BUILDING conditioning and confidence is an integral part of Hawthorn’s pre-season camp this year, according to Head Fitness Coach Andrew Russell.
The squad will arrive in Mooloolaba tomorrow for a gruelling 10-day training program ahead of season 2016.
It’s the third time the Hawks’ pre-season camp has been held on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in the past four seasons, and Russell says the players are excited for what lies ahead.
“It’s a fantastic area to train,” he told HawksTV on Thursday.
“We get to train in heat and we’ve got three full-size AFL ovals up there, so we can do a lot of split training with our boys. We can have a group on one oval, we can have rehab guys on another and we can do a whole lot of skills drills on three different ovals.
“I haven’t found a better spot in Australia to train. The boys love being in that environment near the beach - they train hard, recover well and we go into Christmas in a really good spot.”
Part of going into Christmas in a really good spot for the Hawks will be pushing themselves to the limit in terms of their physical conditioning.
“We need to get them really well conditioned to a lot of change of direction and skill-based training,” Russell said.
“We do a lot of high intensity based training when we’re away, it’s not just about doing long, slow miles at this time of year.
“It’s all about getting confidence in their bodies and really having all those base capacities – speed, power, strength, endurance – ready to really get the loads going in January.
“We’re always trying to push them to that point just under where they’re going to break down.”
Camp life will provide a “no distractions” lifestyle for the players – with a complete focus on training, eating, sleeping and recovering well.
“We believe the camp is a really important part of our preparation (for 2016),” Russell said.
“It enables us to really train five to 10 per cent harder than maybe we would here (in Melbourne), because we’re in an environment where they’re happy, near the ocean, recover well and eat well.”
