I have felt for YEARS that Iowa basketball did not hit the weight room like other teams in the B10...To me this has been a huge problem....that said I haven't said much because I have read that Fran likes his players to be the long and lean body types....One of the benefits of this crap season we just went through appears to be a change in philosophy for weight training.
These are quotes from Chad Leistikow's articles....
Kriener found some last season that aligns with a newly implemented philosophy change in strength training.
“It’s the eye test. You’d hear people say, ‘You guys don’t look like a Big Ten team.’ That’s something we took to heart,” Kriener said. “We said we want to come out and work really hard in the weight room. And we’re going to look the part next year.”
The past four weeks, strength and conditioning coach Bill Maxwell has had Hawkeye players pumping more iron than ever before. The idea is to be able to pack on more muscle, which often leads to better space-filling, space-holding defense — something that Iowa clearly lacked during the Big Ten grind.
“I already feel bigger. I think I’ve gained 10 pounds, and I still feel like I’m in pretty good shape,” Kriener said. “I feel like it’s going to make a big difference. Everybody’s seeing a lot of gains.”
This added strength and muscle, in my opinion, adds confidence (not to mention quickness) and therefore some aggressiveness. These are important ingredients to play better defense, rebound better, and not turn the ball over as much....
This alone leaves me with a better feel for this next season.
These are quotes from Chad Leistikow's articles....
Kriener found some last season that aligns with a newly implemented philosophy change in strength training.
“It’s the eye test. You’d hear people say, ‘You guys don’t look like a Big Ten team.’ That’s something we took to heart,” Kriener said. “We said we want to come out and work really hard in the weight room. And we’re going to look the part next year.”
The past four weeks, strength and conditioning coach Bill Maxwell has had Hawkeye players pumping more iron than ever before. The idea is to be able to pack on more muscle, which often leads to better space-filling, space-holding defense — something that Iowa clearly lacked during the Big Ten grind.
“I already feel bigger. I think I’ve gained 10 pounds, and I still feel like I’m in pretty good shape,” Kriener said. “I feel like it’s going to make a big difference. Everybody’s seeing a lot of gains.”
This added strength and muscle, in my opinion, adds confidence (not to mention quickness) and therefore some aggressiveness. These are important ingredients to play better defense, rebound better, and not turn the ball over as much....
This alone leaves me with a better feel for this next season.