MF: What’s your proudest achievement as a coach?
AE: Being involved in winning the 2011 Aviva Premiership.
MF: Which group of players are you most proud of having helped develop?
AE: The Class of 2008: Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Jackson Wray, George Kruis and Will Fraser. They came up from my first year as an academy coach at Saracens and are now integral to the first team and all have international caps.
MF: What’s the most impressive feat of strength or athleticism you’ve ever seen outside of rugby?
AE: At strongman competitions, the numbers those guys put out are inhuman. When someone weighs over 200kg but can deadlift over 400kg from the floor, that's unbelievable.
MF: What’s the best lower-body exercise for building strength?
AE: A move that works for one individual won’t always work for another. But barbell squats are the classic leg strength marker.
MF: What’s the best foundation move for your upper body?
AE: The bench press has been and always will be the classic upper body strength marker, and for good reason. But you need to be able to match that with your pulling ratio, so aim to chin-up the same weight as you can press [combining bodyweight and added load on a weight belt].
MF: What’s the biggest mistake people make with their training?
AE: Trying to do everything at once. Focus on one area of your training rather than trying to get strong, lean, quick and fit all in one go.
MF: What’s the most common thing people neglect when training?
AE: Nutrition. If it’s not at least as important as your training programme then you’re approaching it the wrong way.
MF: Can anyone benefit from training like a rugby player?
AE: Of course. Rugby players have to be fit, fast, strong, powerful. Everybody who’s into their training should want to have all those attributes. And they’re all lean too so, for performance and aesthetics, it clearly works.
