The Fremantle players and a handful of coaches pushed themselves to the limit in a gruelling running session early on Saturday morning in Kings Park.
The temperature was already above 30 degrees when players and coaches Josh Carr, Tendai Mzungu and Adam Read got underway, running interval sprints up a steep hill in their groups with brief breaks to catch their breath and quench their thirst.
While all players did well to handle the tough conditions, Griffin Logue was especially impressive with his vocal encouragement of the group to ensure each player pushed themselves through the hour-long session.
According to senior strength and conditioning coach Dan Zaknich, the aim of the session was to give the players a fitness boost as they go about their 2021 pre-season training.
“We had guys up on the hill in Kings Park here today. We did a large football session yesterday and it’s about doing a little bit extra,” Zaknich said.
“We’re fortunate being in Western Australia where it warmer. There’s no doubt that being in the heat will give you a fitness benefit, which we hope will carry over to the season.
“The heat makes things that little bit harder for them when they’re training and ultimately, this is the time for to make those gains in their fitness.”
Zaknich added that there was also an injury prevention element with the hill running providing feedback on the players’ running mechanics.
“In addition, the hill running helps the players to work on some of our run mechanics,” Zaknich said.
“The hill itself, it gives you a little bit of a different contact point on the ground.
“Your arms rise, your stride length changes a little bit. It gives guys the feedback if need to make any changes.”
