Power, speed and mental steel are all match-winning tools in the bruising arena of modern rugby, and Wales rugby star George North has fused all three into a devastating combination. The bulldozing winger is a 1.93m,105kg titan who can bench 160kg and squat 255kg, but he unites that brute force with jet-heeled speed (running 40m in under 5sec) and an ice-cold mentality that frees him to perform under intense pressure.
North has 27 tries in 65 appearances for Wales, making him the fourth most successful try-scorer in the nation’s history – and he’s still only 24. But his size, pace and psyche are the result of hard work, smart nutrition, scientific conditioning and mental training, not genetic luck.
“I’m not naturally this big. I’ve had to work hard in the gym and be really strict with my nutrition to keep the mass on and maintain my speed,” says North, who has packed on 26kg of muscle since turning pro. “Even now I fluctuate in size but I work hard to stay on weight. Putting weight on is difficult but when you have to carry it for 80 minutes each Saturday and through hard training sessions you need to get really focused on training and nutrition.”
As the 2017 RBS Six Nations hots up, with Wales aiming to go one better than their second-place finish in 2016, North discusses his blueprint for physical and psychological domination.
How does your gym training change throughout the year?
It’s about knowing where you are and where you want to go. By where you are, I mean identifying where you are at physically, and how much training load you are used to. By where you are going, I mean what your goal is. For a guy on the street, that might be working for a summer body, whereas for athletes that goal changes throughout the year. Pre-season is about getting bigger. Mid-season is about maintaining it. Then at the end of the season we need to recover and adapt for when the ground is harder and we need to be quicker.
How brutal is pre-season training?
For rugby players, pre-season is really a devil. It is something we have to go through to prepare for the battle on its way. It’s an enjoyable but hard time. You’re trying to get your size and mass and lungs ready for the season ahead but it is a tough old one to get through.
