The close season is a chance to relax and unwind following a long and gruelling campaign.
But the Pompey squad made sure not to go overboard during their time off, despite many jetting off around the world for holidays.
There did not appear to be any players struggling to keep up during last Thursday’s return to training at the club’s Copnor base.
And Lee Brown believes the Blues are fighting fit as they prepare for the 2019/20 League One season.
The left-back said: “It’s always nice to come back and meet up with people you haven’t seen for a few weeks.
“Everyone’s in high spirits and obviously I was right at the front of the pack when it came to all the running!
"You can’t just have six weeks off doing nothing these days and everyone knows that, so you have to look after yourself."
“All players these days will keep themselves in shape over the summer and we were all in good form on the first day back.
“You can’t just have six weeks off doing nothing these days and everyone knows that, so you have to look after yourself.
“We all have a decent base fitness – you can see that when they measure the body fat and we do the fitness work.”
Pompey’s first friendly – at Dublin-based UCD – is still more than a week away and Brown is looking forward to being out on the pitch again.
He said: “The first week is always a bit boring and you don’t have any games to break things up, so it’ll be nice to get back into a routine again.
“We’re going away to Ireland soon and it’s useful to have that time when everyone’s together, especially for the new lads.
“You can do all the running you want, but it’s that match fitness you’re working towards and that will build as the weeks progress.
“It’s quite relaxed at the moment, but everything we’re doing is gearing up to that first league game at Shrewsbury. That’s crunch time.”