There are no sure things in this world but in my opinion I’m pretty sure that with Rich Rodriguez, his staff and with Mike Barwis the Michigan football program is in good hands. The Michigan strength and conditioning clinic and Saturday seemed to be a success. There were a little over 100 coaches and interested people there to take in much information, as they could understand. Some of the stuff Barwis was talking about went over my head and I am sure others as well. Make no mistake he is more than a raspy voice guy with the energy of a dozen Energizer bunnies. The man is brilliant. He says himself that he is a guy that bases his S&C program on science more than anything else. He claims that nobody else in America works as hard as his players do.His clinic was very informative and five hours went by very quickly. The man absolutely loves his job and he loves the players and loves to work for Coach Rodriguez. He told everyone that he does not want to work for anybody else in the country than Rich Rodriguez.
He talked a little about the gains some of the players have made. Will Johnson has lost 10 lbs but gained 120 lbs on his bench press. How does 525 lbs sound on the bench? He also said that last Friday’s workout was the hardest of the season so far. He talked about an offensive lineman that start out at 315 went down to 277 at the end of spring practice because as Barwis put it “he was fat.” The kid is now 305 and is not fat anymore. Going back to Friday’s practice, a few of the 21 NFL players working out at Michigan were watching the conditioning part of the practice that this year’s team was going through. One of the players said, “You aren’t going to make us do that shit are you?” Barwis told him “NO” because the NFL players would not be able to do it. This is person very proud of his work and should be.
Getting back to the workouts. They work out with weights three times a week but work out five days a week. Conditioning is obviously a huge part of his program. He wants to push them so hard that games will seem easy. He referred to the Fiesta Bowl last year on how the West Virginia players were not tired at all by the end of the game, but the Oklahoma players were sucking wind. He uses Olympic movements and though there are a few machines left in the weight room, they rarely get used. He believes in a variety of training ways. Core strengthening is another huge part of his program. Stretching has become very important and said that was a big problem when he arrived at Michigan.
He did not criticize Gittleson at all but said that all of the initiators of S&C programs should be held in high regard because they were the ones who started it but times change and better ways are discovered. Sounds like the players do something different every day of the week and their minds and bodies are pushed to the limit but like he says, the body will adapt and conform to the stress that is forced upon it. His wife will even come in a do Pilates and Yoga with the boys if Barwis feels they need a little extra recovery.
He also said that a program has been made up for every player for the next 18 months. It takes 16-18 hours to do a program for one kid. He says himself that he leaves no stone unturned. Nothing gets by him. He will not allow it. He would be letting his kids down if he did and he would more importantly let Coach Rodriguez down.He doesn’t train the kids to be good weight lifters he trains them to be great football players. I do not know about anybody else but I sure am glad these guys are here and can’t wait for this season to begin.
****Update at 10:45am EDT.
Also forgot to add that they will be blowing out the back wall of the weight room out and adding $400,000 to the weight room. Putting in a glass wall so you will be able to see the inside of the new practice facility. The new fieldhouse pictures will becoming out on 7/3/08.
Go Blue!!
A lot of pictures today and all week long!
Written by Morencie 124 and ErocWolverine
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