Good afternoon everyone!
On Strength is Never a Weakness, we are going back to interviewing athletes and coaches.
Continuing with the theme of guest athletes. We have Callum Atkinson, a talented rugby player who lives with my brother in Edinburgh.
He is also the tallest man I have ever met. Standing at 6 Feet 10 inches.
Take it away Callum.
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My Journey
I started off playing rugby at the age of 7 at Wilmslow rugby club. As I got older, I went to Wilmslow High school where I started to gain a much bigger interest in rugby. Both my brothers had played for Wilmslow and got to the school's cup final at Twickenham which ignited my passion.
As I played rugby through school, it was only ever something I enjoyed, and there was never any indication it could go any further. I was never a stand out player on my school team, the highlight of my school career was reaching the Nat West cup semi-finals at Allianz Park which we unfortunately lost. I then went up to Heriot-Watt university to study maths. I had injury problems with my shoulder and never managed to even pay a game that year and eventually had latarjet surgery in April 2016. My journey then kick-started by chance.
(Link for Latarjet Surgery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latarjet_procedure which is different to the traditional key hole surgery for rotator cuff injuries.)
When I moved to a new flat in the centre of Edinburgh I was advised to play at Boroughmuir rugby club which was nearby. I went down to train and after a week or so I got my first run out in the clubs 2nd team. That was my first game in over two years, and it was absolutely exhausting. The week after I was called up to play in the next 1st team game. The level was far above what I was used to, but I took to it quite well.
I then kept my place in the team for the coming weeks. At the start of January, I was called up to train with the Scotland U20 squad for their six nations campaign. I was then retained in the squad and trained through all the camps. Unfortunately, I had a lot of injuries during this time as it was the first time I had been training at this level and my body was just not used to it which meant I was unable to make any appearances. On the back of this, I was offered a BT Sports academy contract in Edinburgh. Following on from this the SRU have sent me to the Stellenbosch Academy of sport where I am currently training.
Callum with the South African men's rugby captain, Eben Etzebeth. He plays number 4 (lock) for South Africa and Stormers in Super Rugby.
Training
A week of preseason training will consist of 4 one hour strength/power gym sessions, two gym conditioning sessions, 4x 90-minute rugby conditioning sessions and 7x 45-minute skills sessions, so it is very full on.
The first power session is all about sprinting so we use a lot of heavy sledge pushes and pulls mixed in with sprints and hamstring work. The remaining three strength sessions are split into full body/power, upper body and lower body. A full body session will contain exercises such as hip thrusts, box jumps, bench press, chin ups, squats etc. It is split up into three complexes of 3 exercises which are done as a separate super set.
The gym session only last for 45 minutes, but we keep the amount of rest to almost 0 to keep a high intensity. Our gym conditioning sessions are split into four sets of treadmill running, spin bike, air dyne and rowing. Each set is 10 minutes and works as a 40:20 work/rest with individual goals of distances and speeds to ensure everyone is working at maximum capacity.
The longer rugby sessions will involve a high volume of running and accelerations monitored by a GPS system which gives feedback on how much each is doing. They are the most important sessions we have regarding fitness as this is when we work at the highest intensity.
The remaining rugby sessions are all about shape and low-level skill work.
Diet
Our meals are made for us which makes things much easier. I have been aiming to consume 5500-6000 calories per day to keep my body functioning through the training load and also try and increase body weight.
For breakfast, I will start with four scrambled eggs with two pieces of brown toast, two meatballs and a bowl of Greek yoghurt with granola. I will then have my first training session 9:15-11. Afterwords I will have a carbohydrate shake, a protein bar and a banana. Lunch is at 12 which will be a carbohydrate source such as pasta, rice, potato, a protein source which will be either chicken, lamb or beef and a steamed vegetable mostly broccoli and cauliflower.
After lunch I have a gym session and after I will recover with a protein shake. After our second lower level rugby session we are given a top up meal which consists of a smoothie, banana bread and fruit muffins. An hour or so after this I will then have 500ml of chocolate milk and bowl of porridge. I will then have dinner at six which will be the same as lunch and later on I will get another meal which will be the same as dinner at 8. Just before bed, I will have another bowl of yoghurt and a protein bar.
My current journey has encountered a lot of challenges. As with many athletes, injury will always be an issue that you have to overcome. When I was initially brought into a professional training environment, I was expected to compete with guys who had been doing it for over five years. Obviously, for me this was incredibly difficult to adapt to as I didn’t have the robustness required to manage the training load. This left me with a few insignificant but frustrating injuries that kept me out for 2/3 weeks at a time which had a big impact on me getting consistent improvement. Another difficult challenge I have had to face is managing a full-time maths degree with full-time training which made it difficult to find time to recover as thoroughly as I would like.
Here in South Africa, I have had to adapt to the dramatic change between winter in Scotland to the height of summer when the Western Cape is in a serious drought. As you can imagine that took some getting used to which made the first few weeks incredibly tough.
My short-term aspirations are to progress through the Scottish academy system and earn a full pro contract in the next 12 months. From there I want to push myself to become an international in the next five years.
Thank you, Callum, for that insightful interview. We wish you all the best from Strength is Never a Weakness in your rugby aspirations.
On Strength is Never a Weakness, we are going back to interviewing athletes and coaches.
Continuing with the theme of guest athletes. We have Callum Atkinson, a talented rugby player who lives with my brother in Edinburgh.
He is also the tallest man I have ever met. Standing at 6 Feet 10 inches.
Take it away Callum.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Journey
I started off playing rugby at the age of 7 at Wilmslow rugby club. As I got older, I went to Wilmslow High school where I started to gain a much bigger interest in rugby. Both my brothers had played for Wilmslow and got to the school's cup final at Twickenham which ignited my passion.
As I played rugby through school, it was only ever something I enjoyed, and there was never any indication it could go any further. I was never a stand out player on my school team, the highlight of my school career was reaching the Nat West cup semi-finals at Allianz Park which we unfortunately lost. I then went up to Heriot-Watt university to study maths. I had injury problems with my shoulder and never managed to even pay a game that year and eventually had latarjet surgery in April 2016. My journey then kick-started by chance.
(Link for Latarjet Surgery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latarjet_procedure which is different to the traditional key hole surgery for rotator cuff injuries.)
When I moved to a new flat in the centre of Edinburgh I was advised to play at Boroughmuir rugby club which was nearby. I went down to train and after a week or so I got my first run out in the clubs 2nd team. That was my first game in over two years, and it was absolutely exhausting. The week after I was called up to play in the next 1st team game. The level was far above what I was used to, but I took to it quite well.
I then kept my place in the team for the coming weeks. At the start of January, I was called up to train with the Scotland U20 squad for their six nations campaign. I was then retained in the squad and trained through all the camps. Unfortunately, I had a lot of injuries during this time as it was the first time I had been training at this level and my body was just not used to it which meant I was unable to make any appearances. On the back of this, I was offered a BT Sports academy contract in Edinburgh. Following on from this the SRU have sent me to the Stellenbosch Academy of sport where I am currently training.
Callum with the South African men's rugby captain, Eben Etzebeth. He plays number 4 (lock) for South Africa and Stormers in Super Rugby.
Training
A week of preseason training will consist of 4 one hour strength/power gym sessions, two gym conditioning sessions, 4x 90-minute rugby conditioning sessions and 7x 45-minute skills sessions, so it is very full on.
The first power session is all about sprinting so we use a lot of heavy sledge pushes and pulls mixed in with sprints and hamstring work. The remaining three strength sessions are split into full body/power, upper body and lower body. A full body session will contain exercises such as hip thrusts, box jumps, bench press, chin ups, squats etc. It is split up into three complexes of 3 exercises which are done as a separate super set.
The gym session only last for 45 minutes, but we keep the amount of rest to almost 0 to keep a high intensity. Our gym conditioning sessions are split into four sets of treadmill running, spin bike, air dyne and rowing. Each set is 10 minutes and works as a 40:20 work/rest with individual goals of distances and speeds to ensure everyone is working at maximum capacity.
The longer rugby sessions will involve a high volume of running and accelerations monitored by a GPS system which gives feedback on how much each is doing. They are the most important sessions we have regarding fitness as this is when we work at the highest intensity.
The remaining rugby sessions are all about shape and low-level skill work.
Diet
Our meals are made for us which makes things much easier. I have been aiming to consume 5500-6000 calories per day to keep my body functioning through the training load and also try and increase body weight.
For breakfast, I will start with four scrambled eggs with two pieces of brown toast, two meatballs and a bowl of Greek yoghurt with granola. I will then have my first training session 9:15-11. Afterwords I will have a carbohydrate shake, a protein bar and a banana. Lunch is at 12 which will be a carbohydrate source such as pasta, rice, potato, a protein source which will be either chicken, lamb or beef and a steamed vegetable mostly broccoli and cauliflower.
After lunch I have a gym session and after I will recover with a protein shake. After our second lower level rugby session we are given a top up meal which consists of a smoothie, banana bread and fruit muffins. An hour or so after this I will then have 500ml of chocolate milk and bowl of porridge. I will then have dinner at six which will be the same as lunch and later on I will get another meal which will be the same as dinner at 8. Just before bed, I will have another bowl of yoghurt and a protein bar.
My current journey has encountered a lot of challenges. As with many athletes, injury will always be an issue that you have to overcome. When I was initially brought into a professional training environment, I was expected to compete with guys who had been doing it for over five years. Obviously, for me this was incredibly difficult to adapt to as I didn’t have the robustness required to manage the training load. This left me with a few insignificant but frustrating injuries that kept me out for 2/3 weeks at a time which had a big impact on me getting consistent improvement. Another difficult challenge I have had to face is managing a full-time maths degree with full-time training which made it difficult to find time to recover as thoroughly as I would like.
Here in South Africa, I have had to adapt to the dramatic change between winter in Scotland to the height of summer when the Western Cape is in a serious drought. As you can imagine that took some getting used to which made the first few weeks incredibly tough.
My short-term aspirations are to progress through the Scottish academy system and earn a full pro contract in the next 12 months. From there I want to push myself to become an international in the next five years.
Thank you, Callum, for that insightful interview. We wish you all the best from Strength is Never a Weakness in your rugby aspirations.
Andrew Richardson, Founder of Strength is Never a Weakness Blog
I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Sport Science and a Merit in my MSc in Sport and Exercise Science and I passed my PGCE at Teesside University.
Now I will be commencing my PhD into "Investigating Sedentary Lifestyles of the Tees Valley" this October 2019.
I am employed by Teesside University Sport and WellBeing Department as a PT/Fitness Instructor.
My long term goal is to become a Sport Science and/or Sport and Exercise Lecturer. I am also keen to contribute to academia via continued research in a quest for new knowledge.
My most recent publications:
My passion is for Sport Science which has led to additional interests incorporating Sports Psychology, Body Dysmorphia, AAS, Doping and Strength and Conditioning.
Within these respective fields, I have a passion for Strength Training, Fitness Testing, Periodisation and Tapering.
I write for numerous websites across the UK and Ireland including my own blog Strength is Never a Weakness.
I had my own business for providing training plans for teams and athletes.
I was one of the Irish National Coaches for Powerlifting, and have attained two 3rd places at the first World University Championships,
in Belarus in July 2016.Feel free to email me or call me as I am always looking for the next challenge.
Contact details below;
Facebook: Andrew Richardson (search for)
Facebook Page: @StrengthisNeveraWeakness
Twitter: @arichie17
Instagram: @arichiepowerlifting
Snapchat: @andypowerlifter
Email: a.s.richardson@tees.ac.uk
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-richardson-b0039278
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew_Richardson7
