Hi, my name is Alex Poole and I put this site together to help rugby players of all levels and ages get the information they need in order to be as good a player as they possibly can be.

I have a strong rugby playing history myself having started as an Under 6 at Sutton & Epsom RFC in London. After representing many age group sides I went on to represent England Schools (where we won the Grand Slam in 1992) with the likes of Martin Corry and Andy Gomersall.

When I left school I spent a year honing my skills in the Sydney leauges for West Harbour Pirates (then known as Western Suburbs), then went to Loughborough University to start my 3 year degree in Sport & Exercise Science.

On completion of my undergraduate studies I signed for Bristol RFC on a professional contract. I played 21 times for the 1stXV including my Premiership debut at Bath against the former England prop Victor Ubugo.

At the end of my contract I decided that I didn’t have the level of strength needed to play prop any longer and decided to go about a year of remodelling my body to play hooker.

I took a year out of the sport and lost 2.5 stones (from 17st 10lb to 15st 3lb). However in the year out of the sport I started to use my skills and knowledge both from my scientific degree knowledge and my hands on rugby training knowledge to start to train private individuals looking to lose weight and get fit.

At this time I also started working with the local professional cricket team (Gloucestershire CCC, where I stayed for 6 seasons and 5 trophies) and when I returned to play at hooker, managed to pop my AC joint in the very first match.

For 4 months I could not demonstrate any exercises with my clients where I had to raise my arms above my shoulders. That meant any Olympic lifting was out, so were chins and lat pulldowns, shoulder press and push press. It was disastrous to my new career as a fitness and conditioning coach.

That was the last time I played as I then realised my best skills were in helping others get the most from their bodies and enabling them to perform at as high a standard as possible.

Since that time I have worked with athletes in a wide range of sports from junior tennis champions to gold medal winning snow boarders. I have always worked with a number of rugby players and it was the knowledge and skills I was teaching them that lead me to put this site together.

I continue to constantly challenge my self to be a better strength and conditioning practitioner by attending workshops and training courses in a wide variety of disciplines.  I look to train with the leading experts in their field regardless if that course is tailored more specifically to physiotherapists or sports nutritionists.  I am currently writing my thesis for my Masters in Exercise Physiology & Sports Bio-mechanics, on eccentric exercise training for a 200m sprinter with a chronic hamstring injury.  My deadline is the beginning of June so I’ll keep you updated on how it’s going.

I hope you enjoy all the information gathered here, and make sure you visit the blog regularly for all my top new information.

Here’s to a powerful and dominating rugby career.

All the best,

Alex
BSc Hons, PG Dip, CSCS