So just how hard do professional footballers really work? – Liverpool Echo

It’s deep into injury time at Goodison on Saturday and Everton’s players are relentlessly pouring forward, desperate to grab the winner in a breathless derby .

 They’ve covered every blade of grass, competed for every ball, and still need to be sprinting as hard in the 96th minute as they did in the sixth.

 Still, they’re professional athletes so it goes with the territory?

 Maybe. But anyone who has ever kicked a ball on a Sunday morning, or legged it around a five-a-side pitch like a headless chicken (but Lionel Messi in their heads) has perhaps wondered about the fitness levels required to be a top-flight footballer.

 I know I had – and five days earlier, drenched in sweat, with lungs burning and muscles aching, I had my answer.

 I was at the Blues Finch Farm training ground being put through my paces by the club’s head of sports science and conditioning Steve Tashjian.

 

 The American might have seemed easy-going as he greeted the bunch of sports hacks who trooped into one of the indoor training areas at the £13m complex, but he quickly displayed the task-master authority which has the Toffees in top shape.

 Any hopes Steve was just going to give us desk-jockeys a gentle insight into the basics were quickly dashed when we were instructed to launch into the exact warm-up you see the players performing on the pitch before a Premier League game.

 By the end of that series of stretches and light runs we were already flushed – and that was just the beginning.

 The session had been organised by The Protein Works – Everton’s own bespoke sports nutrition supplier – and, just like the players, we had been handed bottles of energy-boosting pre-training drinks while we listened to Steven explain the schedule.

 With a speed I normally reserve for the first pint on a Friday evening I was finishing the last drop of my potent brew, just as Steve added that it would be wise to only take a few initial sips.

 Maybe that’s why I completed the first few shuttle-runs like I was being chased by a colony of wasps, but the lads who drank more sensibly also agreed it made them feel alert and ready to perform.

 Steve’s methods are not simply to test the players and push them to their limits. Everything he does is designed to mimic the specific movements they need to make on the pitch, while improving their speed, agility and stamina.

 We gradually built up the frequency of our sprints between cones, then he demanded we hop through a series of mini-hurdles before bursting into a run and twisting around metal dummies supposed to represent opposition players.

 Then we repeatedly darted through a course of cones before receiving a pass and shooting with alternate feet into a (mercifully) unguarded goal.

 If I needed any further motivation to concentrate and avoid my usually erratic pea-roller finishing, it was the sight of Duncan Ferguson in the background preparing for his coaching session with the U18s.

 After half an hour we were all feeling the strain – and we hadn’t even set foot in the gym and picked up a dumb-bell yet.

The Echo’s Everton reporter Greg O’Keefe training like a Pro footballer at Everton Football Club training ground,Finch Farm,Halewood,with other journalists. Greg training in the gym.  

 “The players would typically carry on this part for longer,” explains Steve – but then a bit of balm for bruised egos. “They might do it on a bigger scale but it is one of our harder sessions.

 “We’ll do this early in the week, maybe a Tuesday or Wednesday after the players have a day off to recover from the previous game.”

 In the gym, Steve had set out a circuit of exercises to build power and strength, with other exercises more focused on balance and co-ordination.

 Again though, everything we did was designed with football in mind instead of simply body-building.

 “I usually work in the gym with smaller groups of players after training,” he says. “Sometimes maybe a couple of guys or maybe six.

 “It’s tailored around working with them as individuals to highlight their strengths and weaknesses and use the information to improve their performance on the field.”

If Roberto Martinez asks Steve to improve the strength of a lithe, pacy winger he will work differently than if the goal is to improve the agility of a strapping, muscle-bound centre-back.

 So after a series of weighted squats, press-ups while balancing our body weight using straps, and agonising sets of pull-ups it was time to cool down.

 On cue, a tray of essential recovery drinks arrived, packed with protein and vitamins vital to help repair the players’ muscles after a tough session.

 And this time I sipped it – content in the belief that the fitness of Everton’s players is in safe hands.

Formula gives Blues the edge

The Echo’s Everton reporter Greg O’Keefe training like a Pro footballer at Everton Football Club training ground,Finch Farm,Halewood,with other journalists. Greg(left),who was training under the guidance of Everton’s Head of Fitness & Conditioning Steve Tashjian(right).  

Football has come a long way since the days of oranges at half-time and that’s firmly evident at Everton.

The Blues have become the first club in the Premier League to develop a range of bespoke sports nutrition to enhance the team’s fitness and conditioning.

 Head of sport science and conditioning, Steve Tashjian, and nutritional advisor Professor Don MacLaren, have been working closely with the experts at The Protein Works over the summer to develop the very latest cutting-edge recovery formulas, tailor-made to meet the demanding needs of Roberto Martinez’s first team.

Steve said: “We are looking at every area of the club to see how we can push the boundaries further. Footballers train harder and longer than ever before, and the conditioning that they undergo at Finch Farm is pretty intense.

 “One of the areas that we thought we could gain a real competitive edge was in the player’s fitness, conditioning and nutrition. With the new intensive training protocols we have put in place and the latest sports nutrition from The Protein Works, we’re confident that the players are in the best possible shape.

 “Sports nutrition plays a key role in the recovery process so we have to ensure the highest quality supplements are available.

 “The Protein Works are at the forefront of innovation right now and are able to provide products with bespoke formulations.

 “What is even more important to us is that every product we have developed with them is chemical free. They are totally ‘clean’ products free from preservatives.

 “The collaborative approach has worked really well and we now have two unique recovery drinks – one for the nutrient window after training and one for the nutrient window following a match,” he added.

 Protein Works co-founder Nick Smith, said: “The whole process has been very complex and technically demanding, but Everton’s conditioning team have demanded excellence.”

Find out more at www.theproteinworks.com .

If you enjoy reading football news, then sign up to the newsletter and get a dailu update of the latest breaking stories. No adverts, no mailing lists, just team news. The newsletter is delivered by Google Feedburner email for your extra privacy.

Dont miss out on this one. Read all about the new Everton 3rd kit.