Front row strength training: a guide for props and hookers

Props and hookers have the most specific job on the pitch. You spend the game in collisions, scrums, mauls and rucks, often with your spine and neck under load, and you’re expected to carry and tackle around the field too. The front row has its own demands, so it needs its own training emphasis.

This guide covers how we programme the front row (numbers 1–3) in Match Ready. It builds on our general rugby strength training programme, so read that for the basics of sets, reps and progression.

What the front row needs

In the six position groups we use, the front row’s emphasis is maximal strength, neck and trunk, and scrum-specific strength endurance. Research on positional demands puts props and hookers among the players with the most contact and the least high-speed running Cunningham et al. 2016 Paul et al. 2022. In amateur club rugby, front-rowers cover about 64 metres per minute of playing time, the lowest of any group, with very little high-speed running Olsen et al. 2023.

That doesn’t mean front-rowers are slow by design. Front-five momentum (mass times speed) has risen by more than a quarter since the late 1990s, mainly through speed. A heavy prop who can also move is a weapon.

Hookers sit slightly apart. They throw in at the lineout and often get round the field more, so in conditioning drills we group them with locks and the back row: contact-heavy running sets with about 0.7–0.9 contacts a minute (a get-up, a tackle-bag hit or a ruck clear), modelled on the most intense passages of play Reardon et al. 2017.

Maximal strength first

Front-rowers benefit more than anyone from raw strength. Build the programme around:

• A squat: back or front squat to full depth, the default test lift.
• A hinge: Romanian deadlift and a deadlift variation. The Romanian deadlift is especially valuable for front-rowers because it teaches a neutral spine under load, the position you need in the scrum.
• Pressing and pulling: bench press, overhead or push press, rows and weighted chin-ups, with pulling volume at least matching pressing.
• Single-leg strength: split squats or step-ups, because scrummaging and driving are done from a split stance.

As a rough benchmark, strength emphasis stays high until your squat approaches about 2× bodyweight. Bodyweight multiples flatter lighter players and understate heavy ones, so for a 120 kg prop treat these numbers as a loose guide, not a pass mark.

Neck strength: three times a week

Every contact player should train the neck, and the front row gets the full dose: three times a week, all season. A good progression:

1. Self-resisted holds with no kit: push your hand against your head forwards, back, left and right, building effort steadily over 15 seconds, 2–3 rounds.
2. Add rotation both ways.
3. Partner resistance and bands through the range, with extension (pushing the head back) prioritised.
4. Plate or harness work with controlled lowering, for adults with lifting experience.

An eight-week self-resisted programme improved neck strength in age-grade rugby players Attwood et al. 2021. Train by holding time and effort, never into pain. Dizziness, pins and needles or arm symptoms mean stop and get checked. And be clear about what it does: a stronger neck is good contact preparation, but neck training isn’t proven to prevent concussion. Full details in our neck strength guide.

Players new to the front row should do a 6-week neck and trunk block before the season starts.

Trunk and scrum-specific strength

The scrum needs a trunk that can hold a flat back under huge force. Progress through:

• Bird-dog, then loaded planks, then sled pushes in a scrum posture: flat back, hips below shoulders, head up.
• Isometric leg drives against a fixed object: build to 70–80% effort quickly, hold up to about 6 seconds, breathe rather than hold your breath, and keep total isometric work under 10 minutes a session.
• Quad and leg endurance so your posture holds late in the game: steady sled pushes, loaded carries and scrum-machine work at 25–50% of max, stopping well before exhaustion.

The choice of these specific exercises is coach’s method rather than tested in trials, but the principle that front-rowers need trunk and leg endurance to hold position comes from research on scrummaging forces and muscle activity Trewartha et al. 2015.

Spine care for props and hookers

Front-rowers and locks put the spine under more load than other positions, so we add a few rules:

• Weekly trunk extensor (back raises, bird-dogs) and anti-flexion work (planks, carries).
• No heavy loaded spinal flexion, such as weighted sit-ups.
• Don’t schedule a heavy leg-fatigue session right before scrum training.
• Back pain when arching backwards, or pain spreading into the leg, is a reason to see a doctor, not to train through.

Conditioning for the front row

Front-row conditioning targets the second half. Forwards’ late-game efforts matter, so put repeat efforts at the end of a conditioning session, and include contact and get-ups: forwards’ worst-case drills include a get-up, a tackle-bag hit or a ruck clear inside running sets. Keep the work-to-rest pattern game-like: short efforts over 5–20 m with about 20 seconds of easy recovery.

Off-feet options (bike, rower, ski erg) are useful for heavier players, especially in-season to spare the legs. Bench forwards and players who played under an hour get a short top-up after the game.

Speed: yes, even for props

Tight forwards sprint mostly over 20 m, so that’s their main sprint distance, with some 20–30 m runs too. Forwards also get heavier resisted starts over 5–10 m (sled pushes or drags), which improve acceleration Petrakos et al. 2016. Hamstring work stays in at a maintenance dose for forwards: about 2×4–6 Nordic curls once or twice a week.

A sample in-season week for a prop

The off-season version adds a third session and more volume. Strongman-style medleys (sled, farmer’s walk, sandbag) can be one conditioning session a week in the late off-season for experienced lifters with the equipment.

Size: useful only if speed holds

Many props want to get bigger. Bigger is only better if speed holds. Track a 10 m sprint or a jump alongside bodyweight; if gains start slowing you down, shift emphasis from size back to strength and speed. Our gaining size guide covers how to add muscle without losing pace.

Common mistakes front-rowers make

• Training like a powerlifter all year. Maximal strength is the priority, but you still need power, speed over 20 m and the fitness to keep scrummaging in the last ten minutes.
• Skipping the neck when time is short. It takes five minutes and can be done in your rests. It should be the last thing to go, not the first.
• Grinding heavy spinal flexion. Weighted sit-ups and rounded-back strongman lifts load the spine in the position you’re trying to protect.
• Leaving hamstrings to the backs. Forwards still sprint and still strain hamstrings; keep a maintenance dose of Nordics.
• Judging progress on the scales. Track strength, a 10 m sprint and how your scrummaging feels late in games, not just bodyweight.

Testing for the front row

Test what matters to your job: estimated maxes on the squat, bench and weighted chin-up from training loads, a 10 m sprint, a countermovement jump, and a conditioning test in pre-season. Compare only with yourself, and only count changes bigger than the test’s normal variation.