Goff Rugby Report Contributor Kevin Simoni is working on getting match fit for the summer. We asked him to use the Volt App that Volt produced in conjunction with Atavus to help athletes train for rugby. Here's his first installment.   

Throughout my nine-year career playing rugby, my body has had to endure the constant wear and tear from games, practices, and heavy lifts. 

Consequently, I tweaked my lower back four years ago lifting too heavy on a squat, and have been to countless physical therapy and chiropractic sessions since. During my rehabilitation process, I remember feeling hopeless to the point where I wanted to give up and get surgery – the worst possible approach to an injury like mine. I was in constant pain and every time I moved an inch, I would shriek. My quality of life was greatly affected by this constant lower back pain that never seemed to let up.  

One thing I was constantly instructed to do was strengthen my core and my hips, which in turn would help stabilize my lower back and alleviate pain. Recently, I was directed towards Volt Athletics, a sport performance app that tailors each workout based on the season or event you’re preparing for. Their focus is on training the right way for your sport, and they provide sport-specific training for over 30 sports, including rugby. This seemed like a chance for me to make some changes.

The certified sport performance experts who developed Volt actually put a lot of research into how you train specifically for your sport. They’ve used proven science and research and “intelligent” technology to provide each one of their 70,000+ users dynamic performance training.  For rugby athletes like myself, Volt worked with rugby S&C experts at Atavus to develop a training program that focuses on building the combination of requirements regarding speed, strength, and stamina are unique to rugby, and included injury mitigation and prevention into the training. For more on the research behind Volt’s rugby-specific training, visit: http://www.voltathletics.com/rugby-research

When you sign up for Volt, the first thing you do is enter general information like your date of birth, gender, height, and weight. The next screen prompts you to enter what sport you train for, as well as the position you play, and the date your season starts. After that, you enter your experience you have lifting weights, and conclude the signup by entering your one rep max for your hang clean, back squat and bench press. 

As an exercise science major, I have used many different apps and websites pertaining to working out. This is the first time I have encountered a training program that gets so specific and wants to know as much information about you as possible. Immediately this spoke volumes about the type of app Volt Athletics is producing.

Even though I have only used the Volt app for three workouts, my body feels stronger as a whole, my back pain has reduced significantly, and my body feels more supple and agile than ever. I can legitimately say that this is the best my back has felt since suffering that fateful injury four years back.

I will be back with more updates on how I am progressing. 

-- Kevin Simoni