In previous articles we've looked at how to improve your sprint speed and which exercises suit rugby training and conditioning.
In those articles we concluded that training in just one rep range isn't optimal. Training strength, speed and power alongside each other is the best way to progress each of them. Training only sets of five for a year will certainly make you stronger, but is it optimal? No.
Adding hypertrophy work, and some speed work, will push your strength further while also building muscle and explosiveness. That's what a rugby player wants: to improve everything at the same or a similar rate.
There's no point gaining two stone of muscle and becoming a slower, more sluggish player. Better to gain it a little more slowly while your strength and speed improve with it. You'll become a bigger, stronger, faster athlete, which brings us to the subject of this article: Dr Layne Norton's PHAT routine.
Who is Layne Norton?
If you haven't heard of him, Layne Norton is well known in both bodybuilding and powerlifting. He has competed as a professional natural bodybuilder and as an elite powerlifter, and holds a PhD in nutritional sciences. He's now one of the best-known evidence-based coaches and educators in fitness.
He's a strong believer in training several rep ranges at the same time, which is why he created PHAT, short for Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training. His view is that the best way to improve strength is to train hypertrophy and speed alongside it. So before you plan your next pre-season around strength alone, consider a system like this.
The PHAT weekly layout
PHAT is a five-day programme: two power days, then three hypertrophy days.
- Day 1: upper-body power
- Day 2: lower-body power
- Day 3: rest
- Day 4: back and shoulders hypertrophy
- Day 5: lower-body hypertrophy
- Day 6: chest and arms hypertrophy
- Day 7: rest
Five gym days is a lot alongside rugby training. In-season, most players will be better off with a three-day plan like the one in our rugby training guide, and saving PHAT for the off-season.
Day 1: Upper-body power
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Bent-over or Pendlay rows (power) | 3 x 3 to 5 |
| Weighted pull-ups | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Rack chins | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Flat dumbbell press (power) | 3 x 3 to 5 |
| Weighted dips | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Seated dumbbell shoulder press | 3 x 6 to 10 |
| Cambered bar curls | 3 x 6 to 10 |
| Skull crushers | 3 x 6 to 10 |
Day 2: Lower-body power
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Squats (power) | 3 x 3 to 5 |
| Hack squats | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Leg extensions | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Stiff-legged deadlifts | 3 x 5 to 8 |
| Glute-ham raises or lying leg curls | 2 x 6 to 10 |
| Standing calf raises | 3 x 6 to 10 |
| Seated calf raises | 2 x 6 to 10 |
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back and shoulders hypertrophy
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Bent-over or Pendlay rows (speed work, 65 to 70% of your 3 to 5 rep max) | 6 x 3 |
| Rack chins | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Seated cable rows | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Chest-supported dumbbell rows or shrugs | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Close-grip pulldowns | 2 x 15 to 20 |
| Seated dumbbell press | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Upright rows | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Lateral raises (dumbbells or cables) | 3 x 12 to 20 |
Day 5: Lower-body hypertrophy
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Squats (speed work, 65 to 70% of your 3 to 5 rep max) | 6 x 3 |
| Hack squats | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Leg press | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Leg extensions | 3 x 15 to 20 |
| Romanian deadlifts | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Lying leg curls | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Seated leg curls | 2 x 15 to 20 |
| Donkey calf raises | 4 x 10 to 15 |
| Seated calf raises | 3 x 15 to 20 |
Day 6: Chest and arms hypertrophy
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Flat dumbbell press (speed work, 65 to 70% of your 3 to 5 rep max) | 6 x 3 |
| Incline dumbbell press | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Machine chest press | 3 x 12 to 15 |
| Incline cable flyes | 2 x 15 to 20 |
| Cambered bar preacher curls | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Dumbbell concentration curls | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Spider curls (chest on an incline bench) | 2 x 15 to 20 |
| Seated cambered bar triceps extensions | 3 x 8 to 12 |
| Rope pushdowns | 2 x 12 to 15 |
| Cable kickbacks | 2 x 15 to 20 |
Day 7: Rest
Making PHAT work for rugby
- Keep the speed work fast. On the hypertrophy days, the first exercise is speed work at 65 to 70% of your power-day weights. Move every rep as fast as you can. If the bar slows, it's too heavy.
- Progress the power lifts. On the power days, add weight when you hit the top of the rep range on every set.
- Cut volume in-season. Drop a hypertrophy day, or a few accessory sets, when you're playing every weekend.
- Add power work if you can. Jumps or medicine ball throws before the power days are a good addition for rugby.
- Eat for the workload. Five hard sessions a week need fuel, and protein in particular. Use ParrotPal's protein calculator to set a daily target from your height and weight.
If you try PHAT, track your lifts and your sprint times and see how they move together. For a simpler three-day alternative built for players, see our rugby training guide, or start with the top 3 strength exercises for rugby.