Medical in Heidelberg - Players put through their paces

And before their physical exertions had even begun, the players of Hoffenheim were already sweating as they calmly entered the foyer of the Rhein-Neckar Olympic Training Center. To begin with it wasn't too tiresome, though. The examination started with a reading of their blood pressure levels as well as a resting ECG - a test that measures the electrical activity of the heart. Thankfully, for Rangnick's charges, they were taken down a floor - where the doctors and team of the OTC used mobile ventilators to reduce the temperature to something more bearable - to undergo their endurance and cardio ultrasound tests. "It's a lot more comfortable down here", said a thankful Josip Simunic, who was the first of the second group to jump on the cycling machine and begin racking up his kilometres. Around 30 minutes later it was all over. "It was certainly tiring", said an exhausted, but high-spirited Simunic: "Just a couple more watts and I could have joined in at the next Alpine stage of the Tour de France!" For his teammates Sejad Slihovic, Vedad Ibisevic and Luiz Gustava it was certainly no less tiring, so much so that a smirking Dr. Med Birgin Friedmann-Bette, head of the department of Sports Medicine, commented: "I don't think medicals are too popular with athletes."