Positively brutal: U-M players seeing benefits of Barwis' demanding conditioning
Angelique S. Chengelis / The Detroit News
ANN ARBOR -- The great ones lead by example.
But in this case, Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez is willing to let it slide.
When Rodriguez was asked if he trains with Mike Barwis, the Wolverines' high-octane strength-and-conditioning coach, Rodriguez gave a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me response.
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<!--endclickprintexclude-->"Why would I let him torture me?" Rodriguez said, laughing.
He has a point.
But after what might have been described as a hate-hate relationship with Barwis' demanding, multi-dimensional training practices, Wolverines players now say they are believers. Not that it's gotten any easier -- in fact, they said they expect the summer conditioning program to be absolutely brutal -- but they are seeing positive results.
Players talk about how they have "bought in" to Barwis' approach to strength and conditioning and how their bodies are leaner, and how they know these changes ultimately will pay dividends on the field.
"The first couple workouts were really tough for me," receiver Greg Mathews said. "A lot of things were running through my mind. Emotionally, mentally, I was wreck. I've worked hard but I never knew what it took to be a champion and to be the best wide receiver in the nation. Coach Barwis has given me a sense what it takes to be the best.
"He is so high-intensity and he demands the best. He doesn't care if you're tired. You still have to make your time, and if you don't, you will be there all day until you make your time. He demands so much from you, and I love him for it, because most players would just be like, 'All right, he's going to let me slide because I'm tired.' But coach Barwis doesn't. When you're running, you're like, 'Man, I can't stand him, I hate him.' But when you're done, you're like, 'Man, I really appreciate the things he did for me.' We've bought in, so we kind of see what he's doing for us now. We kind of love the fact he's there for us and he pushes us so hard now. We've learned to appreciate it now."
Keeping the edge
Rodriguez brought Barwis with him from West Virginia. They are, as Rodriguez said, "Tied at the hip." Why? Because Rodriguez's spread option offense requires speed and quick reaction and, most importantly, the ability to maintain that speed and reaction deep into the fourth quarter when players are fatigued.
When Barwis arrived at Michigan, athletic director Bill Martin splurged and purchased $1 million in new weight equipment. The room is grand and state-of-the-art. It also features a beverage bar with a variety of concoctions including Gatorade and that old favorite staple from youth, chocolate milk. (It apparently supplies the optimal ratio of carbohydrates to protein to help refuel fatigued muscles.)
Ask Barwis what it is he's teaching, and you'd better set aside an hour just to listen to his detailed, breathless account. His speech pattern is rapid-fire as he launches into a mesmerizing dissertation of what he calls a multi-dimensional holistic approach to strength and conditioning.
Barwis and his staff stress:
• Olympic movements -- clean-and-jerk and the snatch weight lifting (lifting a barbell from the floor to locked arms overhead in a smooth movement). These moves help develop power, speed and strength and require accelerating a weight from a point below the hips to above. A strong core is critical.
• Plyometrics -- This type of training involves toughening tissues and training nerve cells to make muscles contract as long as possible in the shortest amount of time. It's all about quick, explosive movement. Plyometrics are used to increase the speed of muscular contractions, with the intention of increasing vertical jump or speed of a punch or throw.
• Speed training -- This involves a considerable amount of sprinting and changing direction, both of which are required in football. It helps develop a strong core, which stabilizes the body and helps with powerful leg and arm action. All he preaches is based on bioenergetics, a field of biochemistry.
"Everything we do is applied from sciences," he said. "If it's not scientifically sound, I won't use it."
Price must be paid
The training is intense. Tuesdays and Thursdays are nothing but speed and agility training. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are lifting, and the team conditions on Mondays and Fridays. The Wolverines run four days a week. While lifting only three days weekly might seem light, Barwis believes all the other work develops each player's control of the explosive ability of his body.
"It's a large variety of training," said Barwis, who has a degree in exercise physiology from West Virginia, where he ran the entire athletic department strength-and-conditioning program. "It's rigorous, I'm not going to lie."
The reward for Barwis, he said, is seeing the athletes understand the benefits of his approach.
"We hated it at first, thought we were going to die, but we're getting in shape, and our bodies are changing," senior cornerback Morgan Trent said.
When asked if he found the Michigan players "soft" when he arrived, Barwis was careful not to disparage Mike Gittleson, the previous strength-and-conditioning coach whom Barwis calls a pioneer in the field and one of the reasons why he has a job today.
"At the same time, he had a very different approach than I did," Barwis said. "They were more machine-based, more repetition. We do more dimensions of training. The kids physically had never been through these kinds of things before. They hadn't done much core work, plyometrics, balance, speed work, agility. But honestly, I'd say 95 percent of the places in the country don't do all that. It's a unique system."
Barwis is a firm believer in pushing the body beyond what the mind thinks it can do. He also wants nothing to do with individuals who feel a sense of entitlement.
"When we look at what we're trying to achieve, it's not about needing something or wanting something -- you have to work to get it; that's the bottom line," he said. "If you want something, you have to pay the price to be there. If you're physically and mentally pushing yourself to your limitations every day, when you get in that position in a football game, it's a comfortable place for you because you've been there every day. Whereas the opponent gets to that position where they feel fatigued, they're breaking down. They're uncomfortable. They want out of that spot. That's good. That's where we want to put them.
"We never try to weed anybody out, but some people don't want to pay the price to be where they have to be. Some people assume that in life they'd rather be the person who just wants something rather than the person who goes and gets something. Working as hard as you can possibly work to achieve a goal is not for every person and that's OK if that's the decision they make. I can't control that. We have to have the right kids, with the right attitude, who want to work. You're going to see kids fall out of there because they don't want to pay that price. The kids that do will be successful. Bo (Schembechler) coined a phrase, 'Those who stay will be champions.' It's probably the most accurate phrase you can have."
No rest to be best
The Barwis-Rodriguez partnership was forged about seven years ago at West Virginia.
"Where he goes, I go; that's how it works," Barwis said. "I have the utmost respect for him. He's the best coach in college football. He cares about his kids more than anybody I've worked with. He pushes them hard because of that. I would expect that if I turn my son over to someone and I ask him to get him ready, I don't want him to coddle him, I don't want him to hold his hand, I don't want him to nurse him, because life isn't that way. That's not reality. I don't want him to teach him to be weaker than life is going to treat him."
Rodriguez recently joked about the amount of media attention Barwis has received since coming to Michigan.
"He's like a YouTube icon now," Rodriguez said. "He's not seeking that out. He just does what he does, enjoys doing it and has great passion for it."
Barwis strides purposefully through the weight room, full of energy. He said he derives his zeal from the athletes. It must be transferring to them, because even former Michigan players Larry Foote, Braylon Edwards and Victor Hobson have sought out Barwis in recent weeks.
Clearly, though, Barwis' focus is the current Michigan football team. He has promised them the summer conditioning will be beyond intense. It will feature even more running. They know, however, they are chasing the fourth quarter and outlasting opponents.
"We've made tremendous strides," Barwis said. "Are we ready yet? No. We've got a long way to go, but we're going to be ready when the ball drops. And these kids are dedicated to making that happen."
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