Rugby league
training program
Win the collision, repeat high-intensity efforts, and absorb a brutal contact load every set.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.
Why this program exists
You train with the team twice a week and get flogged. Then you go to the gym and flog yourself again, because nobody told you that in-season lifting is supposed to be lighter. By mid-season you are carrying a neck, a shoulder and a hamstring, and your Bronco has gone backwards.
League is decided by whether you can win a collision and then do it again forty seconds later. That is max strength and power on one axis, repeat-effort capacity on the other, and the neck and trunk armour that lets you absorb contact without wearing it. The program loads the neck eccentrically as well as isometrically — resisting your head being moved for you is what actually happens in a tackle.
A default rugby league week
This is the sport’s own template — the starting point before it is fitted to your days, your equipment and your season. Team nights and game day are protected; everything else moves to the days you are free.
What rugby league is won with
These are the qualities the program is built to develop, in priority order. They come from the sport, not from a generic template.
- Max strength + power
- Collision tolerance
- Repeat-effort ability
- Neck + trunk armour
| Session | Type | Duration | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Strength (Lower) | Gym | 60–70 min | Build the squat + hinge base for collisions |
| Repeat-Effort Conditioning | Conditioning | 35–45 min | Recover fast between contacts |
| Power & Collision | Gym | 55–65 min | Explosive output + contact prep |
| Captain's Run Primer | Gym | 25–30 min | Light power + activation pre-game |
The season changes the program
League has the longest in-season of any football code here. That makes in-season maintenance the whole game: eight months of collision load with volume that never comes down is how a season ends in round 14.
- Pre-season
- November – February — set volume ×1.2. Build the engine and the strength base.
- In-season
- March – October — set volume ×0.7, prescribed weights hold. Maintain, don’t drain.
- Off-season
- None (a short break only) — baseline volume. Rebuild general strength and fix the niggles.
- Block structure
- Four-week blocks: three weeks accumulating, one week deload. The block’s character changes across the year rather than repeating.
- Game day
- Protected. The day before gets a 20-minute explosive primer with no running, no heavy legs and no prehab block bolted on.
The rugby league testing battery
Five numbers, re-run every eight weeks. Chosen to match what rugby league programs actually measure — and the results re-price your training weights and reset your conditioning paces.
| Test | Measures | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Bronco test | The repeat-effort benchmark both rugby codes are measured on. | mm:ss |
| Bench press 1RM | Upper-body pressing strength: the fend, the tackle, holding a bigger body off. | kg |
| Weighted chin-up 3RM | Pulling strength once bodyweight has stopped being a challenge. | kg added |
| Back squat 1RM | The base of every lower-body quality you have. | kg |
| Standing vertical jump | Lower-body power in its purest form, and the cheapest fatigue check you own. | cm |
Staying available
The prehab block is matched to the region of the session it sits in and to the tissue this sport actually punishes — not a generic mobility flow bolted to the front.
Prehab only works if it happens, and the reason it usually does not is that it has nothing to do with the session it is attached to. Rotating a pool by session number puts shoulder work before a squat day and Copenhagen planks before a bench press. Technically covered; nobody does it.
In Train Smart each movement is classified by the region it protects and matched to the session, and the pool rotates across the week so you cover all of it rather than doing the same three moves three times.
More on prehab that people actually do →
Rugby league training questions
What does the Train Smart rugby league program include?
When is rugby league pre-season?
Can I follow this program if I only train twice a week?
What tests does the rugby league program use?
Do I need a full gym?
Get your rugby league program
Pick rugby league, answer eight questions, and your week is built — around your team nights, your game and the days you can actually train.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.