FC St. Pauli

Training camps take it out of you – that's the whole point. When I played for my village team as a kid, we trained twice a week – here in Herzlake the Boys in Brown usually train twice a day. Sometimes there are three sessions, like there were today. Instead of the training ground, the players began in the gym, seeing in the morning with a spot of yoga followed by some core training. "Yoga is good for the soul," head coach Timo Schultz is fond of saying.

The body has to function well, of course, and not just the soul. Metaphorically speaking, the musculoskeletal system must run like a highly tuned engine. It has to be ready to go when needed. Human beings possess around 650 different muscles. In the case of professional athletes such as footballers, many of these muscles are regularly subjected to large loads, which is why diet, training and recovery are of utmost importance for getting through the season successfully.

For this reason, a round of strength training was lined up in the morning. First up, however, was a video analysis session with assistant coaches Loïc Favé and Fabian Hürzeler, for which the Boys in Brown were divided into groups before moving to the sports hall with performance coaches Christoph Hainc Scheller and Karim Rashwan. With the equipment on offer, such as stretch bands, kettlebells, dumbbells, exercise bikes and treadmills, and the choice beats blasting out of the speakers, the FC St. Pauli gym next to the hotel windmill would be the envy of any fitness fanatic, no question about it.

Building up strength - Finn Ole Becker in the fitness area.

Admittedly, I wouldn't have minded swinging a few weights around myself – or "pumping some iron" as a bodybuilding guru might say. The way Jakov Medić did his stuff on the dip bar and Finn Ole Becker worked up a sweat doing bench presses with dumbbells would have impressed even the biggest fitness enthusiast *flexed biceps emoji*. All under the watchful eye of Hainc Scheller and Rashwan, of course. "We give the players a customised plan to work on during the summer break," explains Hainc Scheller. "Then we always have six weeks of circuit training, which we do at the Kollau and then gradually renew."

The players' fitness levels are closely monitored, with special importance being attached to their diet. Here at the hotel, it is no different. " When we play away, we always give the hotels some key information for the list of ingredients, and it's the same when we're at training camp in Herzlake," says the 30-year-old. The importance of eating sensibly for your physical fitness will no doubt resonate with most exercise fans. 

Hainc Scheller tries to explain the positive effects to the players by organising workshops on correct nutrition for athletic performance. "We want the give the lads the best possible information and we prepare lists of recommended dietary supplements for individual players."

Fitness, fitness and more fitness. It should therefore come as no surprise after the morning's high‑intensity core and weight training session that James Lawrence, Sebastian Ohlsson and Leart Paqarada had a lot of fun winding down on the basketball court, trying to outdo each other with free throws. Particularly impressive was the Welshman's superb three-point shot from the midcourt line – far better than I could do, that's for sure. 

Over there next! Rico Benatelli knows exactly what's going to follow the morning's strength training sessions and drinks break.

Challenging each other was also the name of the game during the afternoon session, when precise passing in different groups was the opening exercise following the warm-up. The lads had to pass the ball between poles or past small cones to a teammate without it touching any of the obstacles. "Encourage each other and keep track of the points, then on to the next station," explains assistant coach Favé. The players clearly had a lot of fun and kept pushing each other hard in the quest for points.

A veritable "push day", you might say, both during the strength workouts and on the training ground. Maybe I'll push myself into visiting the FC St. Pauli fitness temple in Herzlake tonight. Will I manage to launch the ball into the basket from the midcourt line like James did? I'll keep you posted! 

Photos: FC St. Pauli