Kenn Hallstensen has given a detailed account of how Ronny Deila has re-shaped the Celtic squad.
At various stages over last season details would emerge of how players habits and training was being altered. Headline involving chips, ketchup and fizzy drinks emerged from time to time although they were somewhat undermined when Leigh Griffiths was filmed munching a tea-cake while sitting on the substitute bench at St Mirren.
Sports science and nutrition are key parts of every modern club with Hallstensen explaining how the body fat of the Celtic players has been reduced to ensure that the players are capable of going pelt for 90 minutes.
Comparing Stromsgodset with Celtic on his blog Hallstensen said: “Celtic Football Club turned out to be even bigger and more professional than I had thought, but at the same time I was surprised body composition to the players.Most bar on unnecessary body weight, while some also could benefit from a little more muscle mass.
“This was an important reason for the almost unreal results we’ve experienced with body composition of the players in Celtic. In total, the favorable change been more than 50 kg – in just seven months. With regard to that I started working with Celtic for some time after series startup, nothing of this change explained by ‘relaxation in football holiday’
“The history of the individual players is even more incredible. There are players, including several internationals, which has reduced the fat percentage by 3-4 percent without lose weight. This means they have built muscle mass, while fat and excess water has disappeared.
“There are players who basically can be said to have been in past it acceptable, but as with new diet has decreased 4.3 kg in body weight without losing muscle mass. This shows just how important it is to individualization also when it comes to advice about body composition. What’s good for one is not necessarily good enough for another.
“Ronny delicious game-play requires a lot of running and aggressively pressure over the pitch. Overweight players can not do this, and therefore was Ronny slightly distressed at the start of the season. Now he makes a big difference. 2.3 kg extra body weight may not hear so much, but when you try to put on a weight vest of 2-3 kilograms.
“This would naturally been a negative running straight ahead, but even worse for a footballer to be asked, stop, turn around and jump all the time. Fat and excess water is the same as a weight vest – unnecessary deadweight.”
Summing things up Hallstensen concluded: Exercise is gram, while diet is kilograms
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