Pre-season training is now well under way and after two very good weeks the level has certainly been set by the senior squad.
Rob Leighton of Rogue Fitness has done a fantastic job with the lads and all of them have been telling me how good the sessions are. Most of the time they want to tell him to jump off a cliff but they appreciate the hard work is part of pre-season and thoroughly enjoy the sessions (when they are over). The tempo, change in exercises and variety make them less monotonous than standard running and interval sessions but far more effective.
So far we have done a variety of sessions which Rob and Gareth have led. Gareth leading conditioned games and Rob leading rugby specific conditioning sessions which all have enjoyed!
Last night we mixed it up and did a very tough hills session just outside Thurstonland, which was one of the hardest sessions I have seen. All the lads were flogged and the highlight had to be Ben Hoyle and Gareth Lewis going head to head over 10 sprints. Despite being knackered they were both going for it and both desperate not to lose – Hoyle won!!!