3 Ways to Improve Speed for Wheelchair Rugby

1. Lighten Up

The easiest way to improve your speed during wheelchair rugby practices and games is to find a lightweight chair. Your career as a wheelchair rugby player depends on keeping your equipment load as light as possible during competitions. A chair frame constructed of lightweight metal offsets the added weight of spoke guards, wings and bumpers.
Have a ruler ready as you are customizing your chair for professional and international competition. The sport's governing bodies allow customization for the comfort of each athlete, but there are height, length and safety limits placed for the protection of participants. Your new wheelchair cannot exceed 116 centimeters in length and 53 centimeters in height from wheel to seating area. Officials inspect all wheelchairs prior to games for oversized arm rests and protrusions that may need to be padded to avoid injuries during play.

2. Pump Up Your Upper Body

The arm muscles of a wheelchair rugby player can be compared to the legs of a world-class athlete. The bicep muscle is comparable to the hamstring when rugby players are looking for power during each push. The tricep acts like the quadricep muscle after each follow-through by wheelchair athletes. Your main task for improving speed in the upcoming season should be a full upper-body workout.
Bicep curls and tricep presses are the foundation for a wheelchair rugby player's workout. An increased amount of weight during each session will make pushing your wheelchair away from opposing defenses seem easier. Additional repetitions on the shoulder and bench press add strength behind each push from the trapezius and pectoral muscles.
A final element of your upper-body workout should be hand exercises. Your hands will absorb a great deal of punishment when stopping and starting at high speeds. Your hand exercises can be limited to wrist rotations, extending your fingers and pressing your hands against a wall prior to each workout.

3. Run a Speed Clinic

Your improved speed only helps your team win if your teammates have similar devotion to a speed program. One of the best tools for increasing speed on your wheelchair rugby team is running a speed clinic several times during the off season. This clinic should feature initial consultations by doctors and coaches to assess the starting point for your speed improvement program. The use of resistance training in the form of speed parachutes will double as an upper-body workout for your entire team.
Each session of your speed clinic should feature a scrimmage where times from inbound passes to scores are maintained. These times should be compared to the 40-second time limit for offensive possessions established by international rugby officials. Your team's progress will be confirmed when possession times decrease significantly from the first session to the first game of next season.