"We use science a lot. My colleague, Nick Lumley, is very well read in these matters and has a great passion for reading about training programmes from Russia and the Eastern bloc."
"We use a lot of their Olympic lifting programmes to try and develop our players into super strong, super powerful guys without carrying too much bulk which is where the science comes in."
"We monitor other sports as well. Obviously, weight lifting is one and we try and learn a lot from them and I've studied the NFL and the way they work quite a bit and we also learn from football for their running and injury prevention techniques."
Nutrition is also a huge part of the modern game and Gloucester as a club take it very seriously as Allen explained.
"We work with a nutritionist called Ed Tooley who also works with the Welsh national team and he comes in every week during preseason to measure the players' body fat before having one to one meetings with them all."
"He'll discuss their eating habits before pulling together a bespoke eating plan that is easy for them to follow which basically tells them what to eat before and after each training session they do."
"It obviously varies for each player as some of the younger players, for example, need to pile a few calories whereas some of the older guys may need to strip back a bit."
"We also have a great relationship with SciMentor, our supplement providers, and Ed will advise us of which of their products the players need to be having and when."
"Today, for example, the players have come in and started with a shake that is individually prepared for them. They'll train and then have lunch which is prepared by our chef who has discussed what is required with Ed."
"They'll then do a weights session and drink another individually prepared shake."
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