You would be hard pressed to find a sportsman with better all-round fitness than Harlequins and England winger Ugo Monye. His combination of immense explosive strength, electric speed and the ability to penetrate defences have established him as a regular in the national side.

‘Rugby demands so much of you physically and it’s so tactical – you have to be explosive and powerful, whether you're sprinting, in a ruck or in a tackle,’ says Monye. Games are played at such a ferocious intensity that he says it takes four days to recover from a match – and it’s getting tougher. ‘Players are getting bigger, stronger and faster every year,’ he says.

To build the necessary strength and power, Monye does the three-stage you'll find on the right. 'The core stability work corrects your posture so you get maximum benefit from the big lifts,' says Monye. 'I use the PowerPlate to activate my muscles, then I do a combination of lower- and full-body moves that are specific to rugby.'

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