Jordan Milsom admits the week couldn’t have gone better from a coaches’ point of view and says the player’s individual work over the summer has contributed to the Gers stepping things up a level compared to last June.
Rangers have increased the intensity and number of their sessions in the Algarve in order to prepare for the busy period of games the Europa League, combined with domestic duties could present.
Speaking to RangersTV Milsom said: “Personally I would say the week has been really good, probably as good as it could have gone.
“Since we got here on Sunday, in total for the whole period, we will have done five double sessions and four single sessions.
“Double sessions are pretty much morning running, which everyone likes! And that is typically five three minute runs and they are all working at their own individual percentage based on the testing we have done.
“Then the afternoon has been football and combination of different volumes, intensities and different pitch dimensions to overload or underload certain areas that we are looking to progress.
“The lads came back in better condition this year than what we inherited last year so some of the messages from last season have certainly carried on.
“I think what that has done is it has allowed them to push on in pre-season and be able to tolerate greater workloads this pre-season than what we did last pre-season.
“So by that the lads have covered more total distance in the week and they have covered that at a greater intensity, in terms of the metres per minute and the high speed running.
“What they did in the offseason has probably contributed to that and has allowed us to sustain it.”
Milsom works in conjunction with the Gers’ footballing backroom staff to plan out the team’s pre-season programme.
Rangers’ competitive games will begin in the week commencing July 8 with their first friendly coming on Sunday 7 July at home to Oxford.
The former Liverpool man continued: “To design the week I will sit down and we will use GPS to determine what type of distances we want to get through etc. which prepares us for what will look like when we get in season, which is hopefully going to be Sunday, Thursday games.
“Then I will sit down with Mick Beale and the coaches and we will plan the content of each of the football training sessions.
“We will have general outlines but then each day, depending on where the lads are from a physical perspective, whether we hit what we wanted the day before or whether we were under which dictates what we do that day.
“A lot of these players are used to playing competitive football for a whole season but what might be different for some of the new players is the intensity at which the manager wants to play at.
“I think it is all about getting them used to that exposure of being able to tolerate a game on a Thursday, recover quickly, go again Sunday and essentially be able to do that constantly for three or four week on the spin before they get some form of international break.
“The lads are going to do a double session, then they are going to play 45 minutes and then they are going to do another double session the next day.
“So it is not your typical play, recover type model. We are really pushing them and hopefully that allows us to go into these first games in mid-July in a condition where it is easy for them.”