England's loose-head prop, Andy Sheridan, achieved instant
legend status when he demolished Australia's scrum at
Twickenham in November. The Wallabies' Al Baxter was firstly
sin-binned for his inability to hold his footing, then his
replacement, Matt Dunning, was stretchered from the field with
a neck injury. The more cynical might wonder how genuine that
injury was, but either way it amounted to an acknowledgement
that Sheridan was simply much too strong for two experienced
international props. He has since been lauded as the strongest
front rower in the world.
The most interesting question is whether his strength is
freakish and abnormal or the product of the dedicated
application of modern strength training.
There is no doubt that Andrew Sheridan had the genetic
endowment to be very big and strong. At Dulwich College, a
prestigious south London public school, Sheridan was the
dominant player in a team that remained unbeaten from under-11
to first XV. His first rugby master recalled: "Never before
have I seen one player inject so much fear into the opposition
and dominate so many games with a combination of size, speed
and strength."
But the boy was not content simply to exploit his natural
advantages. "Everyone was competitive, driving to be better
players even at a young age, and that continued right through
our time at the school. We used to boost each other. There was
a real competitive element. Our training sessions were very
hard, and as well as the three rugby sessions each week, lots
of players were doing extra weights sessions, extra running,
always trying to improve."
The Dulwich years led to an obsession with relentless
weights training: "Weight training was something I have always
enjoyed. Something I got a high from doing. There is
definitely something addictive about it. That’s partly down to
the improvement you can see, but it’s also to do with how you
feel afterwards.
"They talk about endorphins or something being released —
not that you can go and pick up your car after a hard session,
but you do feel good. I liked the feeling of being able to
shift a weight that to the average person seems very heavy.
It’s whatever works for you."
While playing for Richmond and later the Bristol Shoguns,
Sheridan did many extra sessions in the gym, striving to
become massively strong. He set himself a target of
bench-pressing 500lbs (227kg), eventually achieving 215kg.
"The weightlifting wasn’t directly related to rugby, but if I
reach a goal like that, I am going to be more confident."
"players with appropriate genetic
endowment can achieve massive strength specific to the demands
of their sport through the long term application of strength
training techniques. "
He has since acknowledged "Getting strong on the bench
press won't necessarily make me play rugby any better. ...
Perhaps when I was 19 or 20 it was more of an ego thing trying
to bump it up, but I've gotten over that now." His focus has
shifted to improving leg strength and back strength.
Sheridan's forwards coach at Sale, Kingsley Jones, says
"I’ve been in rugby all my life, and he’s the strongest guy
I’ve come across in the game or outside it. And he’s so
dynamic with it. ... He can do the fast exercises; he can do
the strong exercises. He’s just an incredible athlete."
Sale's fitness coach, Nick Johnston, believes that Sheridan
has not yet reached his full strength potential. "From a
trainer's point of view," he says, "he could probably improve
another 25 to 30%. Which is quite frightening."
If he had not developed a preoccupation with strength
training, Andy Sheridan would still have developed into a big
and powerful rugby player but almost certainly not one who
would have reached the international level. His example
suggests that players with appropriate genetic endowment can
achieve massive strength specific to the demands of their
sport through the long term application of strength training
techniques. However, in order to do so, these players
currently have to almost defy the rugby world's orthodoxy in
relation to strength and conditioning.
There is a general failure to recognise firstly that rugby
players are typically not particularly strong given their size
and secondly that superior dynamic strength can yield huge
advantage in the sport of rugby. However, the gradual
recognition and exploitation of these truths is beginning to
revolutionise the game.
Sources Formidable
frontman Sheridan measures up in battle of big beasts
The
Big Interview: Andrew Sheridan - Sunday Times - Times
Online
See also "Sheridan's Scrummaging Tips on the coachingrugby.com website.
(This article also appears on the MyoQuip Blog
website)
For
up-to-the-minute information about Myoquip and discussion of
strength-related issues visit the MyoQuip
Blog
Email MyoQuip for
quotes and other product information
Please bookmark this site and come back
often
| 
