VIDEO: Antonio Pintus’ three-phase master fitness plan for this unprecedented winter World Cup season

The upcoming season would have already been more challenging for Real Madrid’s fitness and health, as they went deep into a Champions League run — alongside Liverpool. But there’s another unprecedented hurdle standing in the club’s way this season: the winter World Cup in Doha, Qatar which involves nearly a month and a half break from mid-November to the end of December.

Thankfully, the club has master fitness coach Antonio Pintus at their disposal.

Pintus already proved his worth last season by keeping the team in elite fitness for most of the season and created a “mini pre-season” leading up to the Champions’ League final match and has his work cut out for him this season.

As usual, Pintus seems to be more than up to the task. He recently explained his strategy for the team’s fitness in the upcoming season, labeling it as a three phase plan. I explained that plan in the following video:

Of course even the best laid plans can go awry, and I’d expect fatigue injuries to go up due to the intensity of World Cup matches as well as the added games, but having Pintus’ level of detailed understanding and approach with a detailed rationale will give the club the best chance they have at staying as healthy, fit, and performing to their best as possible.

Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own in-person and online sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA in which he further combines his movement expertise and fitness training. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 4 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), has a background in youth football coaching and analyzes Real Madrid from a medical and skills perspective for Managing Madrid and on his own YouTube Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.