How do i increase mu muscle size for rugby?

Stefan: How do i increase mu muscle size for rugby?
Im 14 years old turning 15 this year. I am practically in love with rugby although my only problem is my size. I am tall enough i just need to increase my muscle size especially in my legs. I have weights at home and a bench press i also get to gym at school. Does anyone have any workouts or anything that can help me increase muscle size or get more ‘buff’?

Answers and Views:

Answer by blm
Well it depends on the position you aspire to play. If you like fly-half or winger, adding muscle mass is definitely secondary to working on your acceleration and sprinting skills — which means interval training and plyometrics. If, on the other hand, you wish to play prop or second row, core strength is your primary concern. Centre or loose forward — somewhere in between. Anyway, the prime core building exercises are deep squats, power cleans, and perhaps deadlifts. If you don’t know what these are you need to get some coaching in order to perform them correctly, and without getting injured.

But before you hit the weights seriously, consider that every ounce of muscle you add — particularly to your upper body — is mass that you are going to have to drag up and down the pitch for the entire match. And it doesn’t matter how big and strong you are if you are so busy gasping for breath that you can’t get to the ball.

Answer by The Oracle
Stefan, I know the feeling of being in love with rugby. Here is my answer to your question.

If you want to put on some muscle mass for rugby, your plan has three main components, each about as important as the other: proper weight lifting, proper eating, and proper rest.

For weight lifting, I know how anxious you must feel, but if you do not lift wisely and patiently, you may very well inhibit your growth and even injure yourself so that you can’t play at all. What I recommend is that three or four times a week, you spend somewhere between 30 and 50 minutes doing full body workouts with compound lifts using free weights, or machines which simulate free weight lifts (like those with unimpeded cables).

So instead of doing biceps one day, abs the next day, all that dumb stuff, do lifts like the bench press, the power clean, the squat, the lunge, the pull-up, etc. These exercises hit a lot of muscle groups at the same time. Not only will you be working more efficiently, but this will cause your testosterone levels to rise more than if you were only hitting isolated muscle groups.

For food, if you’re weight training three or four times a week, you’ve got to eat a lot of high quality food. That means lots of meats, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and yes, lots of carbs (you need those for energy and proper overall body function). Complext carbs (whole wheat, whole grain rice, etc.) are better than simple carbs. Milk is very good, too.

Muscle growth occurs primarily during sleep, so make sure you get as much as you can. Start by trying to go to bed an hour earlier than you’re used to at night.

Good luck.

Answer by Dan
its not a good idea to be doing weight training at your age. you’re still growing. you could injure yourself and stunt your growth. its better to just eat a healthy diet, do a lot of exercise, and get plenty of sleep. do weight training when you’re a bit older.