As both Freddie Mercury and Roger Waters said many times, the show must go on. While Buckeye Nation can’t really move on from the current situation with the football program just yet, certainly the individual players on the team must attend to business as usual. And when you’re a Big Ten football player, business as usual probably means spending some time in the gym.
For anyone who is into strength and fitness, finding the best workout program can feel like trying to find the Holy Grail, except you’re not being harassed by the French. Instead, you have to deal with the aggravation of all those online tips and trade secrets while you’re shelling out your monthly gym membership fees and trying to figure out how that other guy or girl got to look the way they do. No doubt the competitive juices are what fuel a lot of weight lifting and muscle training in our culture, and clearly the BMOC mentality can come in handy for the strength and conditioning coaches at Division I programs, but fortunately the personnel at a place like Ohio State also have a bit more insider knowledge than the rest of us about what works and what doesn’t.We’ve previously made note of the Buckeyes’ resident workoutaholic, but even Mr. Simon may still have a ways to go before certain former Ohio State linemen start sweating about records and such. For the less mutant members of the football team, Director of Football Performance Eric Lichter, Strength Coordinator Jeff Uhlenhake, and Coordinator of Strength and Conditioning Troy Sutton (Strength Coordinator…Coordinator of Strength…you say tomato…) ensure a steady diet of drills and exercises that have the Buckeyes in top shape. Lichter’s methods focus on “strength, reaction time, flexibility, balance, agility, and linear and multi-directional speed.”
What, no room for “fun” on the list?
Interestingly, Lichter’s in-season regime is a fairly stripped down set of “high priority” lifts that get the most bang for his buck (or since we’re talking about the strength later used on the field, make that “bang per Buck”). While the concept of having a recovery day between the game and the next workout was familiar, it was interesting to learn that fans shouldn’t look for the players to actually get bigger and stronger over the course of the season. Rather, once the season starts it’s all about practical application.
Of course, the Buckeye players can utilize their own techniques outside of the prescribed workouts from Lichter and his staff. Former wide receiver Anthony Gonzelez famously adopted The Tent method of training. This seems like a fairly simple technique to adopt for us mere mortals (heck, it involves sleeping), so if you’re trying to get “trained up” this summer, all you need is one crucial conversation with your spouse that starts with “Honey, don’t get mad, but I’d like to start sleeping in a tent. Indoors.”
For a quick inside look at Ohio State’s facilities at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, with commentary by the three coaches named above, check out the videos here and here. Not exactly the local YMCA, but take heart! All you need is a little motivation. And while your very own countdown-to-Michigan clock may not do the trick, at least you can blow off some steam during this offseason until the boys are back on the field again in September.
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