When Aviva Premiership rugby club Wasps was looking to create and fit out a new conditioning gym, it had to consider the various demands placed on the facility. “In deciding which pieces of equipment to introduce to our facility, we took a three-pronged approach,” says Wasps’ performance coordinator Trystan Bevan.
“Firstly, our director of rugby, Dai Young, devised a brief on how he wanted the players to be prepared. Secondly, we took input from our strength and conditioning and medical staff and, thirdly, also gathered feedback from the players themselves.”
After researching for suitable partners, Wasps chose Matrix Fitness as its equipment supplier. Matrix was then given the club’s shopping list, which included equipment for strength and conditioning, as well as for injury prevention and rehabilitation. The installation of the kit, which was completed in the summer of 2016 – was planned and designed by Matrix’s in-house, computer-aided design and drafting (CAD) team.
The gym boasts a wide variety of CV equipment with live data functions, plate-loaded weights and an Olympic-standard free weights area. The new facility also includes a specialised ‘Performance Training Room’ with racks, platforms, dumbbells, kettlebells and plyometric boxes.
Bevan says that in addition to the performance room, the club decided to create a plate-loaded room, where the strength and conditioning team could effectively integrate weights circuits for the players. “The circuit area plays a big part in helping the performance team to keep muscle mass on the players throughout the course of the season,” Bevan says.
Knocks and injuries – and the way they are dealt with – form a big part of the work done in a professional rugby club’s fitness team. To help with this, Wasps has invested in a system that is able to provide live feedback to ensure cardio progress can be measured in detail, and workload adapted when appropriate.
TECHNICAL APPROACH
“Matrix advised us on the equipment available for our cardio suite,” Bevan says. “We now have a cinema-style indoor bike area linked to an interactive screen – the Matrix S-Drive Performance Trainer – which is a very useful indoor prowler/sprint start substitute.
“We also have a range of ancillary equipment such as treadmills, rowers and climbmills that provide not only variety, but also the availability to train injured players’ energy systems no matter what the injury.”
Since its installation in July 2016, the new gym has been in constant use. The added physical endurance of the players has seen the team storm to the top of the Premiership.