Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...
Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ... Physical fitness of elite women's rugby union players over a ...
insufficient rest prior to the sprint test could be the contributing factors for the non-positive result. 2.5.3 Muscle Strength An investigation by Granados et al. (2004) on the changes in upper and lower body strength during a female competitive field hockey season, reported no changes in upper and lower body strength, although the athletes were stronger during pre-season and in-season compared with post-season. This is consistent with findings by Baker (2001b), whereby professional rugby league players maintained upper and lower body strength in both elite and amateur rugby league players throughout a competition season. It has been suggested that a lack of strength gains in experienced athletes could be due to their greater strength training background (Baker, 2001b; Baker & Newton, 2006), concurrent training (Kraemer et al., 2004) and a decrease in resistance training volume (Argus et al., 2009; Koutedakis, 1995) 2.5.4 Aerobic Fitness National male rugby players may exhibit significant increase in aerobic fitness during the preparatory phase of the season (Holmyard & Hazeldine, 1993; Gabbett, 2005a; Tong & Mayes, 1995) and no significant changes in aerobic power in the later part of the season (Holmyard & Hazeldine, 1993; Gabbett, 2005a). However, it has also been suggested the there is no significant change in aerobic fitness of college female field hockey players over the entire season Astorino et al., (2004). The improvement in the aerobic endurance of National 42
male rugby players may be associated with greater training volume during field conditioning sessions. the greater conditioning volume (Gabbett, 2005a). 2.6 SUMMARY Traditionally, the game of rugby union has been a male dominated sport. Acceptance of the female game by the International Rugby Board (IRB) has resulted in the emergence of a structured international competition being the World Cup. Rugby union is a contact sport in which players requires high levels of physical fitness which is a composite of aerobic and anaerobic endurance, muscle strength and power, speed and agility.With rugby union increasingly being played year round, a greater emphasis has being placed on the development and maintenance of physical fitness levels. Much research has been conducted with male rugby players, but very little with females. Therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute the knowledge of coaches by describing anthropometric and physical characteristics of an elite women’s rugby union within a competition season. 43
- Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to ack
- Page 5 and 6: In both positional groups, no signi
- Page 7 and 8: 2.3 PHYSIOLOGICAL DEMANDS OF RUGBY
- Page 9 and 10: 4.3.3 Speed .......................
- Page 11 and 12: LIST OF TABLES PAGE Table I: Body M
- Page 13 and 14: CHAPTER ONE STATEMENT OF THE PROBLE
- Page 15 and 16: 2007). Static exertion requires gre
- Page 17 and 18: From the time men’s rugby union b
- Page 19 and 20: • 10 and 40 m speed • 1 RM benc
- Page 21 and 22: (Gabbett, 2007; Quarrie et al., 199
- Page 23 and 24: Physical performance characteristic
- Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITER
- Page 27 and 28: LEOPARDS No of Women’s Clubs: 7 N
- Page 29 and 30: 2.2.3 International Women’s Rugby
- Page 31 and 32: 2.3.1 Movement Patterns Time-motion
- Page 33 and 34: Analysis of work-to-rest periods in
- Page 35 and 36: 2.4.1 Body Mass There has been a ma
- Page 37 and 38: Table I: Body Mass (kg) of female r
- Page 39 and 40: Table II: Stature (cm) of female ru
- Page 41 and 42: Table III: Comparison of 10m and 40
- Page 43 and 44: etween age groups (Durandt et al.,
- Page 45 and 46: Durandt et al., (2006) indicate tha
- Page 47 and 48: Table IV: Comparison of Vertical Ju
- Page 49 and 50: to allow accurate comparison (Duthi
- Page 51 and 52: 1988; Ueno, Watai, & Ishii, 1988).
- Page 53: staff with regards to selection and
- Page 57 and 58: Union. The players were sub-divided
- Page 59 and 60: Body mass Skinfolds (biceps, tricep
- Page 61 and 62: held at 90 degrees to the surface o
- Page 63 and 64: knees extended (straight), and bare
- Page 65 and 66: controlled manner to the center of
- Page 67 and 68: withdraw from the test if they are
- Page 69 and 70: CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.1 INTRODUCTI
- Page 71 and 72: the descriptive analysis indicated
- Page 73 and 74: Sum of skinfolds (mm) 200 180 160 1
- Page 75 and 76: Percentage Body Fat (%) 40 35 30 25
- Page 77 and 78: Within forwards, there was a small
- Page 79 and 80: 10m speed (sec) 2.4 2.2 2.0 1.8 1.6
- Page 81 and 82: 40m speed (sec) 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 * * *
- Page 83 and 84: No difference was apparent within p
- Page 85 and 86: Pull ups 10 8 6 4 2 * * Forwards Ba
- Page 87 and 88: 50 40 * * * Forwards Backs Push-ups
- Page 89 and 90: CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AN
- Page 91 and 92: Cup (Schick et al., 2006). Attentio
- Page 93 and 94: skinfold thickness throughout the s
- Page 95 and 96: likelihood of injury during a train
- Page 97 and 98: can be possibly attributed to a gre
- Page 99 and 100: provide a good measure of the upper
- Page 101 and 102: mid-season, which performed 12 and
- Page 103 and 104: A reasonably high aerobic fitness l
male <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>players</strong> may be associated with greater training volume during field conditioning<br />
sessions. the greater conditioning volume (Gabbett, 2005a).<br />
2.6 SUMMARY<br />
Traditionally, the game <strong>of</strong> <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>union</strong> has been a male dominated sport. Acceptance <strong>of</strong> the<br />
female game by the International Rugby Board (IRB) has resulted in the emergence <strong>of</strong> a<br />
structured international competition being the World Cup. Rugby <strong>union</strong> is a contact sport in<br />
which <strong>players</strong> requires high levels <strong>of</strong> physical <strong>fitness</strong> which is a composite <strong>of</strong> aerobic and<br />
anaerobic endurance, muscle strength and power, speed and agility.With <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>union</strong><br />
increasingly being played year round, a greater emphasis has being placed on the development<br />
and maintenance <strong>of</strong> physical <strong>fitness</strong> levels. Much research has been conducted with male<br />
<strong>rugby</strong> <strong>players</strong>, but very little with females. Therefore, the aim <strong>of</strong> this study is to contribute the<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> coaches by describing anthropometric and physical characteristics <strong>of</strong> an <strong>elite</strong><br />
women’s <strong>rugby</strong> <strong>union</strong> within a competition season.<br />
43
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