articles by sw7 academy

First off if you want to change your body composition (gain muscle or lose body fat) then it’s essential that you know how many calories are going in. When you sign up you will fill out our on boarding questionnaire. From that we will have all the info we need to calculate your calorie intake for you and your goals. You can select how many meals you would like to eat across the day and how many snacks. You can also select any eating preferences and foods that you would like left out of your programme. We will then create you a personalised nutrition programme with meals that will fit your likes and also provide you with a shopping list so you know exactly what you need to buy to fit your programme. Every month you will fill out an update questionnaire for us and this then allows us to track your progress and alter your calories etc if needed. 

Inside the app you will get your programme through with all your sets and reps for that given session. You can then note down the weights you used for each exercise. This is essential so you can ensure that you’re progressing throughout the programme. If you used 20kg DB’s say for shoulder press last time then we would ideally like to see those weights increasing over the training block even if only by a few kg as this will add up over time. 

As well as our comprehensive Strength and Conditioning programmes we also have sprint sessions, conditioning sessions both on pitch and off feet, home workouts with minimal kit if you’re on holiday or don’t have access to your gym for whatever reason. As well as those we have recovery sessions that consist of Yoga class which are run by one of the best in the game Alecs Donovan and Mobility class again by an industry leader Richard Hughes. The recovery classes are scheduled in some programme but they are available to all members to use any time and we recommend you do so for longevity and to avoid injury.

The rugby programmes run in either 4 or 5 day options for weights with other sessions available such as conditioning and running drills. The Body Comp programmes are available in 3, 4 or 5 day options. Pick whichever suits you and your lifestyle better, you’re better off picking 3 days a week and hitting all of those sessions consistently then picking 5 and missing 1-2 a week as the training splits will ensure you’re hitting each area the right amount across the week.

You will get access to all 3 coaches via our facebook group for any questions you have. As well as this we also have a support email account to help with any technical questions or memberships etc. We pride ourselves on looking after our members the absolute best we can and you will always have multiple options when you need any form of help.

Absolutely not. The beauty of training like a rugby player is that you have to be good at many aspects of fitness. This is why the program is varied with circuits, various weight and resistance methods, rehabilitation and pre-habilitation all included. We also now have our 'body composition' programs in addition to our 'performance' programs. These are aimed at either fat loss or muscle gain as opposed to sports performance. These would be seen as more suited to the every day gym goer who doesn’t partake in contact sports.

The programmes were initially written by Sam and Josh. The majority of Sams Strength and Conditioning knowledge stems from Chris Tombs who was his coach at the Cardiff Blues Academy and into his professional career. Since Chris came on board as head coach at the start of 2022 we have rewritten or altered all of the programmes so they’re at the absolute fore front of Chris’ ever evolving knowledge.

Most commercial gyms, cross-fit facilities etc will have everything you will need. To do 90% of the programmes you would need a Barbell with plates, sets of dumbbells, and a rack. A full gym would be better for sure and we would recommend finding one with a prowler if you’re on the rugby programmes. We can give alternatives but it’s a great piece of kit for training for contact sports and explore power. You can message the team at any time to change an exercise if you don’t have the right kit to hand.