Galo start reconditioning for the second half of the year

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Clube Atlético Mineiro

·23 Juni 2026

Galo start reconditioning for the second half of the year

The Atlético squad’s return to Cidade do Galo marked the beginning of a strategic period for the rest of the season. With about four weeks of preparation until official competitions resume, Atlético is using the mid-season break to help players recover, rebuild the squad’s fitness, and intensify the work focused on the challenges of the second half of the year.

After a first half of the year marked by an intense run of matches, the period without games becomes essential to reorganize the players’ physical preparation and plan the team’s next steps.

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“The schedule was very packed because of the break for the World Cup. We had a very long run of matches, playing practically twice a week. We have already played 37 matches this season, something some European clubs do over an entire season,” highlights the club’s Physiological Coordinator, Roberto Chiari.

According to him, the accumulated wear and tear over the past few months made the rest period granted to the players indispensable.

“The athletes reach the end of this cycle quite worn out. They really needed this recovery period. It is natural that they come back now a little out of condition, and that was already within what we expected. Rest is also part of the preparation process for the rest of the season,” he comments.

Assessments guide the planning

The first days of activities are dedicated to a broad set of physical and functional assessments. The tests repeat protocols carried out in preseason and allow the Performance Department to compare current indicators with those recorded at the start of the year.

“We are repeating the same set of assessments carried out at the beginning of the season. That way, we can compare the data, understand the athletes’ strength and fitness levels and, based on that information, properly plan the training loads for this period,” says Chiari.

Fitness coach Ricardo Seguins notes that the assessments are essential to guide the work that will be carried out over the coming weeks.

“The secret to good planning is carrying out a good assessment. When we can identify each athlete’s individual characteristics, whether in terms of strength, mobility, balance, or endurance, we are able to build a more efficient plan for each of them,” he says.

The strategy adopted by the Performance Department involves dividing the athletes between field activities and physical assessments during the first days of the mid-season break, allowing information to be collected that will serve as the basis for the training schedule.

“The secret to collective work today is looking at individuality. Each athlete responds differently to the same stimulus. That is why we need to understand each player’s current condition in order to define the best training strategy,” Seguins adds.

Individualized preparation

In addition to rebuilding the squad’s fitness, the mid-season break also represents an important opportunity for players who have gone through physical recovery processes throughout the season. For that reason, not all players will follow exactly the same schedule during this period.

“There are athletes who are still in different stages of recovery and transition. Some will not even undergo all the assessments at this first moment because they still need to complete certain phases of the process with the medical department and the fitness staff. That is why we individualize the entire training schedule,” Chiari explains.

The integration between physiology, fitness, and the medical department allows each athlete to receive stimuli suited to their current condition, favoring both recovery and performance gains for the rest of the season.

Integrated work

The mid-season break also offers an important opportunity to deepen the integration between fitness work and the coaching staff led by Eduardo Domínguez.

According to Ricardo Seguins, the work carried out day to day is built jointly, aligning the athletes’ physical needs with the technical and tactical content planned by the coaching staff.

“All the work is synchronized. The fitness staff provides guidance related to the day’s loads and stimuli, while the coaching staff develops the technical and tactical content of the activities. There is a constant exchange of information, and that strengthens the whole process,” he says.

The fitness coach also emphasized the alignment between the methodologies adopted and highlighted the level of detail used in controlling training loads.

“The coaching staff has very detailed control of field metrics and strength work. There is a great deal of participation from all the professionals involved in the process, which creates engagement and contributes to the development of the work,” he adds.

Top-level structure

To carry out this monitoring, Galo has a modern structure and technological resources focused on tracking and developing the athletes.

“Atlético has always been at the forefront of using technology in training. It was one of the first clubs in the country to work with GPS monitoring systems and continues to invest constantly in infrastructure,” praises Chiari.

The Physiological Coordinator also highlighted the club’s recent investments, including the modernization of the gym at Cidade do Galo and the constant updating of the equipment used by the health and performance teams.

“Today we have an extremely well-equipped physical therapy department, a newly opened gym with modern equipment, and several resources for monitoring and controlling training loads. We have at our disposal everything that is most up to date to develop our work in the best possible way,” he concludes.

With the support of the structure at Cidade do Galo and the integrated monitoring of the physiology, fitness, and medical teams, the mid-season break will be essential in preparing Atlético’s squad for the challenges of the second half of the year, which include the Brazilian Championship, the Copa Sudamericana, and the Copa do Brasil.

Dates set for the matches against Juventude

Follow Galo on social media: @atletico