TURNING UP THE HEAT AT TRAINING CAMP
WALES didn’t have much time to celebrate a hardearned triumph over England - they jetted to Turkey the following day for hot weather training.
But why is the nine-day camp being held on the Turkish Riviera at the country’s largest Mediterranean Sea holiday resort Antalya?
WHAT IS THE GLORIA SPORTS ARENA?
IT’S the largest sports facility in Turkey with facilities and specialist equipment for more than 50 sports.
The accommodation block contains 82 standard-sized rooms, eight rooms for the handicapped and 10 suites.
All the rooms have a view of the complex’s football pitch and running track.
Mini bars in each room do not have alcoholic beverages, the length of the beds are 2m (6ft 5in) but can be extended to 2.20m (7ft 2in).
The longer beds were required to ensure the likes of Adam Beard, who at 6ft 8in is the tallest player in the Wales squad, were able to get a comfortable night’s sleep.
Jake Ball is an inch shorter, captain Alun Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies and back-rower Aaron Shingler two, and Cory Hill three.
WHAT SPORTS DOES IT CATER FOR?
OUTDOOR sports include rugby, football, athletics, archery, beach volleyball, cycling, hockey, golf, climbing, tennis, triathlon and frisbee.
Indoor sports include aerobics, badminton, basketball, boxing, fencing, handball, judo, table-tennis, martial arts, weightlifting, wrestling while there are a number of gyms.
A swimming pool complex also caters for diving, water polo, synchronised swimming, underwater hockey and underwater rugby.
There’s also a full range of medical services, performance testing, personal and group training programmes, and recovery services such as cryotherapy, laser therapy and ultrasound.
Warren Gatland’s head of physical performance, Paul Stridgeon, said: “We’re very grateful for the facilities we’ve got at this training camp, which are probably some of the best I’ve ever seen.
“Everything is in close proximity: great gyms, cryotherapy, plunge pools, saunas, a fantastic pitch with a running track around it.
“The hotel overlooks the pitch, the food is excellent and the staff can’t do enough for you.”
WHO TRAINS AT THE COMPLEX?
INTERNATIONAL teams from a wide variety of sports while football clubs to utilise the facilities include Hertha Berlin, FC Steaua and Besiktas.
Stridgeon said: “There are lots of other teams and athletes staying here.
“We’ve had some sprinters watching us train, some high jumpers and one of the best volleyball teams in the world.
“My background is in wrestling, so I used to rub shoulders with other athletes and see how they worked, but you don’t generally get that opportunity in team sports, so coming to places like this gives you that unique insight.”
WHY DID WALES CHOOSE TURKEY?
TO simulate the heat and humidity they could face at the World Cup in Japan, where some claim it will be like playing in damp conditions.
The forecast for today in Antalya was 102 degrees Fahrenheit (39 degrees centigrade) with 32% humidity. The humidity level is expected to rise to 45% next Monday.
“We’re pushing the players to the limit. The session we did on our first
day here in Turkey was 70 minutes in 38 degree (100 Fahrenheit) heat – we’re right on the cusp with what we can put them through,” explained Stridgeon.
“We’re putting into practice the theory that by going above the body’s critical temperature for 30 minutes, the heat stress will increase the players’ endurance.
“This converts to roughly 90 minutes of training in the heat, with six sessions required to see successful physical adaptations.
“The longer your body takes to reach its critical core temperature during subsequent training and games, the better your endurance.”
WHAT ARE THE OTHER BENEFITS?
“THIS training reduces the electrolyte concentration in the players’ sweat, which in turn reduces the chance of cramp,” said Stridgeon.
“On certain days here, some of the boys are doing up to four sessions a day. If anyone’s still feeling fresh come the evening, they can choose to do a weights session.”
WHAT HEALTH PRECAUTIONS ARE WALES TAKING IN TURKEY? “WITH so much rugby being played in the sun we make sure we’re on top of things when it comes to rehydration and encourage the boys to keep using sun cream,” Stridgeon wrote in his WRU column.
“The players know that what we’re doing works. We recently spent 15 days in Switzerland, and after that training camp we gave them six days off to regenerate.”
He pointed out: “If we keep training them hard they’ll just over-train, so rest and recovery is important.
“When they came back into camp they had all made significant improvements in their performance.”
IS IT ALL WORK AND NO PLAY?
LIAM Williams and some of the other Welsh players went sailing on their day off in Turkey.
“The boys are working so hard that it can’t always be all stick and no carrot,” stressed Stridgeon.
“I’m really fortunate to have a world-class team of fitness coaches in Huw Bennett, John Ashby, Rhodri Williams and Eifion Roberts, alongside our sports scientist, Ryan Chambers.
“They all have their own strengths, which creates a great balance within the performance team, and allows us to get the best out of the players both as individuals and ultimately as a team on the pitch.
“There’s a lot of trust and loyalty in the group. We have a laugh together and we go out for food and a drink together once a week.
“We don’t need to have loads of meetings, but we get where we want to be and know what’s best for the players.”
WHAT TRAINING WILL WALES DO WHEN THEY RETURN HOME? STRIDGEON said the gains made by training in the Turkish heat “can be lost within two weeks with no further heat stress”.
And he added: “We’ll be doing heat top-ups from when we get home to Wales up until we go to Japan, including cranking up the heat in our gym and altitude chambers at our National Centre of Excellence, and going in hot baths after training.
“These things will maintain if not further improve the heat benefits from this Turkish camp.”