As I mentioned in my last post, I recently made a club visit to Real Madrid where I was able to meet the staff, talk shop with Jack Naylor (@JackWNayler), and observe the team’s final hard practice before the Champion’s League final against city rival?Atl?tico Madrid. Several players, most notably Bale and Ronaldo, were dinged up from the long season and were doing special controlled fitness sessions.?Ronaldo’s session was particularly short and he just did some on-field running with the ball which you can see in the accompanying video. What was more interesting was the club’s use of a gigantic sand pit for running, strength and plyometric work. Here’s the video:

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Mike Young

Director of Performance at Athletic Lab

Mike is the Head Fitness Coach for the North Carolina Courage and North Carolina FC. He is also the owner and Director of Performance at Athletic Lab sports performance training center. He previously served as the fitness coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps and Carolina Railhawks. He has a PhD in Biomechanics, an MS in Coaching Science, and a BSS in Exercise Physiology and has coached Olympic and professional athletes in Skeleton, Track & Field, MLS and NASL Soccer, PGA Golf, NFL Football, MLB Baseball and Olympic Weightlifting. He has lectured around the world and authored 2 books and dozens of research and coaching articles.

Latest posts by Mike Young (see all)

• Brilliant Hamstring Injury Observations from Dave Joyce - September 26, 2018
• Sprint exposure for speed enhancement AND injury reduction - April 4, 2018
• Variance in the Soccer Warmup - April 3, 2018