Owen Farrell on his best leg exercises for explosive power and strength

Ahead of this autumn’s World Cup, England captain Owen Farrell has shared his workout of the day

Farrell’s favourite gym exercises are key for boosting explosive power and strength. These are attributes that every rugby player needs in abundance, regardless of position.

Warm Up

For Owen Farrell, mobility and activation are the orders of the day when it comes to warming up. The best holds to perform are:

• Spider Man Stretch
• Forward Lunge w/ Hip Flexor Stretch
• High Knee to Cossack Squat

Spend 60 seconds on each to really get limber before hitting the weights room.

Strength

Farrell says, “As rugby is a positional field sport we need to work all three planes of motion and use key movement patterns.”

The three main planes of motion involved are sagittal (forward and back), frontal (side to side) and transverse (rotational).

As a lot of power in rugby stems from the lower body, Farrell has based this workout on legs. The largest muscles in the lower body such as the quads, hamstrings and glutes will particularly feel the force of this circuit.

• Kettlebell goblet squat (use two kettlebells if advanced, as below
• Hip hinge deadlift (with two kettlebells)
• Backward lunge with one kettlebell
• Lateral lunge (both sides, one kettlebell)
• Single leg deadlift (one kettlebell)

Explosive power

• Start with a 15 metre sled push
• while team rotates on the assault bike
• Assault bike – max power for calories
• Sled pushes max push up and down 15m track

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