Ride to Win: Episode 4 - Rehabilitation

The game of Rugby takes a physical toll on its athletes. In the final episode of our Ride to Win miniseries with Nic Gill, All Blacks S&C Coach, we discuss rehabilitation and how to keep the fitness of athletes high while they’re off the pitch due to injury.

“The Wattbikes allow us to work hard, without stressing an injury, so they can work hard through the injury, and return to running once fit without having lost any fitness.”

The Wattbikes allow Nic to identify what the athlete needs and be flexible with load, intensity, intervals or duration. It gives him the control to structure an off-feet programme to maintain overall fitness, whilst muscles repair through rehab.

“The injury process is tough for the player, there’s a mental stress of missing their opportunity and doing what they can to come back fitter, faster and more powerful. The Wattbike allows them to focus on that.”

When designing sessions for injured players, Nic likes to look at it as constraint (the injury) versus the opportunity. The opportunity being a chance, and the time, to work on other aspects of that player's fitness that may have otherwise been neglected.

“If my role with the All Blacks wasn’t just performance but also as a rehabilitation expert, then the Wattbike is a non-negotiable. The Wattbike gives information back, information that the athlete might not give us making it vital through any rehabilitation process.”

If you’ve enjoyed tuning in to this miniseries, why not check out our four-part series with Aled Waters, Head of Physical Performance at Leicester Tigers here