Neil McDonald explains the benefits of warm-weather training
West Ham United have landed in Dubai for a short warm-weather training camp ahead of the return of Barclays Premier League action at Arsenal next weekend.
The first team squad flew out to the Emirate state following Wednesday’s gallant effort in defeat to Chelsea as they bid to recharge their batteries for the finishing stretch of the campaign.
Manager Sam Allardyce has taken his teams away for mid-season training camps in the sun wherever he has worked, with Dubai the destination for the Hammers over each of his four years with the Club.
His squad will undergo gym work as well as football sessions during their time in Dubai, and assistant manager Neil McDonald is sure they will reap the benefits.
He explained: “Since the start of December it’s been full on and we’re only just coming up for air at the start of March. It’s been a tough couple of months but what we normally do is go away so the lads can get a bit of sun on their backs.
“We do a bit of training in the gym and along the beach, as well as having a couple of football sessions. It’s more important that they have a bit of relxation time and get the sun on their backs.
“In last two or three months everyone’s had their tracksuit tops, gloves and hats on and it’ll be great to go across there and we’ll still be working, but special for the boys that it’s in the heat.
“The results have always been good when we’ve come back. We went at Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham and it’s always shown in the results towards the end of the season.
“We’ve had a difficult one before we went and there’s a difficult one when we get back, but we’ll try to take points as best as we can and hopefully kick on with everyone coming back refreshed and feeling much better about themselves.”
The first team squad flew out to the Emirate state following Wednesday’s gallant effort in defeat to Chelsea as they bid to recharge their batteries for the finishing stretch of the campaign.
Manager Sam Allardyce has taken his teams away for mid-season training camps in the sun wherever he has worked, with Dubai the destination for the Hammers over each of his four years with the Club.
His squad will undergo gym work as well as football sessions during their time in Dubai, and assistant manager Neil McDonald is sure they will reap the benefits.
He explained: “Since the start of December it’s been full on and we’re only just coming up for air at the start of March. It’s been a tough couple of months but what we normally do is go away so the lads can get a bit of sun on their backs.
“We do a bit of training in the gym and along the beach, as well as having a couple of football sessions. It’s more important that they have a bit of relxation time and get the sun on their backs.
“In last two or three months everyone’s had their tracksuit tops, gloves and hats on and it’ll be great to go across there and we’ll still be working, but special for the boys that it’s in the heat.
“The results have always been good when we’ve come back. We went at Bolton, Blackburn and West Ham and it’s always shown in the results towards the end of the season.
“We’ve had a difficult one before we went and there’s a difficult one when we get back, but we’ll try to take points as best as we can and hopefully kick on with everyone coming back refreshed and feeling much better about themselves.”