I Pompey The boss has broken down a program for his players that he believes will force them to shoot from all angles for The first league curtain call in Sheffield Wednesday 30th July.
Cowley’s team are feeling the intensity of the work they are being put through as they prepare for the new campaign at Spain’s training camp in Murcia.
The stay continues after a fortnight’s two-week sessions leading into a quick two-game weekend against the Hawks and State Party.
The club’s GPS statistics showed that last week the players ran a distance of 60 km – and this is without taking into account their training in the gym.
Pompey trained on Saturday morning ahead of the Hawks game and now continue their two-session schedule this week.
The focus will be on switching from heavy mileage to shorter, more intense work as the pre-season continues and Cowley looks for the right combination of durability and explosiveness from his players.
He said: “There are no shortcuts to where we want to go – we have to do the work.
“The first two weeks are high volume and we’re trying to build up our aerobic capacity.
“We know what to do.
“Now you see the biggest distances and the biggest numbers, you need to build a base.
“We’re not cutting back on games at this stage either and they had about 60km at the weekend.
“As you train, you’ll start to see an anaerobic focus and shorter bursts of intense exercise at higher speeds.
“It will be lower volume, but more actions per minute.
“After we come back from Spain, we’ll be down three against three and two against two to get that kind of agility and explosive power. It is gradual progress.’
Pompey followed that up with an opening 3-0 win over the Hawks on Saturday and a 1-0 defeat to Gosport at Privet Park.
The experienced squad put in a tough first-half performance before the younger side stepped up their game after the break but failed to convert one of the many chances that came their way.
Cowley could understand why his players might have felt some fatigue against Shaun Gayle’s side.
He said: “A more experienced group put in a tired performance on Sunday.
“But I think it’s important for the players to go through it.
“It’s a good test that makes them humble. It doesn’t hurt us.”
