Everton's stars are already looking refreshed upon their return to training after conducting tests when back at Finch Farm.
The Blues have begun their pre-season preparations ahead of the 2020/21 campaign with their first set of sessions this weekend.
Carlo Ancelotti's side finished their previous term three weeks ago with a defeat to Bournemouth at Goodison Park, but already find themselves back in training in what has been a quick turnaround this summer.
But the club's director of medical services Danny Donachie believes the summer break has still been an important one.
He told evertonfc.com : “I actually think it was very important for them to have a physical and mental break.
“They’ve been doing some work in the last week or so in the lead up to coming back and they’re at a high level of fitness. Because it was such a short time off, you were not going to see big drop-offs
“The change now is it’s going to be a shorter pre-season and it will be fast-tracked because they don’t need to do a lot of the foundation work they’ve had to in the past.
“It does feel good to be back at the training ground and set the marker down for the new season.
“We’ve had a really good first day and it’s been great to see the players again. They look refreshed and keen to get back playing again.”
Before returning to the training pitch, Everton's stars underwent a series of medical examinations and physical tests.
Their programme included strength and joint exercises, while they also completed body fat, blood and heart tests.
And Donachie explained how each of these will be very useful throughout the season for players, not just upon their return.
He added: “In the gym, we do fairly simple baseline tests. So, if a player gets injured during the season, we know the levels they need to get back to and have information we can objectively measure against.
“Obviously, it’s only been three weeks since we last saw the players so we’re not expecting huge changes [to the players’ physical condition], but it’s important to get those baseline figures which we can refer to.
“The exercises include a jump test, an adductor and abductor test, and a hamstring test. We can also see if there are any asymmetries we need to work at.
“The physios do their own tests on the treatment beds, too, looking at certain ranges of movement – the key ones are hip and ankle. We’ll then give the players a strength training programme they can do before training on the basis of those results.
“The most important test we do is the cardiac screening. We do an ECG [which tests heart rhythm and electrical activity] and and echocardiogram [which shows how heart muscle and valves are working].
“Those tests are mandatory by FIFA.
“There have been a few high-profile cases [of players having heart issues] and, while these tests don’t pick up on everything, it’s important we know they are in good order.”
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