Strength and power characteristics in English elite rugby league players

Comfort, P; Graham-Smith, P; Matthews, M; Bamber, C

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present data on the strength and power characteristics of forwards and backs in a squad of elite English rugby league players and compare these findings to previously published literature from Australia. Participants were elite English rugby league players (n = 18; height 184.16 6 5.76 cm; body mass 96.87 6 10.92 kg, age 21.67 6 4.10 years) who were all regular first team players for an English Superleague club.
Testing included 5-, 10-, 20-m sprint times, agility, vertical jump, 40-kg squat jump, isometric squat, concentric and eccentric isokinetic knee flexion and extension. Independent t-tests were performed to compare results between forwards and backs, with paired samples t-tests used to compare bilateral differences from
isokinetic assessments and agility tests. Forwards demonstrated significantly (p , 0.05) greater body mass (102.15 6 7.5 kg), height (186.30 6 5.47 cm), power during the 40-kg jump squat(2,106 6 421 W), isometric force (3,122 6 611 N) and peak torque during left concentric isokinetic knee extension (296.1 6 54.2 N�m) compared to the backs (86.30 6 8.97 kg; 179.87 6 3.72 cm; 1,709 6 286W; 2,927 6 607 N; 241.7 6 35.2 N�m, respectively). However, no significant differences (p . 0.05) were noted between forwards and backs during right concentric isokinetic knee extension (274.8637.7 and 246.8625.8 N�m),
concentric isokinetic knee flexion for both left (158.8 6 28.6 and 141.0 6 22. 7 N�m) and right legs (155.3 6 22.9 and 128.0 6 23.9 N�m), eccentric isokinetic knee flexion and extension, hamstring quadriceps ratios, or vertical jump (37.25 6 4.35 and 40.33 6 6.38 cm). In comparison, relative measures demonstrated that backs performed significantly better compared to the forwards during the 40-kg jump squat (20.71 6 5.15 and 19.91 6 3.91 W�kg21) and the isometric squat (34.32 6 7.9 and 30.65 6 5.34 N�kg21). Bilateral comparisons revealed no significant differences (p . 0.05) between left and right leg performances in the agility test (3.26 6 0.18 and 3.24 6 0.18 seconds), or between left (0.7 6 0.10) and right (0.71 6 0.17)
leg eccentric hamstring concentric quadriceps ratios. The results demonstrate that absolute strength and power measures are generally higher in forwards compared to in backs; however, when body mass is taken into account and relative measures compared, the backs outperform the forwards.

Citation

Comfort, P., Graham-Smith, P., Matthews, M., & Bamber, C. (2011). Strength and power characteristics in English elite rugby league players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(5), 1374-1384. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d687f5

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Jun 1, 2011
• Journal: Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research
• Print ISSN: 1064-8011
• Publisher: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 25
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 1374-1384
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d687f5
• Keywords: performance, isokinetic, isometric, dynamic
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d687f5