Virtual training can always be literal hell.
Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com explains that the Ravens’ off-season virtual training included the notoriously difficult team conditioning test.
“It’s pure death,” former Ravens defender Justin Forsett told Hensley. “This is the most difficult conditioning test I have had during my time in the NFL,” added Forsett, who played for seven teams.
The test consists of players covering 900 yards in six sets, with multiple changes of direction. Each set consists of 150 meters, with players going out and coming back three times. The delay varies from 32 seconds to 27 seconds, with 64 seconds of rest between each series.
As Hensley explains, things start to get tough in the fourth of six sets.
“My legs were gone by that time,” former Ravens cornerback Fabian Washington told Hensley. “You can’t pick them up. One has the impression of running in the mud. It was definitely a shock. . . . It’s literally the hardest shit of all time. “
And it’s something the team has done this year by asking players to place their phones on a tripod so the coaches can watch them and time them. During an off-season without the possibility of working directly with the players, the conditioning test at least ensures that, when they show up at training camp, they will be in good shape.
