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15 Jun 05 14:33 15:33 UK |
When it comes to making yourself feel physically inferior, going to the gym with a group of rugby league players takes some beating.
Five minutes on the rowing machine and a few bicep curls with weights you can Velcro to your wrist (my favoured routine) just aren't going to cut it with these boys.
With the hits in Super League becoming ever harder, the players need serious strength and power just to compete, let alone prosper.
And to develop these attributes, there's no substitute for hard graft.
The London Broncos players, currently sixth in Super League, certainly don't hold back when it comes to putting in the effort in the gym.
After a morning meeting spent picking over the bones of their weekend win over Widnes, the team arrived en masse for an intensive upper body weights session.
Captain Mark McLinden hobbled into the gym with a brace protecting his left knee.
But that was not enough to get him out of the session.
"I wouldn't miss it for anything, I love upper body weights," said McLinden - and he meant it.
The diminutive half-back (relatively speaking, of course) proceeded to bench press 85kgs in three sets of five repetitions.
Divided into groups of six, the players, who usually do two or three weights sessions a week, paired off and were asked to "challenge themselves" - a request they all took to heart.
As I winced at the weights being lifted in all manner of agonising ways, the team initially seemed more concerned with the skipping CD player blaring out dance music in the corner.
That didn't deter hardman Danny Williams from a spot of rather camp disco dancing though.
Everywhere you looked, there were ludicrously-muscled players lifting ridiculously heavy weights.
They trooped around the gym like a pack of market researchers, clipboards in hand with sheets of paper detailing the specific weights and repetitions for each of the various exercises.
Every player has an individually-tailored weights, fitness and nutritional programme, designed to hit certain body weight targets and maximise power, strength and speed.
All the groups included extensive "pre-hab" routines in their work-outs, the injury-prevention exercises done against various forms of resistance, be it elastic bands, Swiss balls or benches.
"There's always room for more improvement and that will come," said Broncos head conditioner Sean Tagg.
"You look at where you have weaknesses in players and try to improve - and, just as importantly, you challenge their strengths.
"We work closely with (head coach) Tony Rea. At the end of the day, he's in charge of everything and a good coach will know exactly where their athletes are at. Tony's very good at keeping track of that.
"Injuries have been very low which has helped us a lot. I put a lot it down to our prevention work. It's obviously very important to have your best players out on the field, not on the treatment table.
"The players have been very dedicated to making sure their bodies are in the best condition possible.
"All professional athletes do little extras - it's the smart ones who do them regularly to give themselves that extra 1%."
To finish off the session, the players were able to indulge their competitive instincts with an exercise designed to develop strength and power.
After performing as many lateral pulldowns as possible, the players then had to hang off wall bars until their arms gave up the ghost.
Giant second row Solomon Haumono drew a round of applause from the hardened pros after his explosive performance, while Filimone Lolohea, John Kirkpatrick and Francis Stephenson all stood out.
The competitive element is a familiar feature of the Broncos' gym sessions, with a recent "Iron Man" competition providing the players with the chance to push cars and turn over tractor wheels against the clock.
While they may not quite be in "World's Strongest Man" territory just yet, the Broncos players are no slouches in the pumping-iron stakes.