Find out what the Valencia CF players’ medical and fitness tests involve  

Valencia CF’s Head of Medical Services, Pedro López, featured on L’Informatiu on VCF Media Radio to discuss the team's return to work and the medical and fitness tests the players undergo at the start of pre-season.

Medical tests

“The first part of pre-season is to assess how the players have come back after these weeks off - although it hasn’t been full rest, but rather active rest. The fitness coach gave them a maintenance plan to follow during this time. When they return, we assess their condition. We divide them into working groups and carry out medical evaluations, mobility checks, joint range assessments, strength tests… and we split the work into several areas: medical exams and tests at IMED, usually including cardiological tests like echocardiograms, electrocardiograms, and stress tests to determine how fit the players are to begin demanding physical work.”

Pre-preseason individual work

“Players are becoming more and more professional, just like the medical and technical staff at clubs. What we aim for is active rest - that players continue working out during their holidays, so that when they return and face the intense demands of pre-season, they’re able to cope with it in the best possible shape.”

Pre-season planning and organisation

“We organise a circuit, including time slots, outlining exactly when and where each player needs to be. First, we carry out an initial assessment. They go through the nutrition area, where we take anthropometric measurements - weight, skinfolds… This helps us analyse and plan nutritional work with them.

The second part is a joint mobility assessment, where physiotherapists measure their range of motion. We monitor their condition. For players who were already at the Club, we have the results of previous years, as well as data collected by the rehab and strength coaches, which allows us to compare how they were last season. This gives us a model to continue the work we had already started with them.

It’s the same with podiatry. For new players, these tests serve as a starting point. All of this gives us a comprehensive overview of each player’s condition to implement preventive measures or advise the coaching staff on the player’s readiness for the physical work ahead.”

Training

“These first few days we’re already doing introductory work. The fitness coach has divided the players into groups and organised different areas on the pitch. This will serve as a lead-in for the serious pre-season work that will begin next week, when the coaching staff will define how to approach the start of on-field training, work with the ball, and so on.”