SANTA ANA, Calif. — It only took 15 minutes for NFL player sweat to turn what had been a perfectly air conditioned yoga room into a rank boxing gym.

Amateur welterweight Andre Huseman yields at least 40 pounds to each pugilist as he barks commands over the thumping hip-hop bass at Proactive Sports Performance, a swanky residential compound catering to the elites of Orange County and professional football.

“Jab! Jab! Right hand! Uppercut! All right, 50 punches on the bag right here. Let’s work!”

Huseman opens the door and twists an imaginary dial, signaling the receptionist to turn up the heat in the cramped quarters.

Vikings tight ends Kyle Rudolph and Brandon Bostick, running back Jerick McKinnon, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and wide receiver Charles Johnson pound away with their black boxing gloves before they drop to the padded floor, deliver 10 pushups and restart the cycle.

This is Rudolph’s notion of spring break. He invited his teammates west for two weeks of guys’ time — two-hour daily workouts followed by barbecues, ballgames and bonding.

The Vikings officially start preparing for the 2015 season on April 20, when players are scheduled to return to Winter Park for the club’s weight-lifting and conditioning program. Organized team activities and mandatory minicamp follow before training camp opens late July in Mankato.

Rudolph’s brigade got a head start on the grind by thawing out in the sun, sand and urban jungle of Southern California, 1,500 miles away from winter’s lingering grip on the Twin Cities and Vikings coaches’ parenting.

“We have a ton of fun while we’re out here, but at the same time we’re building towards bringing a championship to Minnesota,” Rudolph said. “That’s the goal. For me, at this point in my career, being a guy that’s been around for five years, that’s the only goal.

“I feel if we can have these guys out here together and start building towards that now, when we get back in April and start working as an offense, we’ll be that much ahead.”

A NEW LEADER

Autonomy has its privileges.

Rudolph is hosting McKinnon at his Newport Beach house on a private golf course overlooking the Pacific Ocean, sharing a low-carb diet, the Vikings playbook and feats of strength.

One night they played softball at a field without fences. Well, Rudolph did.

McKinnon watched as the beer-leaguers banned the 6-6, 259-pounder from hitting after he bashed several balls into the great wide open and trotted around the bases.

How is McKinnon as a houseguest?

“He’s great. He just sleeps all day,” Rudolph said.

“It’s this dark skin,” joked McKinnon. “You keep me out in the sun all day I’m gonna be tired.”

Rudolph, 25 and a suddenly a graybeard, takes seriously his role as an emerging leader in a Vikings offense that is trending younger. The Vikings’ 11 projected starters average 26.1 years of age. Adrian Peterson is 30, and he might not return if he broods long enough to force a trade.

Peterson and offensive linemen Phil Loadholt and John Sullivan, both 29, are the only players with more than four years of experience with the Vikings.

Bridgewater and McKinnon, both 22, are entering their second seasons. Johnson is 26 but languished in Cleveland and Green Bay before cracking Minnesota’s starting lineup Week 14 last season.

Bostick, 25, is trying to revive his career after being cut by the Packers following his NFC championship onside-kick gaffe.

“Nobody’s going to follow a leader who doesn’t work hard and doesn’t have experience,” Rudolph said. “You can lead all you want, but if you don’t have the credibility behind you, no one’s going to follow.”

Rudolph credits linebacker Chad Greenway for shepherding him after he was drafted in 2011 and the pair worked out during the lockout.

“He showed me how to be a professional on and off the field,” Rudolph said. “I feel like I owe it to these guys, coming into the league at 21, 22 years old, to pass along some of that to them.”

Rudolph has a ton at stake in 2015. He is on a mission to remain healthy after having his last two seasons short-circuited by injuries, including a broken foot and double hernia that required surgery.

“He’s a real pro,” McKinnon said. “That’s what made me come out here and train with him, just how he carries himself, how he takes care of his body, his work ethic. I wanted to work out with a guy who has the same values that I have.”

‘AN INVESTMENT’

Proactive Sports occupies the roof of the five-story upscale apartment complex called The Marke, located at the center of Orange County’s sprawling telecommunications hub.

Located three miles from John Wayne Airport, it caters to upper-class singles and jet-setting DINKs (Double Income, No Kids) who can afford the $3,000-$4,000 monthly rent.

An in-ground pool features Las Vegas-style cabanas. Movies are projected on the north wall. An outdoor courtyard has several overstuffed couches and chairs.

There is a recreation room with a pool table, arcade, restaurant and two-lane bowling alley. Secured parking and a dog-washing station is on the ground floor.

Rudolph and McKinnon chilled down from their boxing workout by stepping into a Cryogenic chamber, which resembles a stand-up tanning bed.

At minus-106 degrees they must wear slippers, gloves and a facemask to avoid frostbite during the five-minute session, a more exotic option to jumping into a tub of ice. The exercise briefly halts blood flow so it can surge into areas for faster muscle recovery in normal temperatures.

The mask, coupled with the blue-hued vapors, make Rudolph and McKinnon look like aliens about to burst through their pods.

“There’s no better place in the country for weather, and you have a state-of-the-art facility like this,” Rudolph said. “Everything’s at your fingertips. There’s nothing you might need we don’t have here. And they make it fun.”

Adjacent to the full-service gym is a 25-yard artificial turf field that offers a panoramic view of the Santa Ana Mountains, a massive black-and-white image of Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews staring down from the east wall.

Matthews is among numerous NFL headliners — Vonn Miller, Terrell Suggs, Antonio Cromartie, C.J. Spiller — who work under the guidance of Proactive trainers Ryan Capretta and J.T. Wright. They have partnered with Athletes First, the sports agency that represents Rudolph.

“He’s the pied piper who recruits his guys,” said Justin Schulman, who coordinates the agency’s training program.

NFL veterans design workout programs and pay for their lodging and services. Bridgewater, Johnson and Bostick stayed at The Marke.

This year Athletes First laid out about $750,000 to prepare its top college recruits for the Scouting Combine and their pro day workouts.

Recruits move in for six weeks. They are provided with cars and have pre-prepared meals delivered daily to their doorsteps. They work with position coaches, yoga instructors, nutritionists and psychologists to groom them for front office interviews and the infamous Wonderlic test.

Similar full-service training programs operate in other Sunbelt markets.

“Everybody’s offering something,” Schulman said. “We adapt the training to the player. It’s proven to build relationships that get the player through the ups and downs of an NFL career. It’s really an investment for us.”

These Vikings players are investing in their health and the broader goal of building something special in Minnesota — no small task for a team with one winning season in the past five, and a franchise that has not been to a Super Bowl since Gerald Ford occupied the White House.

“It’s a special type of event because you get to see guys off the field,” said Bridgewater. “When you’re in Minnesota, we only get to see guys in their work environment. To be able to be around the guys and see how they live their everyday lives outside of football, it builds a bond one that will eventually be unbreakable.”

Follow Brian Murphy at twitter.com/murphPPress.