Conor Murray outlines 5 core elements of his gym routine

AS IRELAND KEEP winning, Conor Murray’s claim to the title of the world’s best scrum-half is getting stronger and stronger.

Getting to that level of the game isn’t easy, it takes non-stop hard work on the training field, in the kitchen and in the gym. For this piece, we asked the Munster and Ireland star to focus on the latter of those three components when we caught up with him this week.

As he heads towards his 26th birthday in the ideal position to defend the Six Nations title before hoping to push Ireland beyond the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time ever, this is clearly the biggest year of Murray’s career to date. Here are some of the exercises he hopes will make it the best.

(Be sure to get properly trained before taking on any weightlifting in your local gym.)

Upper body

Jammer Press

“It’s a shoulder strength exercise, similar to a dumbbell shoulder press, just a variation,” Murray says as he looks back on a session he designed for a MaxiNutrition ad that will screen later this year.

We tried not to get in the way of filming, so here’s someone who’s not Conor Murray demonstrating the Jammer. Source: James Kohler/YouTube

“It’s just about not being repetitive or getting board doing the same one so I switch it up between the jammer and shoulder press.

“I’d usually lift 30-40 kilos. It all depends on what you’re trying to do. If you’re doing hypertrophy, you’d be up around 10-12 reps, but during the season it’s about maintaining your strength and we’d normally keep it down to five or six.”

Power Clean

“Cleans would be less because you’d have a lot more weight on, I’d do around 100 kilos for maybe three reps. You see freaks in the front row doing about 150 or 60, but I’d only injure myself doing something like that.

Source: Rogue Fitness/YouTube

“We do it for strength and speed. It drives you to get the bar off the ground as explosively as possible and then get underneath it and then squat back up. It’s a good one for your leg strength and stuff. Similar to squatting, but with a bit more movement to it.

Source: The42

“It does tend to take a lot out of you, so it’s one we save for pre-season when you’re trying to get that explosiveness and make a few gains in that area.”

Chin-ups Source: MaxiNutrition/YouTube

“I think I had 10 kilos [in the Vine above]. It’s about the balance more than the weight, but obviously the more weight you have the harder it is to balance. So I try to push myself on that. I’d usually do 15 kilos or a couple of sets on 20. If I had a game at the weekend you’d only be doing sets of four or five reps, but in pre-season you’d push that up to eight to get that size on you.

“I’d do a regular back squat onto a box so your legs come to 90 degrees. Because it’s your whole body you can do a lot more weights so if you were to do five, say, I might be able to do upwards of 150.”