Match Fitness After 16 Years Out (Ruggers)

[Glassman]

16 years since I played my last competitive game of rugby. Today I went to watch and support my mate play and just being on the touchline got my adrenaline flowing.

At 39, I reckon I have a few games in me and I want to give it another go.

Much has changed during those 16 years - rules of the game as well as how my much heavier body will react to 80 mins of slogging it out on a heavy pitch against players who have been playing for the time that I wasn't.

I wanna have a go and I'm thinking to start training with the lads for a while and see how I feel. Perhaps even think about preparing for next season with a view to making a sub appearance or two... am I being realistic?

Honestly?

[GT 1]

Go for it

It may take a while if you're unfit and a bit of a porker but what have you got to lose? A couple of teeth and a few pounds?

[Don1]

Start by non-contact training, and re-learning the rules (they have changed a lot in the last few years). Set yourself realistic expectations, and more into full contact training.

If you can take (and recover) from the bumps and bruises, see if you can get yourself a 1/2.

For actual fitness training, I'd suggest some pyramid runs (tryline, 5m, tryline, 22, tryline, 10, etc, etc etc) - always worked well for me!

And good luck! I wish I could play again...

[Twit]

Go for it, I'm the same age and I still play pretty regularly, although I havent stopped playing since I was 5! The key is to be realistic, I played at a pretty high level during my late 20s and early 30s; but now, to put it bluntly, I'm crap! Age catches up and speed disappears, which has meant in may case that I have had to move inside and closer to the scrum thing that I have never really understood!!!

I think you should just train for the rest of the season, what position are you going to play? If it is with the fat boys concentrate of technique, body position and the rules. Also, relearn how to tackle - getting your head on the right side etc and understand what you have to following the tackle - that has changed. Then its about fitness and being able to take the tackles, being hit constantly really takes it out of you. If you are going the pretty route, its much the same but positioning becomes really important as does the ability to run the right lines. Good lines and good positioning can make up for slowing legs... I should know!!!

You should certainly get a game, now isnt a bad time to try and get into it as quite a lot of the social players will now be heading off to the odd 6 nations game, so there may be some space in the teams.

Above all enjoy it, its still the best team sport in the world!!!!

[Glassman]

Thanks lads.

It's taken me a long time to want to play again. To effectively walk away from playing for a leading team, your county (+ poly) and are one step away from representing England... I just didn't want enough. I chose to blame distractions in my life as the chief causes.

But, the here and now is: I've got the will to want to play again. Not quite London Wasps, or Buckinghamshire County (or even South East England for that matter), but a team struggling for players (and results) based in Essex. My mate plays and they seem like a good bunch of lads - as rugby team usually tend to be.

I do have a slight reservation in that if I get injured, I can't work. I'm not expecting to get injured, but watching the game yesterday, five players were carried off with injuries such as, broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, gashed shin (from studs) broken thumb...

I know if I'm on the pitch, I won't back out of q 50/50... which could spell trouble for me at work.

[BigAlinEmbra]

Aside from the fitness thing, get your gumshield from the dentist.
Costs far more than a crappy sportshop one, but much less that getting any knocked/chipped teeth replaced.

Closer fit helps when you're huffing and puffing too.

[Twit]

Glassman said:

I do have a slight reservation in that if I get injured, I can't work. I'm not expecting to get injured, but watching the game yesterday, five players were carried off with injuries such as, broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, gashed shin (from studs) broken thumb...

Bloody hell!!! Was it a battle? To put into perspective, thats about as many injuries in one game as I've seen all season - and they are quite bad ones! In my experience that level of injury (in terms of numbers) only really happens in hard games or when two really rubbish teams come up against each other and there are a lot of players who have not really ever learnt the basics. I've had my fair share of injuries, amd plenty of breaks etc, but only really one injury that had a determental effect to other areas of life; that was a disloctated ankle which then broke when I had an attempt to put it back in... It went in, which was good but cracked something else... It hurt!

You'll be fine, you have played at a decent level before; just take your time and remember your age!!!

[Glassman]

Twit said:

Bloody hell!!! Was it a battle?

Home side played the last 10 mins with 14 men - that was after the player/coach got changed to come on as a sub!

All good fun.

The two side were fairly well matched. One or two players stood out for me, home side hooker had an excellent game, so too did their stand-off who was the recipient of that gashed shin late in the first half.