UNDERWATER hockey will help make Gloucester's pre-season tougher than ever.
Taskmaster strength and conditioning boss Paddy Anson will introduce the Cherry and Whites to Octopush for the first time this summer.
Ex-Royal Marine Anson will once again lead a host of training sessions at Cheltenham's Sandford Parks Lido.
Cheltenham Water Polo club will help Gloucester's rugby stars build their fitness, while Octopush will test the Kingsholm men still further.
Anson explained: "Last year we didn't have the Octopush because we thought it was a step too far.
"But this year we'll bring it in and that's underwater hockey.
"You're on the surface looking down at the where the weighted puck is, and each player will have a stick.
"When they see the opportunity they dive down and play the puck under water, and pass it to each other.
"There's a lot of anoxic training benefit, where you're holding your breath under water.
"That enables recovery but also it's harder for the bigger players, but it improves lung capacity, and also the deeper you are the greater the pressure on your body which helps the recovery as well.
"It will be lively – and we've got to be careful the players don't get carried away!
"It can be as dangerous as they make it.
"So no contact in the water!
"If we can tie that anoxic training in with the water polo that's already pretty tough then it's going to help improve their lung efficiency.
"We also had Cheltenham Water Polo training with us last year, and they're happy to continue that relationship this year.
"It's great to have them on board and they can push the players even harder this season with some of the sessions they can bring in."
Hailing the help of Lido bosses Julie Sargent and Keith Norris, Anson said a host of Gloucester players have been keen to get a head-start on what will be another gruelling pre-season.
Gloucester have given all their players comprehensive off-season training programmes – but Anson said many are already adding in swimming elements.
He continued: "We're all very grateful to the staff at the Lido for their fantastic help, they have made huge efforts to make this partnership work.
"All our players have been given an off-season programme.
"The players can sign in at the Lido and use the facility.
"We've got heavy legs sessions within the off-season programme, so they need some form of recovery and we thought the Lido would be the best place for them to do that.
"And then we'll move that into pre-season with similar sessions to what we did last year, the Water Polo, the Octopush and other challenges too. The Lido have very kindly allowed us to do our rehab sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday there.
"So the injured players have been doing sessions there in the last few weeks, but there have also been plenty of additional players getting involved too.
"There are guys wanting to get some swimming in early, because they know how tough it is during pre-season."
Anson explained how conditioning sessions in the pool can accelerate recovery – reducing the need for ice baths.
He added: "Anyone who has wanted to come along to rehab sessions in midweek has been welcome.
"The players feel the benefit of that recovery.
"They are fatigued straight out of the pool, but once they are showered they actually feel physically recovered.
"So it's a very quick way of recovering the body, there's some evidence out there that doing these sessions will be as beneficial as ten to 15 minutes in an ice bath, which is obviously a very uncomfortable environment.
"So the fatigue from the swimming is uncomfortable, but probably less so for the players than that length of time in an ice bath.
"The more we can encourage the players to get into the pool then I think the better they will feel leading into games on the weekend.
"The intensity will ramp up, it's going to be a tougher pre-season.
"The players know that, and if they can get some extra sessions in to prepare them, then all the better.
"The players have been training very hard even during their off-season now, and all of that will pay big dividend further down the line."
