Lewis Moody

Lewis Moody is a prime example of the modern rugby player. His ability to deliver ferocious tackles and move around the pitch at pace is a result of using a range of Sci-MX muscle development formulations in conjunction with his strength and conditioning programme.

What does a typical gym session look like for you?

I'll warm up, doing shoulder activation with bands to fire up the shoulders. With the bands behind me, I'll do 10 reps or so of a breaststroke movement. Then I'll move onto activation for the rotator cuffs, using the bands with my arms out at shoulder height and bent at 90 degrees, I'll make small rotational movements to get into the shoulder girdle. Finally I'll turn to face the bands and, with straight arms, I'll do front raises to get into the delts. This kind of warm up, with a light load, enables me to get into my shoulders without aggravating the problems I've had with them.

Before we hit the weights I'll do five minutes or so on the bike or cross trainer, and a prehab session (which we all do as a group), to activate the lower and upper body, particularly the glutes. I'm really enjoying the leg press at the minute; I like it because it gives me the chance to get back into pushing some really heavy weights. I'm 103kgs, and I leg-press 490kgs. I'll do a range of other moves for the lower body. All of us try to do as much speed-based power work as possible, since this is what the game demands. For example, I'll do bounds onto a box (set at waist or even chest height) - these are really explosive box jumps. I'll superset them with my leg-presses, so I'd do four sets of leg-presses with three big, powerful box jumps between each set. In terms of the leg-press, my four sets might look like this: 300kgs, 350kgs, 450kgs and then a final set as heavy as I can manage.

I modify the traditional big lifts to work around previous injuries and prevent new ones. For example, I'll do a floor press instead of a bench press - it's just the same as a bench press but lying directly on the floor. This prevents my shoulders from coming back past neutral and is a great example of how our S&C team personalise our exercises to suit each player's needs. I'll superset my floor press with a bench pull: lying face down on a bench, I'll pull a loaded bar up beneath me to the chest. In terms of weights, this superset might look a little like this: Floor press: 100kgs (for 8 reps), 105kgs (for 6 reps), 110kgs (for 6 reps), 120kgs (for 3 reps) and bench pull: 90kgs (for 6 reps), 100kgs (for 6 reps), 110kgs (for 4 reps), 115kgs (for 3 reps) Because my shoulders are now in fairly good nick again, I'll also do Arnie Presses and I do these with 25kg dumbbells.

Which supplements do you use, and how do you feel they help you?

I'll take the Sci-MX GRS-5 Protein after each session (I like the strawberry and banana flavours) and I'll mix colostrum in there, too. To be honest, I find that lots of supplements play havoc with my stomach, but GRS-5 sits really well with me. All the boys at Bath use Sci-MX Omni-MX HARDCORE which is great for maintaining muscle mass.  I'll sometimes take some Sci-MX X-Plode HARDCORE if I feel really drained after a hard week, or a poor night's sleep. It's great if you need a boost. After all, there's no point just drifting through a training session, you need to work hard and focus.

If I'm in a training phase when I'm trying to put on or maintain weights, I'll also take BCAAs in the morning, and sometimes during training sessions. And I may take HMB 3000 depending on how I'm feeling. The biggest challenge I face is maintaining my weight and mass; I lose it very easily. So in order to keep on top of it I have to eat quite often but of course I don't want to gain bodyfat. So when it comes to diet, I prioritise protein and take in quality carbohydrates - lots of vegetables, no starchy carbs and no pasta or potatoes.

What's your best tip for anyone looking to build and maintain lean mass whilst minimising bodyfat gains?

I like to have a varied diet to make sure I'm getting all the nutrition I need. Sci-MX protein products definitely help me get the calories in that I need to maintain my lean mass without putting on unwanted body fat. Focus on protein, lots of variety when it comes to vegetables, and minimal starchy carbs. And train hard!