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Lions Hone Body and Mind for Better Season
by Xavier Jordan
While everyone may be in class or just lounging around, take a trip down to Chambers Gym, and just poke your head inside the weight room at around 2:00, 3:30, or 5:00, and you'll see the football team working their asses off. On Fridays it's a different scenario. At six o'clock in the morning every Friday, while you're turning over in your bed, down in the gym it's tennis shoes squeaking and sweat hitting the floor, and the sound of guys moaning from body parts hurting.
There are three different weight lifting times because all the players can't lift at the same time. In the off season, they all try to better themselves, jamming all types of music in the weight room from rock and country to hip-hop and rap.
The music helps the motivation to lift the weights and keeps us CRUNK!. You can always catch Ibrahim "Shame" Menafee doing his grown man dance.
The weight room workouts go well when coach Phifer is in a good mood and we are "hitting" the weights hard. Phifer lifts with a different time group everyday. Every player doesn't have the same strength, so all do the same workout but at different percentages.
Offensive Line, defensive Line, and line backers do certain things that the running backs, quarterbacks, receivers, defensive backs, and kickers don't do. The weight training lasts about an hour and ten minutes.
The three lifts consist of power cleans or hang cleans, bench press, and squats. For lifting a total of a thousand pounds or more with all three of your lifts, you get a T-shirt that has printed on it the total amount of weight you lifted. The program starts a week after Christmas break, and goals are set by the person himself. The final lifts are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday March 7 - 9. Each day players try for their maximum in a different lift.
After weight training, the offensive line and defensive line do some type of cardio workout that gets you winded and pushes up your heart rate.
Rriday, everyone works out together at the 6 a.m. session. One thing is certain. Never brush your teeth before going to Chambers Gym because running and no water break will give you cottonmouth. "No one has class that early in the morning," says Coach Tim Clifton.
There are six different drills, and each coach has a drill to work. The 6 a.m. workout lasts about an hour and a half. Each drill has its one little thing to work on, but the majority work on your footwork and quickness. Defensive Back Coach Kevin Barnette's drill works on your change of direction. Coach Clifton (the quarterback coach) has two drills. He changes them from time to time. "The blocking bags are for having quick feet and teach you to bend at the hips. Mat drills help you control your body, make plays in the game, and diving on your chest makes you tougher."
D-line coach Phifer's cone drills work to improve footwork, endurance, and concentration. The receivers under Tom Weaver do drills to sharpen their change of direction and eye-foot coordination. The running is conditioning in itself.
Coach Jonathan Sarratt's drill for the running backs is a combination of fast switch and plyometrics to tone muscle fibers and increase jumping ability. Linebacker Coach Brian Fues' shuttle run is for conditioning, change of direction, explosion to the next point, and keeping a low base.
The Lions aim to be mentally and physically a whole lot tougher than last season, when every single opponent outscored them in the second half except Carson-Newman. They still erased Mars Hill's half time 7-0 lead in the third quarter before falling to the Lions 7-14, thanks to a 59-yard fourth quarter scoring romp by Antoine Jones.
"Going six and four is not going to happen again," says Phifer. Now the team breaks it down with the shout, "SAC Champs!!" loud and strong. That's what they're after, that championship.
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