The scheme, the brain child of Head Coach Peter Breen, aims to provide players with a safe way to get fit or stay in shape, with exercises designed around the core physical demands of a collision sport like rugby.

That explains the rebrand from Muscle Heath.

“We’re after a couple of things with Functional Fitness which are slightly different from going to a gym. Whereas a lot of exercises in a gym might be linear…the challenge in rugby union isn’t going to be like that.”

We are trying to overload the loading in different areas but not of your choosing. We do a lot of conventional power lifting and Olympic lifting exercises. In addition we do exercise e that put demands and stresses on you body akin to what goes on in the rugby field.

Eg atlas stone, heave sand bags, farmer’s carry and the log lift. Another goal is to get great strength and size in your lower body, to lower your centre of gravity and make it easier to stay on your feet in a collision. We also aid this with balance excise.

“We are trying to move some of your body weight into your lower half so staying on your feet is easier. You choose when to go down and because you choose when to go down, we keep the ball.”

The programme has proven popular with both women and men at the club, newbies and older hands, many of whom were pleasantly surprised to discover it wasn’t all about pumping iron.

“I was a bit worried it was going to be all of these huge guys lifting really heavy weights, but it wasn’t like that at all,” said Dave Gordon.

Dave says the exercise programme has made him fitter, more agile and a lot stronger, and that has had a knock on benefit he perhaps didn’t expect:

“Probably some physical confidence as well has come with it, just having that strength to break through tackles,” he said.

Ollie Dancer says the sessions mimic the aerobic and anaerobic demands of the fast moving brand of rugby that Hampstead RFC has modelled over the years, with running, games, carrying weights and of course the Club-made Atlas stones.

“In that way, you can recreate what you go through on a rugby field much better than, I think, you can in a commercial gym which, again, is a benefit to the boys that come down.”

Peter add: “We gradually increase demands on the players until at times, it’s harder than anything you will do on a pitch.”

It’s not just boys, of course. The Functional Fitness programme is run for women and men, with Peter organising sessions for the women on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1845 until close finish. The men’s sessions are on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“Doing the exercises has really shifted my skills up a level,” says Sochel Rogers. “It’s made a huge difference to on pitch fitness and engaging with training and the more rugby focused training.”

She added: “I find it difficult to go into gyms because of the mental load of working out a programme that relevant for rugby. It’s great having Pete design the exercise knowing that the atlas stones will help us in a ruck, getting under people and lifting people off.”

Training is spiced up by adding a competitive element that the players thrive on and which drives up performance, says Peter:

“If you make most things a competition, they try to win. And by trying to win, what happens is that the whole team gets fitter and the whole club gets fitter.”

When pre season starts, Functional Fitness will still be going on but players are not expected to attend four sessions. When we get closer to the season we’ll have sessions when the teams have to be together.