How Quade Cooper trains
Wallabies fly-half. 80 Tests. PRE SZN co-creator. This is the plan he trains on, the programs he endorses, and how the app keeps score when you run them.
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Playing rugby?
Run the rugby stack, both endorsed by Quade. Elite 12 is the gym half, five sessions a week. Running is the field half, three sessions of sprints, shuttles and speed endurance, sequenced so neither steals from the other.
What he trains on now: six days, lifting and running
Hybrid Race — Base is built from the plan Quade trains on. Eight weeks, six days a week: three whole-body strength days on the big lifts, plus an easy run, a threshold run and one race day of stations and running.
- —Strength days: back squat, trap bar deadlift, Bulgarian split squats, bench, incline press, chin-ups.
- —Weeks 1–3 build. Week 4 is lighter.
- —Weeks 5–7 bring wave loading, cluster sets and compromised race-pace running off the stations.
- —Week 8 benchmarks a 5 km time trial and a half simulation.
- —No two leg days land back to back.
Women's, men's and Pro race weights are on every station. The full first week is published on the program page, and you can print it.
Why six days
Louis Dallimore, Quade's strength and conditioning coach and the man who built PRE SZN with him, has written about the block where Quade moved to six training days a week: he came back bigger and stronger than he had ever been, in the period he re-entered the Wallabies squad. Louis's point in the same piece is the one that shaped the app. That program fit that athlete. The same week would bury a sprinter, and a sprinter's plyometric week would break Quade. The best program is the one that fits you, and the only way to know is to measure it.
So PRE SZN measures it. Every hard set, any working set at one to three reps in reserve, is scored live against your own trailing four-week average for that exercise. Beat your line, take the point. A record always pays.
In his words
“I've been doing this for more than 12 years but normally your program is handed to you.”
That was Quade in 2018, after the Reds left him out and he had to build his own training week, reported by RugbyPass from an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald. “The first day, I went into a gym and was like ‘what do I do?’”
That is the gap PRE SZN fills: the program handed to you, loads set from your own numbers, and a scoreboard on every set.
Programs Quade endorses
From the PRE SZN library. Newer to hybrid racing? Start with Start or Build before Base.
Hybrid Race — Base
Six days for experienced athletes. Strength, engine and stations.
8 weeks · 6 days/week
Hybrid Race — Build
Four days to race faster. Strength, threshold running and stations.
8 weeks · 4 days/week
Hybrid Race — Start
Your first fitness race in eight weeks. Three days, no experience needed.
8 weeks · 3 days/week
PRE SZN Elite 12 Weeks
The 12-week PRE SZN athletic base. Strength that transfers.
12 weeks · 5 days/week
PRE SZN Running — 12 Week
Sprint, shuttle and speed endurance. Built for field sport.
12 weeks · 3 days/week
PRE SZN's GVT
10x10 across five days. Brutal hypertrophy — advanced only.
6 weeks · 5 days/week
Academy: Foundations — Full Body
Your first 8 weeks. Learn the big lifts, add weight every session.
8 weeks · 3 days/week
What the app does while you run it
- —A live scoreline against your own line, the ghost of your last set, and the line to beat on every row.
- —A full-time report after every session: score, set points, hard sets, records and your average.
- —Log sets from your Apple Watch, with live heart rate, and end the session on the wrist.
- —Wrist trace: the watch's motion sensors find your reps, each rep's tempo, your rest, and an estimated max for the set.
- —HRV, resting heart rate and sleep read overnight against your own normal, and a morning brief on how you are adapting.
- —Rivals, a weekly league and live matches, so a teammate can train the same session alongside you, in the same gym or from anywhere.
Quade Cooper, the record
- —Wallabies fly-half, 80 Tests. Test debut against Italy in Padova, 2008.
- —Super Rugby champion with the Queensland Reds in 2011.
- —Rugby World Cup squads in 2011 and 2015.
- —Clubs include the Reds, Toulon, the Melbourne Rebels and the Kintetsu Liners in Japan.
Sources: Rugby Australia player profile, Wikipedia, RugbyPass (2018).
Questions
What program does Quade Cooper train on?
PRE SZN's Hybrid Race — Base is built from the plan Quade trains on: six days a week, three whole-body strength days on the big lifts, an easy run, a threshold run and a race day of stations and running, over eight weeks.
Can I do Quade Cooper's workout?
Yes. Hybrid Race — Base is in the PRE SZN app with women's, men's and Pro weights, and week 1 is published in full on its program page. It is built for experienced athletes; Hybrid Race — Start and Build are the way in.
How many Tests has Quade Cooper played for the Wallabies?
80, according to his Rugby Australia player profile. He debuted against Italy in Padova in 2008.
What is Quade Cooper's connection to PRE SZN?
He is PRE SZN's co-creator. The app was built with Louis Dallimore, Quade's strength and conditioning coach for over seven years.