Lazio’s New Season Starts at Isokinetic
The 2026–2027 season for S.S. Lazio also began with a visit to Isokinetic. Following the squad’s return to the Training Centre in Formello, the first team arrived at Isokinetic Rome for a full day of pre-season functional testing.
It has become a regular fixture in Lazio’s pre-season preparations, with the club later sharing a photo recap of the day across its official channels.
Twenty-seven players arrived in staggered groups from 9:30 am, with the testing protocol continuing until mid-afternoon. Manuel Lazzari was the first to walk through the doors of Isokinetic, followed by captain Mattia Zaccagni, Marusic, Rovella, Provstgaard, Taylor, Nuno Tavares, Cancellieri, Dele-Bashiru, Dia, Belahyane, Gigot, Mandas and several academy players.
New arrivals Galassi and Pedraza also took part, marking their first introduction to the team’s testing methodology. Noslin, Patric, Cataldi and Isaksen did not undergo testing on the day. The latter two, both recovering from surgery, are currently following individualised rehabilitation programmes.
What Are Pre-Season Functional Tests?
Returning from the off-season is one of the most delicate stages of the year. Training loads increase rapidly, placing greater demands on a body that has experienced several weeks of reduced activity. It is no coincidence that this is also a period when the incidence of muscle injuries tends to rise.
The day at Isokinetic is designed precisely for this purpose: to capture each athlete’s baseline physical condition before pre-season training intensifies. It is not simply a box-ticking exercise. It provides the foundation on which the rest of the preparation is built.
The assessment battery typically includes:
- Movement analysis and biomechanical assessment, to identify movement patterns, asymmetries and compensatory strategies;
- Test Isokinetic, to assess muscle balance between the dominant and non-dominant limbs, as well as between agonist and antagonist muscle groups;
- Mognoni test, to assess aerobic endurance and estimate the anaerobic threshold;
Above all, it helps define each condition accurately. Common terms such as “muscle tear”, “strain” or “overload” can refer to very different clinical presentations, each requiring different decisions and management strategies. It is a topic we have explored in detail on the Magazine.
From Data to the Pitch: Why Numbers Alone Are Not Enough
The value of a day like this does not lie in the test report itself. It lies in what happens next. Each athlete’s profile is shared with the club’s technical and medical staff and becomes the basis for an individualised training programme.
A player with a strength deficit in a specific area works to address that deficit. A significant asymmetry is targeted before it can contribute to injury. And for players returning from surgery, the return-to-play process is guided by objective criteria rather than subjective feeling.
It is a lesson that international football is learning at the highest level. The FIFA World Cup 2026 is sending some clear signals. The first: injury prevention plays a crucial role in preparing players for peak performance. The second: effective recovery now matters just as much as training.
And in an increasingly congested football calendar, ACL injuries are changing the face of the modern game.
The principle that guides Isokinetic’s work is simple: measure to make better decisions. Pre-season provides the ideal window to do exactly that. Because what is built in July can determine player availability in March.
Isokinetic and S.S. Lazio: A Long-Standing Partnership
This is not the first time Lazio have chosen Isokinetic Rome for their pre-season testing. For years, the centre has supported the Biancocelesti as they prepare for the new campaign.
In the past, we have welcomed Lazio players to our centre and heard directly from them about the importance of this annual appointment. As they explained, it is about making sure they are ready and laying the foundations for the work that follows throughout the season.
For Gennaro Gattuso’s squad, the tests marked the end of the assessment phase. From Monday 13 July, the team began their training camp at Formello, with double training sessions scheduled until 26 July.
The first competitive fixture will follow on 16 August in the Coppa Italia, before the Serie A opener away to Bologna on 24 August.
From Testing to Performance
There is one word that keeps coming up in every Sports Medicine conversation at this time of year: performance. It is no coincidence that it was at the heart of the 33rd Isokinetic Conference in Athens: Return to Performance.
An idea that goes beyond recovery and beyond simply returning to the pitch. The goal is to help every person, athlete or otherwise, return to the best version of themselves.
From the outside, a day of testing in July may look like a stream of footballers walking in and out of a clinic. From the inside, it is the first chapter of that story.
It is the moment when a number stops being just a number and becomes a decision: how much load an athlete can tolerate, which asymmetry needs to be addressed, when to progress and when to wait.
Everyone will remember the goals in May. But those goals begin much earlier.
They begin with a knee that makes it to the final matchday injury-free. With a hamstring that did not break down in November.
They begin on a summer morning, with a test.
Have a great season, Lazio.
