The Absolutely Insane Amount Of Muscle Mass Rugby Players Could Lose Because Of The Lockdown

Lockdown.

Former Gloucester physio Luke Anthony reckons the current coronavirus lockdown that has brought rugby across the world to a standstill could have a devastating effect on players in terms of their muscle mass.

Japanese rugby was one of the first to go back in February with every other competition following by March. At the current rate, it could be September at the earliest before we see any rugby, meaning players could be out of the game for six months or more.

Ex-Gloucester physio Luke Anthony told The Sun that professional players will have felt the draining effects of having no rugby to play throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period.

With players stuck in there homes with little to no access to training fields and gym equipment, getting them back to match condition is going to be tough.

And Anthony, who in the past would spend 12 weeks of the off-season getting players ready for the new season, reckon some players could lose up to 20kg of muscle mass over the next few months.

“Guys will lose weight,” he told The Sun.

“Forwards who are between 100 to 120kg will lose between 10 to 20kg of muscle mass.

“These guys are freakishly big and it takes a lot of work, from a training and nutritional point of view, to maintain it.

“As soon as you drop off, so does the weight.

“Some will be OK weight-wise, others will struggle. Not all of them will still be squatting 180kg, deadlifting, bench-pressing — the basics — so will lose muscle mass.

“They will be de-conditioned, but rugby will probably have to compromise somewhere to get back to a safe level to play.

“Realistically, it’s four weeks bare minimum. If you have a long period out, then ramp it up quickly, your body is more prone to injury. You need to build up a tolerance.”

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