Free tool
Rugby gym week planner
Tell it when you play and when your club trains. It shows which days to lift heavy, which day to do lighter power work and which days to leave alone, using the same timing rules as the Match Ready: Rugby app.
The short answer for a Saturday game: strength on Monday (2 days after the game, or Tuesday if you’re 35+), lighter power work on Wednesday or Thursday, nothing heavy on Friday or Sunday. Change the details below to fit your own week.
Your week
Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere; your choices are remembered on this device only.
How the planner decides
Match fatigue in the rugby codes is at its worst roughly 12–36 hours after a game and has mostly eased by 48–72 hours Naughton et al. 2021. Everything else follows from that:
- The day after a game is rest or light recovery. No weights. A walk, an easy bike or swim and mobility are fine.
- The strength session goes 2 days after the game, or 3 days if you’re 35 or over. If that day isn’t free, it takes the nearest free day that is still at least 2 days before the next game.
- The power session goes about 2 days before the next game: jumps, throws and fast, lighter lifts. Never the day before.
- Hard sessions stay 48 hours apart. If two can’t be spaced, the planner gives you one good session rather than two cramped ones.
- With only 5 or 6 days between games, there’s no power day: one strength session is enough.
- Club training counts as a hard day. On a tie, the planner prefers a day without club training. If a session has to share a day with training, it tells you to keep 6 hours between them or keep the legs lighter.
- Experienced lifters get an optional primer the day before the game: a few short, sharp efforts, no heavy legs. Research in professional players found a short morning session could lift later performance Kilduff et al..
These are the Match Ready Coaching Rules H1, H2, H3, W2 and R3, drawn from Daniel Baker’s in-season programming for rugby league and union Baker (ASCA) and the match-fatigue research above. They are sensible defaults rather than tested-in-trials prescriptions, and the app adjusts them from how you actually feel.
A worked example
Saturday game, club training Tuesday and Thursday, free every day except Saturday:
| Day | Under 35 | 35 and over |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Rest or light recovery | Rest or light recovery |
| Monday | Strength | Rest, mobility |
| Tuesday | Club training | Club training plus strength (6 hours apart) |
| Wednesday | Rest | Rest |
| Thursday | Club training plus power | Club training plus power |
| Friday | Rest (optional primer if experienced) | Rest (optional primer if experienced) |
| Saturday | Match | Match |
If your club trains Monday and Wednesday instead, the strength day stays on Monday and the power day lands on Thursday, a free day. More detail in the in-season gym programme and what to do the day after a match.
What the planner doesn’t do
- It doesn’t plan two-game weeks (fewer than 5 days between games) or the off-season. The off-season guide covers that period.
- It doesn’t know how you feel. A poor night’s sleep or a heavy game should make a session lighter.
- It doesn’t give the session itself. See the strength programme guide for sets, reps and exercises.
General training information for adults, not medical advice. If you have pain, an injury or a head injury, follow your doctor or physio’s advice first.
Frequently asked questions
What day should I go to the gym if I play rugby on Saturday?
For most players with a Saturday game and club training on Tuesday and Thursday: a heavier strength session on Monday and a lighter, faster power session on Thursday (before training if you can) or Wednesday. Sunday is rest or light recovery, and Friday is no heavy legs.
Can I lift on the same day as rugby training?
Yes, if that’s the only day you have. Keep at least 6 hours between the two if you can, put the session you care about most first, and keep heavy leg work away from a hard contact session. A free day is better when you have one.
Should I lift the day before a game?
Not heavy, and no heavy legs. An optional primer the day before (or the morning of) a game is fine for experienced lifters: a few short sprints or light, fast efforts. It doesn’t count as a training session.
Why does the planner wait 3 days after a game for players over 35?
Older players usually take longer to recover from the collisions and running of a game, so the Match Ready Coaching Rules put heavy leg work 72 hours after a game for players 35 and over, instead of 48 hours. If you feel fully recovered by day 2, the app can bring it back to the normal timing.
What if I play a midweek and a Saturday game?
With only 2–3 days between games, skip the normal strength and power sessions. Do one short, sharp session and one light upper-body and mobility session, and let the games do the rest. This planner covers gaps of 5–9 days; the app handles two-game weeks.
Is two gym sessions a week enough in-season?
For a player who trains twice with the club and plays every weekend, yes. Done right, in-season training usually maintains strength and power across the season, even on one session a week if the loads stay heavy Spiering et al. 2021.
Out now on iPhone
Train for Saturday, not for someone else’s week.
Match Ready: Rugby is out now on the App Store for iPhone. Android is coming soon to Google Play: leave your email and we’ll tell you the day it lands.