Walsall players keeping mentally and physically fit, says coach Mark Bradley

As the coronavirus has shut down fixtures until at least April 30, the Saddlers players are keeping in shape with tailored regimes they can complete at home, but for ex-player Bradley it's also important to look out for the group in other ways.

"A lot of it is mentally as well, it’s quite a hard time for players," he said. I know what it’s like to train on your own and it’s a bit of a culture shock actually because they’re normally in a group environment but when you’re on your own it’s that mental capacity to push yourself.

"It’s obviously good for the mind, I’m in the same boat at the minute, I need to get that training fix but I’m sure that programme will help them.

"We’re always in constant contact and finding ways that we can get the lads to do those extra little bits."

The club are using social-fitness network Strava to help track and monitor each player and their progress.

The idea behind it is to maintain the group's fitness and have them ready for when the season returns – while staving off injuries.

"It’s not to get them fit because we’ve got a fit group of lads but it’s just to maintain so whenever we do get to return to play, the lads are fit and ready," Bradley added.

"It's for injury prevention as well because if they don’t maintain it and then they come back and they’ve got to play games at a high intensity then they’re going to break down. There’s rest days in that, strength days and injury prevention exercises so there’s plenty for them to get on with.

“We’ve got them all on the Strava app, we’ve set up a group which is good.

"All the lads can see what everyone else is doing time wise and it’s competitive. I think that’s a good way of getting the lads to do it to a good level because when it’s more competitive and everyone else can see what score you’re getting, what speed per kilometre you’re getting and the distances you’re covering, it’s a healthy group we’ve got going on.

“There’s enough in the programme to get on with that’s going to maintain that fitness level and there’s plenty of exercises like body weight exercises that they can do at home since the gyms have been closed.

"The lads are a good group, they all get on with it, there are no moaners and I don’t really have to chase them for anything. They’re all getting on with it well."

Alongside the mental and physical health of the players, comes the nutrition and Bradley insists it is essential that the group look after their diet during lockdown to ensure they return to the club in top form.

“Nutrition wise I think they’re quite clued up with diet," he said.

"We’ve given them a lot of tips and were bringing the carbs down a little bit because they’re not doing as much training as normal but not dropping off completely because carbs maintain their muscle mass and keep their energy levels high for when they do the training that we’ve set.

"Obviously high protein for when they’re doing their recovery sessions after that. There’s some strength sessions but because most the lads don’t have weights, they need to still get the right protein in.

"Hydration is important for when they do their runs so they don’t get any muscle injuries so it’s important to keep on top of their nutrition."