WHILE another action-packed campaign came to an end on the pitch at Vitality Stadium – Eddie Howe and his staff continued to look to work at a high intensity.

The Cherries boss, along with backroom team members Jimmy Glass, Steve Fletcher and Andy Howe, took the opportunity to try an innovative workout format known at Blaze – staged by the club’s partners at David Lloyd in Poole.

Along with Echo reporters Dan Rose and Jason Lewis – Howe and his staff worked through stages of combat, cardio and strength training, with their heart rate monitored in zones throughout the session.

And the 41-year-old joked his colleagues had “work to do” after being put through their paces at the facility.

Howe, who had also beaten player-liaison officer Glass in straight sets at tennis before taking on Blaze, told the Daily Echo: “Jimmy said to come down and experience the class. I didn’t really know too much about it before I got there but I was delighted to do it.

“It was really tough and very intense. The beauty of it was you were looking at the live feed of where your heart rate was at. It was a really good way of recording how hard you had worked.

“I did have a sneaky look at Jimmy’s heart rate and he got no minutes in the red zone – which is where you want to be as the hardest working zone.

“I was a little bit disappointed with Jim!

“Fletch’s treadmill seemed to be broken and stuck on one speed – which was very slow. They have a little bit of work to do!”

Asked how he thought his players would find the session, the boss replied: “We do things which are similar to this – this is a new format and it may be something we look at in bringing the players here.

“They won’t be pleased to hear me say that this early after the season has ended but it has given me some ideas of what we could do.”

Howe guided the Dorset club to 14th place in the Premier League during the 2018-19 campaign with 45 points from their 38 games.

The Cherries boss is currently crafting pre-season for his troops, with fixtures against Brentford, West Brom and Lazio already announced.

And while his players are taking a break from top-flight action – Howe admitted gelling with his staff would also be significant.

“It’s really important the staff bond as well as the players,” he added.

“Hopefully this is the first of a few times in the summer where, as staff, we get to see each other in a different working environment.

“Jimmy invited me down and asked if I wanted a little (tennis) hit – it’s the end of the season and we haven’t had a chance to do anything all year.

“Probably something we need to do a little more is take the staff away to a different environment and you see different parts of their personalities – with this, I saw Jim be very gracious in defeat!

“Since the season ended, I have been doing reviews with the players, staff and planning next season.

“This was the first chance we had to break away and do something for ourselves. During the season you don’t really have that.”