IT IS approaching 7am on a Thursday morning when Trent Rivers, Nic Martin, Jake Pasini and Shannon Neale file into a Canning Vale garage in Perth's southern suburbs ready for a physical workout that will leave them seeing stars. 

Draft hopeful Chase Bourne is joining them, Luke Jackson and Trey Ruscoe will follow, while Shai Bolton, Sean Darcy, Caleb Serong and close to 20 other AFL players have sessions to come with Gerard Majda, aka personal trainer Body Majic.

Elite football is a results-based industry, and that's what has brought this group of players together with Majda. They've either seen results themselves or in their teammates and want to transform physically this off-season. 

Some, like Martin, have done just that with Majda's help, adding significant size and muscle and improving his weightlifting by 60 per cent since the season ended.

The sessions last year contributed to Martin winning a pre-season list spot with Essendon and finishing top 10 in the club's best and fairest.

After returning to Perth early this off-season and jumping straight into his program with Majda, Martin hopes to return to Essendon training with a mental edge. 

"The fact that you know you've done the work, that helps you mentally," Martin said after Thursday's workout.

"When I started with Gerard last pre-season, the first month was all about strength stuff and putting size on, and then we started to work in some cardio, and I got a lot fitter."

The players have different motivations for seeing Majda, who tailors the players' workouts with guidance from their club programs and then walks from station to station motivating them.

"We love it, you're killing it", he says on this warm Perth morning, before turning to Rivers and yelling "give me 30 more, you've got it!"

The accountability he provides is part of why players turn to Majda in the summer months, with Rivers – who is focused on fitness and body composition – convinced the 26-year-old gets players to go beyond what they would otherwise be capable of. 

"You push yourself to your limit, and then he makes you go that little bit further as well," the Melbourne premiership defender said, who is pairing three running sessions a week with two Body Majic workouts.

"You walk out of here and your legs will be shaking, and we've all seen stars after the sessions. But that motivation to keep pushing along is really good."

For Pasini, Majda is playing a different role, helping the Port Adelaide defender add size after some of his conditioning fell away following a knee reconstruction in May. He's added 4kg through his sessions and, once recovered, looks to be a player to watch in 2023. 

Bourne, who is part of Fremantle's Next Generation Academy, has added 2.5kg in the past month and has made significant fitness gains, responding to feedback at the end of the season.

Neale's physical state could not be faulted either, with the Geelong ruck/forward focused on taking the next step in his career after making his debut in 2022 and playing two senior games.

Getting club sign-off to go above and beyond the prescribed program is part of the process for the players. 

"You have your program and that has specific modules, like if you need to strengthen your hamstrings for example," Neale said.  

"But I just said to the club, are you OK if I work with a guy who runs out of his home? They ask what he does, and they were obviously OK with it. So just get the tick of approval and away you go." 

There is a determination the players who see Majda share, the trainer said, after insisting AFL.com.au experience one of his gruelling sessions with the incredibly focused young group.

Brutal is the best way to describe the workout, which is designed with a group target for each station that must be hit before the session finishes, usually lasting around 75 minutes.

Music blares as the players move between eight stations, including chin ups (350 reps total for the group), ropes, chest press and an exercise bike with a steely focus and plenty of support in between.

There is a track record building with Majda's clients, with Darcy (2021 best and fairest), Blake Acres (career-best season in 2022), Jackson (2021 NAB AFL Rising Star) and Martin (21 games in his debut season) all reaping the rewards following big off-seasons.

"All the guys that come down, they're not just doing my stuff. They're doing Pilates, they're watching their food, they're doing lots of stuff outside football to get the most out of themselves," Majda told AFL.com.au, adding his programs are designed to complement the detailed fitness work players are already doing with their respective clubs.

"And you can tell as soon as they go back to pre-season, the coaches are raving about them, the articles start coming out, saying 'look how good Nic Martin is looking' for example.

"I've got no doubt all the guys who have come through new this year are going to do the same."

Majda's first AFL client four years ago was former Fremantle and Gold Coast small forward Brandon Matera, and he quickly added Darcy.

On Saturday, Freo's new ruck partnership of Darcy and Jackson teamed up for a workout in the Canning Vale garage as they build on their relationship, having only crossed over in Majda's sessions previously.

Working with the pair, Majda has an insight into their physical strengths and training approaches that should further encourage Fremantle fans ahead of 2023.

"In the past, Luke would train first and then Sean would be in, but they'd always hang out and have a chat," Majda said.

"Luke is just an absolute freak of nature with what he can do, and Sean is a really hard worker and super driven and competitive as well.

"Putting that together, I think that's going to be unstoppable."

He also has a professional perspective on how effective the Dockers' plan to use Jackson as a hybrid player in ruck, forward and midfield roles could be, given the premiership big man's physical attributes.

"When it comes to running, his gym work and his strength, you just give him something to do and he just picks it up so quickly," Majda said.

"That's what he does in the gym, and I've got no doubt that football wise, with any skill or position they need from him, he'll be able to pick that up no problem. He is built for it."

Darcy and Jackson are part of a large Fremantle cohort that Majda trains, with delisted West Coast forward Isiah Winder, who is set to re-join the club as a rookie for 2023, jumping onboard this off-season as the only Eagle.

AFL players from outside WA are increasingly involved as well, with Port Adelaide wingman Xavier Duursma booking a session when briefly in Perth recently.

Majda's business also crosses into basketball, with Australian national player Nick Kay a regular client when he is in town, while Majda's online coaching and personal training serves people of all different fitness levels.

"I'm just a big AFL fan and the fact I have a whole bunch of these guys coming through is just cool," he said. "I'm very lucky that I get to work with them."