as clear as i first thought. Maybe it should be change to only register a 20m or 15m distance....then it would be much clearer.

I have done 14 when i was at school....and i found that very hard. But to get to level 23 seems absurd...aside from the fact you must be pretty much sprinting flat out for quite a long period of time....

Pete I'm not sure if you would say rugby players aren't as fit as those other sports but there are different types of fitness. Rugby is intermittent so although there is a high aerobic element it mainly anaerobic i.e. short intense bursts.

The bleeb test is an aerobic test therefore top rugby players wouldn't be expected to score as high as middle distance runners, skiers, cyclists or even footballers (not sure about darts though ).

The bleep test is always easier 2nd time round as you have a target and it's also easier if you are doing it with other people.

I'd say for all round fitness top rugby players are right up there.

Geordie if the sprint distance was a full 20m then 14 is a very good score, way above average and a very good level for a rugby player.

Some places definitely use 15m though. I think the police and other services do. This will obviously allow you to get a far higher score.

I can't remember what the police one was, but the level I had to get to a few years back now was pretty low. I know the RAF one is 20m and my best is 11.1, but then I am a lumbering oaf and so just tend to do the bare minimum just to get the pass (9.10, or level 10 so I go up a level in theory).

I cannot imagine how anybody can complete the test to be honest, even a professional player.

I don't blame you Risca I don't think anyone in their right mind would continue unless you had to. It's fecking horrible, it was 8 years ago since I did it and I can still remember it!

I don't know how anyone can finish it either. I'm convinced you would explode.

Long distance runners would probably have the best shot. Aren't they expected to get 17/18?

I wish I could remember the referee fitness targets. There are Bleep Test and JAM test scores as well as a 3km run time.

According to Chris Wyatt there's web-site that contains these stats but they're only available for viewing by the Rugby Union's. We'll never know. But there's probably a chance you can look at the past results for all players fitness tests.

Thomond wrote:Long distance runners would probably have the best shot. Aren't they expected to get 17/18?

Yeah but middle distance (800-1'500m) runners actually do slightly better. I think x-country skiers are supposed to have the highest average vo2 max.