Health & Safety Notice

Elite Rugby App is a trading name of BPM Performance Zone Limited, a company incorporated in New Zealand (NZBN 9429051799557), based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Version 2.0. Contact: help@eliterugbyapp.com.

1. What Elite Rugby App is, and is not

Elite Rugby App is a coaching, strength and conditioning, nutrition and recovery platform. Our videos, programmes, classes, drills, PDFs, calculators, self-tests, chat messages and emails are general information for a general audience of rugby players and coaches. They are not written for you personally, because we do not know your body, your history or your circumstances.

Nothing on Elite Rugby App is medical advice, a diagnosis, a treatment plan, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, dietetic advice or a return-to-play assessment. It is not a substitute for the judgement of a doctor, physiotherapist, dietitian or other qualified health professional who has examined you. Coaches and players who appear on Elite Rugby App are content contributors. They are not your coach, your medical team or your employer, and they are not giving you individual advice.

2. Get checked before you start

Talk to a doctor or qualified health professional before you start, change or stop any training or nutrition programme, and follow their advice over anything you read or watch here. This matters most if any of the following apply to you:

• a heart condition, chest pain, high or low blood pressure, dizziness or fainting, or a family history of heart problems;
• asthma or another breathing condition;
• diabetes, kidney or liver disease, cancer, epilepsy, or any other ongoing medical condition;
• a bone, joint, ligament, tendon, back or neck problem, or any current injury;
• a recent operation, or you are recovering from an injury or illness;
• a concussion or head injury in the last 12 months (see section 4);
• you are pregnant, have recently given birth, or are breastfeeding;
• you are taking medication that affects your heart rate, blood pressure, balance or ability to exercise;
• you have a history of disordered eating or an eating disorder;
• you are under 18, or over 60 and new to strength training;
• you have not exercised regularly for a long time, or you are unsure about your health.

If you have been told by a health professional not to exercise, or to limit how you exercise, follow their advice. Do not use Elite Rugby App to decide whether it is safe for you to train.

3. Stop if you notice these signs

Stop immediately and get medical advice if, during or after training, you feel or notice any of these:

• chest pain, pressure or tightness;
• faintness, light-headedness or dizziness;
• unusual shortness of breath, or breathing that does not settle;
• nausea or vomiting;
• blurred or disturbed vision;
• sudden or sharp pain, a pop, a snap or a give in a joint or muscle;
• numbness, tingling or weakness in an arm or a leg;
• headache, confusion, memory problems or feeling foggy, especially after any contact to the head or body;
• an irregular or racing heartbeat that does not settle with rest.

4. Concussion and head knocks

Rugby is a collision sport. Concussion is a brain injury and it can happen without being knocked out. Our programmes and content are training material. They are not a concussion assessment, not a rehabilitation programme, not a return-to-play protocol, and not a graduated return-to-sport plan.

• If you have, or might have, a concussion: stop training and playing immediately. Do not return the same day. Follow World Rugby’s “Recognise and Remove” guidance and your own union’s concussion protocol.
• Get assessed by a medical professional. Only return to training and playing when you have been cleared by a doctor and have completed your union’s graduated return process.
• Anything on Elite Rugby App about recovery, durability, head knocks or return to play is general education. It must not be used to decide whether you, or a player you coach, are ready to train or play again.
• Coaches and clubs: your union’s concussion rules and stand-down periods for community and age-grade players apply. Our content never overrides them.

5. Training safely

Before every session:

• Check your equipment is in good condition, correctly assembled and rated for the load you plan to lift. Use collars on barbells and safety pins or bars in racks.
• Clear enough space around you, including overhead. Train on a flat, stable, non-slip surface. Keep children and pets out of the training area.
• Use a spotter or safety bars for any lift where a failed rep could trap you. Never attempt a maximal lift alone.
• Warm up. Progress load, speed and volume gradually. A programme written for a professional is not a starting point for a beginner.
• If you do not have the equipment shown, do not improvise with something unsafe. Choose a different exercise.
• Contact skills such as tackling, rucking, scrummaging and lineout lifting should be practised under the supervision of a qualified coach, following your union’s law variations and safety guidance for your age grade. Our videos show technique. They cannot supervise you.
• Train in conditions suited to hard exercise. Heat, cold, dehydration, poor sleep, illness and alcohol all raise your risk.

6. Nutrition, supplements and anti-doping

• Our nutrition content, meal ideas and calorie or macronutrient targets are general educational information. They are not individualised dietary advice and do not constitute dietetic, nutritional or clinical services.
• Talk to a qualified professional before following any nutrition content if you have allergies or intolerances, coeliac disease, diabetes, kidney or liver disease, a history of disordered eating, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are under 18.
• Calorie deficits, weight cuts and fasting are not appropriate for everyone and are not appropriate for growing athletes without professional supervision.
• We do not sell, endorse or test supplements. Mentions of supplements are general information. Supplements can be contaminated with banned substances. If you are subject to anti-doping rules, you are responsible for what you take. Check the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list and your national anti-doping organisation’s guidance, and use batch-tested products if you choose to use supplements at all.

7. Young players

• Players under 18 should use Elite Rugby App with the knowledge and supervision of a parent or guardian, or through their club or school under a qualified coach.
• Our strength and conditioning programmes are written for adults unless a programme says otherwise. Growing athletes need different loads, volumes and technique progressions. Coaches, parents and guardians are responsible for choosing age-appropriate content and for supervising it.
• Maximal lifts, heavy loading and self-administered strength tests are not suitable for young players without qualified supervision.
• Nutrition content about calorie targets, weight loss or weight cutting is not for players under 18 without professional guidance.
• Clubs and schools using Elite Rugby App agree in our Team, Club & School Terms to supervise their players and to follow their union’s safeguarding, concussion and age-grade rules.

8. Our free calculators and self-tests

We publish free tools: a calorie and macronutrient calculator, ankle, knee and shoulder performance self-tests, and a goal-kick tracker. They work in your own browser. What you type into them stays on your device and does not reach us. Because of that we cannot see, email or delete your results; you can clear them yourself with each tool’s reset control or by clearing your browser data.

• The self-tests ask you to do maximal-effort lifts, repeated hops, single-leg balance and repetitions to failure. These are demanding physical tests. Get clearance from a qualified health professional first, do not test while injured, in pain, or recovering from injury, surgery or a head knock, and have someone with you for any maximal effort.
• Results are a screening comparison against general thresholds. They are not a diagnosis, they cannot tell you that a joint is healthy or injured, and a green result does not mean you are safe to play. A red result means see a professional, not train harder.
• The calorie calculator uses population formulas. It does not know your health. Its targets are not suitable for people under 18, during pregnancy, or with any medical condition or history of disordered eating, without professional advice. There is no lower limit built in; a target that seems very low is a sign to talk to a professional, not to follow it.
• Parents and guardians: these tools do not check age. Please supervise any use by a young player.

9. Your responsibility and your risk

You decide what to do with the information on Elite Rugby App. You are responsible for training safely, for knowing your own limits, for getting medical clearance when you need it, and for stopping when your body tells you to.

To the extent the law where you live allows, you agree that your use of Elite Rugby App, and any training or athletic activity you do in connection with it, including following a programme, class, plan, drill, test or recommendation from us or from a coach on our platform, is at your own risk. Those risks include muscle strain and tear, joint and ligament injury, back and neck injury, fracture, concussion and other head injury, heat illness, cardiac events and, in rare cases, permanent disability or death. We cannot supervise you, and we do not accept responsibility for how you choose to train.

When you start a programme or class you confirm that either (a) you have no heart condition, chest pain, dizziness, bone or joint problem, blood pressure problem, current injury or current concussion and are not pregnant, or (b) you have consulted a doctor who has approved your use of Elite Rugby App. If your health changes, stop and get checked again.

10. Free classes and rewards

A free EliteClass, a loyalty or referral credit, a gifted month or a comped subscription comes with exactly the same health and safety position as paid access. A free class is not a recommendation that the class suits you. If someone gives you access through a referral or a gift, that does not transfer any judgement about whether you are fit to train. The affirmation in section 9 applies before you train.

11. If something goes wrong

If you or someone with you is injured or unwell during training, stop and get help. In an emergency call your local emergency number (111 in New Zealand, 000 in Australia, 999 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 112 in the European Union, 911 in the United States and Canada, 10177 in South Africa). Our support team can help with your account and our content, but we are not a medical service and cannot give medical advice.

12. How this notice fits with the Terms

This notice is part of our Terms of Service. By using Elite Rugby App you agree to it. Nothing in this notice excludes or limits any liability that the law of your country does not allow us to exclude or limit, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence where that law prohibits excluding it, and nothing here takes away your rights as a consumer. Our full position on liability is in section 27 of the Terms.