Heads in hands, bodies collapsed on the floor, faces torn in pain and anguish.
No, it's not the Record Sport office on the first Monday of 2020, it's the Celtic squad tackling the bleep test in Dubai.
Any notion that Neil Lennon was taking his team off for a midseason holiday were quickly dispelled this morning.
The Premiership champions have a title battle to contend with on their return from the United Arab Emirates and they wasted no time getting to work.
Players were put through a lung-bursting session that left more than a few gasping for air.
Here are five things we spotted...
Cooling off in the heat
It's impossible to completely escape the post-derby defeat noise but putting more than 3000 miles between yourself and the Glasgow bubble will probably do for Lennon. The Dubai heat remains firmly in the sweltering bracket but at least provides Celtic to find a calmer headspace given the chaos of the last week and a bit. Back in Glasgow, the ashes of their damaging defeat to Rangers are only just being blown away. But as he perched himself on the periphery of Monday's session, Lennon's focus will have been solely on preparing his players for the weeks and months ahead. There's also the small matter of the transfer window and the possibility of losing Ryan Christie to an SFA ban, so perhaps Lennon is entitled to a wee sit down now and again.
Christie watches and waits
The midfielder's post-Rangers trip to hospital has ensured his Dubai berth is primarily a watching one. He'll also have an eye on news from Hampden, where the Alfredo Morelos testicle-gate case is set to be heard. Celtic have circled the wagons around Christie since he was charged last week, with John Kennedy the latest to reiterate they'd be "astonished" if the charge is upheld. Christie did have the slight look of an admonished schoolboy awaiting his call into the headmaster's office as he plonked himself on a bench near the training pitch. Even if his charge is upheld, the groin issue currently troubling the 24-year-old could ensure he'd be sidelined throughout a ban anyway.
The dreaded bleep test
Has anything so innocuous-sounding ever been so horrifying in practice? The bleep test is one of those rarities that unites athletes across all sports at all levels in a crippling fear. It's a basic premise - run between two points at steadily increasing pace to beat the "bleep" until you physically cannot run any further. As far as Monday mornings and us mere mortals go, there are surely less punishing ways to blow off the festive cobwebs.
Top level footballers, on the other hand, aren't really afforded the opportunity to gorge on food and drink so this was all about ensuring fitness remains at peak levels heading into the second half of the season. Judging by the bodies strewn around the training pitch and the wry chuckle from Lennon, there was no shirking on this first full day of training.
Up you get!
Scott Brown's role after the year-end defeat to Rangers will have involved metaphorically lifting those around him for the second half of the campaign. This morning, he was quite literally hauling stricken team-mates off the floor. James Forrest was among those to hit the deck following a punishing session and he's perhaps one of those who needs a jolt in the arm from his captain.
On a day where none of Celtic's attacking assets hit anything approaching top form, Forrest was a particular disappointment. The winger has taken some stick from fans in the derby aftermath and he looked like a man running on empty by full-time. Forrest, along with Brown and Callum McGregor, is one of Lennon's ever-presents and perhaps a few weeks away will reinvigorate him.
A few fans in attendance?
Celtic pride themselves on the club's global fanbase and it's difficult to dispute that appeal when even the camels are decked out in green and white. There can't be too many of those patrolling the hills around Lennoxtown and it's just one of the many quirks these overseas training trips bring. Another, according to social media chatter, was Cluj boss Dan Petrescu being spotted in Celtic's hotel after training. Petrescu and Celtic have seen plenty of one another so far this term, so maybe he just fancied catching up with his pals from Scotland.
