Breakfast Club Training at PD:FC Manchester
The Pro:Directory

Introducing the Pro:Direct Breakfast Club

Introducing the Pro:Direct Breakfast Club

Earn your breakfast.

That was the rule behind Michael Jordan's original Breakfast Club. The work came first. Breakfast came after.

Jordan and trainer Tim Grover began the sessions around the 1989/90 NBA season, when getting stronger and better prepared for the physical side of the game had become a priority. What started with Jordan soon brought other Chicago Bulls players into the gym, turning an early-morning workout into part of the team's training culture.

More than three decades later, Pro:Direct is bringing that idea into football.

Football players train with cones and balls, one wearing PD:FC Breakfast Club shirt.
Where The Breakfast Club Started

The original Breakfast Club sessions took place at Jordan's home gym, usually early in the morning and often around 7am. The work focused on strength, conditioning and movement, built around what Jordan actually needed from his body rather than simply adding another hard session for the sake of it.

The standards were high, the sessions were competitive and breakfast was waiting afterwards. Jordan's chef prepared food around recovery, with carbohydrates for energy and lean protein for muscle repair.

There was one condition. Finish the workout first.

That is where earn your breakfast came from. The early start was part of the story, but the real point was preparation. Jordan and Grover were looking at where he could get stronger, fitter and harder to deal with over the course of a season, then building the work around it.

Nike and Jordan Brand have returned to the Breakfast Club idea several times since, taking it into training campaigns and programmes for a new generation of athletes.

Now it has a football version.

PDFC Breakfast Club: PUMA
PDFC Breakfast Club: PUMA
PDFC Breakfast Club: PUMA
PDFC Breakfast Club: PUMA
PDFC Breakfast Club: PUMA

Breakfast Club Comes to PD:FC Manchester

The Pro:Direct Breakfast Club is now underway at PD:FC Manchester, with some of the biggest performance brands in football joining us across the programme.

Players begin at the Manchester Arndale store, getting kitted out in the latest performance footwear and apparel before heading down to the pitch. From there, the focus switches to conditioning, acceleration, movement, changes of direction and sharp work with the ball.

The sessions are designed around football rather than trying to recreate an NBA workout. Repeated efforts, quick transitions and technical actions when the legs are starting to go are all part of the game, so the training needs to feel relevant to that.

The original Breakfast Club was about finding an edge before the game started. That idea translates pretty well.

The Work Behind Matchday

Football product usually gets its biggest moment on matchday. New football boots, fresh colourways and the latest performance kit appear under the lights on the players everyone is watching.

Most of the work happens somewhere else.

It happens in pre-season, in conditioning sessions, on artificial pitches after work and in the extra technical work that never makes the highlights. Breakfast Club puts that side of the game front and centre.

It also gives players a chance to use performance product in the environment it was actually built for. Boots feel different when you are accelerating, cutting and working under fatigue. Training kit gets tested properly once the session gets uncomfortable.

Recovery still matters too. The original Jordan sessions finished around the breakfast table, and that part of the idea still makes sense. The work does not stop when the final drill finishes.

More Than One Morning

Manchester is the starting point.

Different Breakfast Club sessions can bring different brands, coaches, athletes and training focuses into the programme, whether that means speed, strength, conditioning, movement or technical work with the ball.

The format can change. The idea underneath it stays pretty simple: turn up, know what you are working on and finish the session.

PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike
PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike
PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike
PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike
PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike
PDFC Breakfast Club: Nike



You can watch one of our previous Breakfast Club sessions on YouTube to see what it looks like once the work starts.

The Breakfast Club at PD:FC Manchester is built to go beyond one session or one brand. Follow Pro:Direct and PD:FC Manchester for future Breakfast Club stories, new sessions and opportunities to get involved.

Earn your breakfast.

Last update: