Posted on July 06, 2012 10:02
AmaZulu team physio, Divan Augustyn explains how week two of pre-season training will minimize fatigue and injuries ahead of an extensive pre-season programme which will culminate with a tough encounter against Manchester United on the July 18th 2012.
Ahead of the nearly sold out match which will take place at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Wednesday night the Usuthu will have played a closed friendly with neighbours Golden Arrows and sister club Durban Warriors. Chatting to AmaZulufc.net after another morning drill Augustyn appeared pleased of the progression in the fitness levels of the players yielded thus far.
“The pre-season is going well, because it’s taking a new approach to the type of training that we’re doing where we’re trying cut out inconsistency.
“The first one that we work on is nutrition - so every day we provide breakfast and lunch to the players and secondly we make sure that we do more regeneration so that they get more recovery and rest. Everybody gets stretch classes all week and also get to work on their weaknesses,” said Augustyn.
The club has made full use of Durban’s newly established Prime High Human Institute Performance centre which the 29 year old has tipped as a major contributor towards getting a positive effect in the club kicking off their pre-season programme.
“The facility is fantastic, because everything is within close proximity, firstly which means we can do our meals, training and gym and secondly from a cardiovascular point of view there’s a lot more quality in our training because we can have best effects in a short space of time.
“What we’re trying to do is to get our squad stronger. We’re in the gym a lot more, working on power. There’re four elements that we’re working on – one being rehabilitation, where the guys are working on things that might cause injuries.
“The second one is strength work to make them run faster and the other one is rotational strength to ensure that they’re stronger on the ball.
“For the time being everything is going well. We’re combining very well with our soccer training involving a lot of touch work on the ball and movements,” said Augustyn.