MELBOURNE players were pushed to their limits in a pre-season training camp in Rye last week designed to test how they coped under fatigue and in an unfamiliar environment.

With little fanfare, the whole list travelled down the Mornington Peninsula for a 'Winning Formula' training camp run by former Fitzroy player Brett Stephens.

They were put through intense physical drills and were forced to live without toilet facilities as well as having to bring their own food for the camp.

"We've got a simple message; it's all about taking people out of their comfort zones and giving them an understanding of what it is to give their best effort," Stephens told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"We want you to feel bad, we want you to feel negative and then we want you to embrace that negativity."

Coach Paul Roos and Stephens were teammates at Fitzroy for seven seasons and have maintained a strong friendship.

Roos tried in vain to lure Stephens, who played 133 games for Fitzroy between 1987 and 1993, to a role at Melbourne when he started coaching the club in 2014.

Stephens, a fitness coach, physiologist, mentor and dietician, has worked with elite athletes around the world including 14-time Grand slam tennis singles champion Pete Sampras.

Sleep deprivation was a key principle of the camp.

"If you've done a hard day's training and then you get woken up half an hour after you've gone to bed with some match planning questions… and then you've got to stay up a little bit later if you get those wrong," Stephens said.

"These guys were fantastic, they really were."

The Demons return to pre-season training on January 4 before heading up to Maroochydore on Queensland's Sunshine Coast later that month.