Spain was one of the first European countries hit by coronavirus, and La Liga was one of the first top divisions to shut down entirely, meaning its now approaching two months since teams played games in the Spanish top flight.
The break since games were played is now about as long as a standard summer holiday for the players – in fact they would likely now be back training and preparing for their friendly games in advance of a season.
So it’s no wonder the clubs are worried about the physical state of their players, locked up at home, and it’s no wonder to hear reported, as we did in AS today, that Barcelona have told their players to maintain their weight at a certain level.
Each player has a workout routine, but to make sure they’re having an effect the players are also being weighed daily and told to maintain their ideal playing weight as decided by the club.
The average weight gain so far has been between 0.6 and 1.5 kilos – acceptable and easily lost once training ramps up, but the physios are keeping a close eye on it.
No player will be allowed to increase by more than 2 kilos, described as a “red line” for the squad’s weight gain.
