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Friday, June 25, 2021

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FCSD

Shakhtar's Austrian training camp is gaining momentum and has a number of peculiarities

The footballers and the new coaching staff are getting to know each other better and better every day. And an additional source of information for coaches is research on the first days of the training camp.

As we reported earlier, the Orange-and-Blacks underwent fitness tests yesterday. Special equipment was used for the procedure, with the footballers having had blood samples taken from the earlobes and having received electric shocks.
 
"They told us that they needed to collect information on each player: how ready are our muscles, how the body reacts to the workload," said Shakhtar defender David Khocholava. "The tests are good, but tough. Initially we had a six-minute warm-up - we were jogging, followed by short-distance shuttle runs, but with multiple repetitions, that is, the intensity was high."

In specific tests, the team are assisted by specialists from the performance research group headed by Ermanno Rampinini.

"We conducted several strength and running tests. It’s very important to know exactly how and which muscles respond to various strength loads. Analysing the data together with the coaching staff will make it possible to properly prepare for the next exercises," said Ermanno. "Electric shocks? That’s called the electrical response. Everyone reacts to a shock in different ways: for someone it’s more painful, someone else bears it better. Electrical stimulation is used to test the natural and artificial response of muscles to current. Ear blood sampling is a special technique that we trust very much. In the course of training, blood samples were taken from football players several times in order to know their parametres in a normal state and during fatigue. This way, we can analyze the condition of the body during the maximum workload while performing strength exercises."

And on Friday, June 25, the fourth workday at the training camp began for the footballers with anthropometric measurements (arm and leg size, percentage of muscle and fat mass, etc). Nutritionist Filipe Sousa stays with the team.

"For athletic performance it’s very important to conduct research in order to have data on muscle and fat mass of all the players. Later, we can compare the footballer’s current data with the data he had previously to understand which energy figures have changed during the vacation. Then we try to level the players through some dietary supplements, to give them advice on nutrition. Our assessment is just one part,” stressed Filipe. “Everything is very individual. The players should not do the things that are uncomfortable for them. And if we talk about preparing for the match, the best food will always be rice, pasta, potatoes, fruits. These are the biggest source of carbohydrates for our body, and carbohydrates are what a footballer needs most. During the week, nutrition should be adjusted to the needs of the player, as well as to each training session, depending on the number of expected activities."