EFFECT OF DIRECT SUPERVISION OF A STRENGTH COACH ON MEASURES OF MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND POWER IN YOUNG RUGBY LEAGUE PLAYERS

AARON J. COUTTS, ARON J. MURPHY, BEN J. DASCOMBE
2004 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research  
Coutts, A.J., A.J. Murphy, and B.J. Dascombe. Effect of direct supervision of a strength coach on measures of muscular strength and power in young rugby league players. J. Strength Cond. Res. 18(2):316-323. 2004.-The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of direct supervision on muscular strength, power, and running speed during 12 weeks of resistance training in young rugby league players. Two matched groups of young (16.7 Ϯ 1.1 years [mean Ϯ SD]), talented rugby league
more » ... ers completed the same periodized resistance-training program in either a supervised (SUP) (N ϭ 21) or an unsupervised (UNSUP) (N ϭ 21) environment. Measures of 3 repetition maximum (3RM) bench press, 3RM squat, maximal chin-ups, vertical jump, 10-and 20-m sprints, and body mass were completed pretest (week 0), midtest (week 6), and posttest (week 12) training program. Results show that 12 weeks of periodized resistance training resulted in an increased body mass, 3RM bench press, 3RM squat, maximum number of chinups, vertical jump height, and 10-and 20-m sprint performance in both groups (p Ͻ 0.05). The SUP group completed significantly more training sessions, which were significantly correlated to strength increases for 3RM bench press and squat (p Ͻ 0.05). Furthermore, the SUP group significantly increased 3RM squat strength (at 6 and 12 weeks) and 3RM bench press strength (12 weeks) when compared to the UNSUP group (p Ͻ 0.05). Finally, the percent increase in the 3RM bench press, 3RM squat, and chin-up max was also significantly greater in the SUP group than in the UNSUP group (p Ͻ 0.05). These findings show that the direct supervision of resistance training in young athletes results in greater training adherence and increased strength gains than does unsupervised training.
doi:10.1519/00124278-200405000-00021 fatcat:bsagjrqvbvartohit6furpa7bq