Gloucester Rugby - Paddy Anson

Paddy joined Gloucester Rugby as Head of Strength and Conditioning ahead of the 2012-13 season. A former Royal Marine for six years, Paddy was the Head of Strength and Conditioning with the Exeter Chiefs since the 2006-7 season. He left the Marines to take a Degree in Exercise and Sports Science at Exeter University, which he combined with his first stint with the Chiefs.

He then moved north and spent four years working with Hartpury College and the Gloucester Rugby Academy as well as studying for a Masters in Coaching Science at UWIC. A one year spell with the Worcester Warriors as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach followed before taking up his role with the Chiefs.

“The MyoTruk is an excellent tool for us. We can do dynamic power using rubber bands on it to gain some extra resistance to get the lower end forces firing. We are able to do some power work on it as well as some heavy loading strength work. If we have a player who struggles to squat anywhere above 120kg due to injuries for example, then we can keep them on a reasonable squatting program, but increase their loading on the MyoTruk where we can load anywhere between 250 and 350kg without any additional forces going through their spine.

We use the MyoTruk for mirroring the scrummaging position, putting our backs in a compromising position so that they know what the forwards go through. And its also again another piece of equipment for unloading the spine, and making sure that the body’s driving in the right angles.”

Paddy Anson - Head of S&C, Gloucester Rugby Club