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With the rugby union season well under way, players and teams are focused on maximising training efficiency to best prepare for winning games. We caught up with Head of Athletic Performance at Newcastle Falcons, Kevin McShane, to learn how his players prepared for the season ahead.
“This time round we had a much shorter pre-season than normal,” said McShane. “Usually we have 12 weeks of pre-season, but this year there were just nine. That meant we had to cut down the individual conditioning sessions and begin to focus on rugby and team sessions earlier. As a result, much of our conditioning stimulus, therefore, came through rugby and games in training.” Newcastle Falcons have spent a greater proportion than usual of pre-season getting players away from the training ground and transporting them ‘off-site’ to keep on top of their mental preparation. “It was a nice change for the players and kept things fresh and stimulating,” McShane observed.
Pre-season is about bringing athletes up to speed, both physically and mentally, and building a base of fitness. At Newcastle Falcons there was a specific focus on one area of fitness in particular. “We look to build on our overall fitness and performance for each season,” said McShane. “This year we had a specific focus on speed within our rugby movements in training. Hopefully, we’ll see this coming through as the season progresses.”
Now five games into the Premiership Rugby season, the focus shifts to maintaining fitness and supercharging recovery. McShane said: “Premiership Rugby is a demanding competition at the best of times. We also face a hefty travel schedule again this season – uniquely so, given our geographical location – with a lot of long bus trips to and from games. “For those games, we have to ensure we’ve recovered from training so we are physically prepared to play at our maximum. We do this through a combination of long-term training load-management strategies, making sure players have high levels of strength and are well conditioned to tolerate the training and game demands.”
And that isn’t the only tool in McShane’s armoury. Given the vast amount of time spent on buses, McShane has introduced the Newcastle Falcons players to Hytro as a way of optimising their recovery. “Post-game is a key period in which we can help to facilitate the recovery process,” McShane commented. “Hytro BFR Recovery Shorts offer us a practical way to begin that process after games during our journey home. ”
Applying Hytro BFR passively by simply wearing the shorts while sitting on a bus or sprawled on the sofa and strapping in for just a few minutes – helps to flush muscles of waste products, reduce inflammation, and drive fresh nutrient-rich blood into the muscles and joint tissues. It can be done anytime, anywhere, and by whole teams of athletes all at once. With its proven ability to reduce muscle soreness / joint pain while restoring neurological function, Hytro BFR helps athletes recover quicker and return to exercise feeling fresher. Given Newcastle Falcon’s busy season ahead, such gains could prove crucial.
Learn more in our journal about Hytro BFR’s unique ability to aid recovery.
Speak to our BFR Experts about using Hytro at your club by clicking the button below.
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