How to Increase Explosive Power & Acceleration

Want to steamroll through tackles and out run your opponents? Who wouldn’t? After all, you can’t tackle what you can’t catch.
MaxiNutrition has created the perfect sprint training program to help you build essential core strength and explosive power so you can dominate the opposition. The plan is suitable for rugby players in any position, as all positions require strength, endurance, speed and power.
This sprint training program will help with acceleration, but also deceleration – as you will need to be able to slow down with one or two steps in order to change direction after an initial burst of speed.
Split Squats
Muscles Worked: Quads, Abductors, Adductors, Calves, Glutes and Hamstrings.
Useful For: Adding extra punch to your tackles and inches to your jump.
Technique:
Whilst holding a dumbbell in each hand, position yourself with one foot behind you and the other foot forward. Both feet should be pointing forward.
Flex your knees and hips so that you lower your body towards the ground until your back knee touches the floor. Keep your front knee in line with your foot as you lower and make sure that your chest is up.
When your back knee is touching the floor, drive explosively through the heel so that your knee and hip is extended and you are back in the starting position – that’s one rep.
Perform 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg with 60 seconds rest in between each set.
Barbell Squat
Muscles Worked: Quads, Calves, Glutes, Hamstrings and Lower Back.
Useful For: Being quick off the mark to leave your opposition in the dust.
Technique:
Begin by standing with your feet a little wider than shoulder-width and toes pointing outwards slightly.
Rest the bar across the back of your shoulders using a closed overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
Once you are ready to begin the movement, slowly lower the bar by bending your knees and hips, maintaining a straight posture and keeping your head up as you do so.
Continue this movement until your thighs are just past parallel with the floor, inhaling as you lower. Make sure that your knees and the front of your toes are in a perpendicular line to the floor; otherwise you will be placing undue stress on the knee.
Return to the starting position by pushing against the floor with the heel of your foot and straightening your legs again, exhale as you do so.
Perform 3 sets of 8 reps with 60 seconds rest in between each set.
Lunge
Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, Calves and Glutes.
Useful For:  Improving sprint speed.
Technique:
Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Rest the bar across the back of your shoulders using a closed overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width.
Keeping your hips back, take a step forward with your right leg and squat down so that your knee bends to a 45-degree angle.
To reverse the movement, use the heel of your foot to push back up and return to the starting position – that’s one rep.
Perform 3 sets of 8 reps on each leg with 60 seconds rest in between each set.
Swiss Ball Hamstring Curls
Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, Calves and Glutes.
Useful For: Increasing your stride length to cover ground quicker.
Technique:
Begin by lying on your back, and placing your heels to the top of your calves on top of a swiss ball.
As you breathe in, lift your hips so that they are in line with your ankles, knees and shoulders.
From here, bring your knees in towards your hips by rolling the ball towards your glutes.
Push the ball back out to starting position – that’s one rep.
Perform 3 sets of 8 reps with 60 seconds rest in between each set.
Speed Ladder
Muscles Worked: Hamstrings, Calves and Glutes.
Useful For: Giving you speed over every blade of grass, from a few yards to the length of the pitch.
Technique:
2 x 10m Sprints (1 minute recovery after each rep)
2 x 20m Sprints (1 minute recovery after each rep)
2 x 30m Sprints (1 minute recovery after each rep)
2 x 40m Sprints (1 minute recovery after each rep)
2 x 50m Sprints (1 minute recovery after each rep)
Jog 30m into 20m Sprint at Max Effort
Jog 30m into 25m Sprint at Max Effort
Jog 30m into 30m Sprint at Max Effort
Cool Down
Check out MaxiNutrition for more tips on how to improve your Rugby performance.