During the teenage years it’s not unusual for rugby players to want to add additional training sessions into their week.
This may include strength work, along with cardio and rugby specific skills.
They may also have several different allegiances, such as school and club rugby, or another sports.
The hours of physical exercise can quickly mount up each week – especially if they’re also have active hobbies and interests.
Some young people may be at risk of overtraining and burnout, especially if they have an overly-competitive attitude, try and keep up with team mates, or are worried about loosing their place on the team.
What are the risks of over training?
Overtraining, which results in physical and mental exhaustion, happens when the body cannot recover from the intensity and volume of training.
This can lead to poor playing performance and increased risk of injury.
Burnout happens when the body reaches a point of total exhaustion and can affect all aspects of life, not just rugby.
Overtraining and Burnout can lead to your teen stopping enjoying the sport and is likely to also have an impact on their school work and personal life.
Here are some hacks to prevent your child from experiencing overtraining and burnout in rugby:
Hack 1: Be vigilant – is your teen doing too much?
Teenagers aren’t always very vocal, but you know your child, so monitor them for signs of tiredness and exhaustion.
Keep a track of how often they’re training and playing, keeping a particular check on how often they’re playing contact rugby (i.e a match or tackling practice).
Is anything else going on in their life, such as exams or relationship issues that could be taking up additional energy?
Hack 2: Are they playing too much contact rugby?
There are strict guidelines in place around how long a player should wait between each episode of contact rugby, to avoid concussion risks.
School and club will not know each others schedules so if necessary speak to your child and their coaches / teachers to agree when they should be available for team selection, and how much training is expected each week.
Hack 3: Educate them (and yourself) into the dangers of over training
Teens rarely listen to their parents, so this video of former Welsh Captain Sam Warburton may work better.
He makes it very clear from the offset that overtraining is not a recipe for rugby success, and confesses to doing 30 days in the gym in a row as a young player, before he learnt his lesson!
Hack 4: Mandate Rest Days
For optimal performance on the rugby pitch and injury prevention, rest is ABSOLUTELY essential.
At the beginning you may need to step in and be firm about this if your child is prone to overtraining and at risk of burnout.
They need rest days in their training schedule to give their body and mind time for proper recovery.
Encouraging your child to have interests separate to rugby can help so that they are able to give their attention to other areas in their lives.
Hack 5: Encourage variety in their training
Variety is the spice of life! Keep an eye on what your teen is doing, and make sure they’re not overdoing one type of training.
Suggest they split their days into different areas of focus including strength and conditioning exercises, stamina, cardio and skill development exercises.
Not only will this improve their fitness overall, it will also reduce the risk of injury, keep your child mentally stimulated, and not drain the fun out of the sport.
Hack 6: Speak to the experts if you’re worried
Your child’s rugby coach or PE teacher is a good first point of contact. Explain your concerns about what’s going on, and hopefully they can advise whether things need to change.
If you’re worried that the culture at the club or school is promoting the over training you may need to seek outside support. Your GP, a personal trainer or physiotherapist are good options.
Don’t be afraid to get a second opinion if you are concerned about your child’s physical or mental health.
Hack 7: Keep positive
Remind your teen of the less competitive aspects of rugby that add to the fun of the sport, for instance the excitement and togetherness that stems from teamwork.
Make sure that winning isn’t your child’s sole focus of playing rugby as this may trigger an unhealthy preoccupation surrounding their performance during matches, which, in turn, may cause them to feel unmotivated if they are on the losing team.
