Pre-season training can be a tough time for football players, and that's exactly the case with Thomas Frank and Brentford.
One of the most feared days of pre-season for Brentford players is the 1km (1000 meters) test, which they undertake every year under Frank's leadership. This test pushes the players to their limits. Led by fitness coaches, the players are required to sprint 10 lengths of a football pitch as fast as they can.
The 1km test is a measure of maximal aerobic speed, with a significant portion of a Premier League player's total distance covered at high speed. According to Stat Sports, completing the run in under three minutes is considered a seriously impressive time, even for elite athletes competing at the highest level.
Brentford shared images and videos of their squad taking on this challenging drill. One video was captioned, "Watching the 1k test is a lot better than doing the 1k test."
Another picture showed the players exhausted, many of them lying on the ground after giving their all. The winner of this year's test has not been announced yet, but in 2021, achieved an exceptional time of 2 minutes and 59 seconds.
