Australia’s Sevens players are some of our countries fittest, fastest and most unique athletes.

With the Rio Olympics just around the corner, we caught up with Australian Sevens Athletic Performance coach Will Stuart to find out what an average week of training looks like.

Monday

The squads arrive at Narrabeen between 7-8am to begin their preparation for the day. Each player immediately undergoes a physical screening by medical staff where they weigh in and give a report  on their physical status. After strapping and a team meeting, the on-field morning session begins at 9am.

The focus of Monday morning’s session is defence. It begins with speed work, with all players looking to hit max velocity, or their top speed early in the session. This is followed by several skill development based defence drills, before the session finishes with a series of games, played for specific set time periods.

“We want the players to hit max velocity for both performance and also injury prevention. It won’t happen every week, but we do it to ensure that their bodies are able to cope during tournaments,” Stuart told Rugby News.

At 11am the players head to the pool for a short recovery session before breaking for lunch and some down time.

“There’s generally a good variety of food each day with a big emphasis placed on good quality carbohydrates and proteins.

“The players are also given supplements after each field session to kick start the nutritional component of their recovery,” Stuart added

The afternoon sessions begin at 1pm with the squads split into two groups. Group one heads to the gym for a lower body work out, while group two completes an on-field skills session. The two groups alternate, then finish the day with an ice bath before knocking off around 5pm.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning begins in a similar manner to Monday, however with no team meeting planned, the squads arrives slightly later ahead of a 9am start to the morning session.

Again, the squads are split into two groups. Group one heads to the gym for an upper body session, while group two completes an on-field skills session. The focus today is contact conditioning and tackle and breakdown work.

“There is usually a big focus on contact skills under fatigue during this session. It’s also done in a confined space with smaller numbers so the coaches can get a good look at what is happening.”

At 1pm, the entire squad completes a yoga session before heading for an ice bath. In the afternoon, team meetings are held and some players receive extra treatment from the medical staff.

Wednesday

Wednesday begins early with strapping, a team meeting and training prep all held before 9am, as players prepare for a physical morning session.