Players embark on tough tests up in the Lakes

WIDNES VIKINGS have headed up to the Lake District to take part in a gruelling training camp as they step up their pre-season training ahead of the 2017 Super League season.

The Vikings will be taking part in an intense two-day training camp that is designed to test their physical and mental strength and will challenge the players as they trek across some of the Lakes’ highest mountains, down 650ft drops in to ice water plunges and not to mention the gruelling 50km mountain runs.

The training camp is in partnership with WAKTU. As well as being put through their paces as they take part in a number of intense challenges, the players will also volunteer for the National Trust at its Great Langdale Valley sites and will be helping with re-fencing fields, clearing rivers and repairing stone walls.

Chris Baron, head of strength and conditioning at Widnes, believes the trip will prove to be a worthwhile experience for the players’ mental and physical toughness throughout the season.

He said: “For me, the reaction to failure is what we’re looking forward to seeing from the players.

“I think in the last few years of Super League, these kind of camps have become fashionable once again, and teams are doing army camps and putting the players in uncomfortable positions. Personally, as a club, we’re hoping to use this as something to look back should we hit challenges throughout the season. We want to look back on it and use it as a benchmark. for us.

“This camp is going to be our ‘go-to’ thing throughout the season to help push the players when they are in need of a lift.

“A lot of people do these sort of things and they talk about building character, but for me it’s the opposite. I want them to feel uncomfortable and on the verge of quitting. At these kind of camps, there are a lot of instructors and people who are ex-special forces and those who compete in mammoth marathons. These are guys know what it’s like to go to the extreme and pushed to the limit.

“That feeling is what I want our players to feel, I want them to go to the bottom and break and get back up from it.

“This kind of camp will allow us to see how they react and what kind of players we have at this club.

“I am confident we will get a real positive reaction from the experience.”