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Newly signed Al-Shabab midfielder Josh Brownhill joined us in October 2024 for consistent training support throughout the season.
After wrapping up the season at Burnley with impressive accolades, including captaining the Title Winners of the English Championship, promotion to the Premier League, Club Top Scorer, Player's Player of the Season, and Team of the Season, Josh had his next challenge on the horizon.
At KPI, we spent the summer preparing Josh for his future challenge, one that we now know is in Saudi Arabia. Without the support of a club, we needed to match and exceed training volume to keep him fit and ready for his new club. Al-Shabab are in the Saudi Pro League (SPL), the top-ranked league in Asia according to AFC points.
Our expertise in football and our history of training elite football players give us detailed knowledge of the skills and strengths required for a footballer to excel at the highest level.
We meticulously periodised Josh’s training to optimise his physical capabilities, alongside exposing him to the significant technical and tactical elements of training that he was missing out on without training at a club.
Known as a player with a high work rate who frequently covers 13,000 m in a match, Josh maintains an intense level of physical fitness. However, while already recognised as a fast player, we identified specific training techniques to enhance his speed further, giving him a competitive edge while also improving his overall fitness.
To boost his acceleration, maximal sprint speed and overall football fitness, our team created a bespoke, science-backed plan that included gym sessions, pitch-based training, and remote sessions.
On the pitch, we employed a combination of acceleration and maximal sprint movement skill activities with frequent exposure to maximal sprint intensities at significant volume. Importantly, these tasks were integrated with specific football drills to improve his ability to express physical improvements in scenarios that he is required to perform while playing football. The sessions often banked over 1,000 HSD and 400 m SD (relative to his individual maximum sprint speed).
In the Gym, our weekly movement skills exercises targeted individual deficiencies in his biomechanical make-up. This included targeted muscle prep, coordinative activities, power activities, and isometric strength exercise, often with the Metrics Bench. Weekly sport-specific workouts with high load and high movement velocity helped build strength in areas crucial to acceleration and max sprinting in football.
On the KPI app, we scheduled a fully comprehensive training programme each week to supplement training and ensure consistency. Our commitment to his progress extended to his holiday in Ibiza, where we sourced football coaches and pitches, and liaised with local staff to maximise his training while out of the country.
With constant use of cutting-edge sports technology, we remained on top of Josh’s weekly improvements in strength, power and movement capabilities in the gym, employing key systems such as Metrics’ Triple Extension Bench. On the pitch, we tracked both internal and external training load using Polar Heart Rate and StatSports Global Positioning System technology to ensure we optimised his training load. We improved the work he would be exposed to when returning to a full-team training environment.
Communication is key. To maximise Josh’s understanding of what we required from him each week to improve, we shared weekly schedules that included face-to-face and remote training. We also communicated daily to be available to answer any key questions that may arise each week and to respond to any changes that may be required as the days and weeks unfolded.
Optimal fuelling strategies are essential. Nutritionally, Josh was supported with supplementation during and after every face-to-face training session. As a vegan athlete, Josh must fuel optimally every day, within his nutritional limitations – something we closely monitored throughout the training block.
As we like to say: “Mastery begins with meaning.” Learning the why behind your trade makes application and consistency easier. Fortunately, being the fantastic professional that Josh is, he is a man for detail and loves to learn whilst on the job. Throughout his off-season training period, we provided educational training, both face-to-face and remotely, to ensure Josh had everything he needed and knew why he had it.
Following our consistent training plan, Josh Brownhill increased his max sprint speed by 7%, his hip extension strength by 16% and his lower-limb power by 22%.
Here are the changes we noted from Josh’s training:
Mid-Season Testing (08/10/24)
Pogo: L 0.59 // R 0.49
Isometric Hip Extension Strength/Force (N): L 1028 // R 1065
End of Season Testing (18/03/25)
Power: 10:5 Pogo L 0.66 // R 0.56
Isometric Hip Extension Strength/Force (N) & RFD (N/s): L 1248 // R 1208. RFD 3530 // 3396
Max Sprint Speed: 9.16 m/s
End of Pre-Season (15/08/25)
Range of motion/Movement/Power: 10:5 Pogo L 0.80 (+18%) // R 0.75 (+25%)
Isometric Hip Extension Strength/Force (N) & RFD (N/s): L 1337 (+7%) // R 1395 (+13%). RFD L 4295 (+18%) // R 4651 (+27%)
Max Sprint Speed: 9.8 m/s (+7%)
The goal was to boost Josh Brownhill’s speed while keeping him fit ahead of his move to a new club. Over the summer, we tailored a plan that incorporated the gym, pitch, and remote sessions, utilising KPI’s advanced sport technology. Our approach helped Josh increase his speed by 7%, giving him a competitive edge in Saudi Arabia.
As the Saudi Pro League season unfolds, KPI continues to be in close contact with Josh, working with him online via the KPI app and through video-call coaching sessions.
For your chance to get your hands on it, please fill out the form to apply below!
Book a free consultation and get ready to join the KPI family
Work with KPI this Off-Season — either 1:1, in group coaching, or remotely — and take your game to the next level before Pre-Season begins.
