Dave Redding, the Packers new strength and conditioning coordinator, has zero tolerance for players who feel like taking a load off their feet.
We have a no-sit-down rule, Redding said. If you get caught sitting down, youre doing sit-ups. If you argue, its 10 more. So, its called Give me 20.
With the well-traveled, no-nonsense Redding in charge of the teams training operations, the players havent had a second to even think about sitting since their nine-week offseason workout program began March 16.
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Redding and his assistants demand constant movement from their charges, be it in the weight room at Lambeau Field, in the gymnasium or on the indoor practice field.
The workouts - held four days a week and alternating between strength, agility and position-specific conditioning drills - are done in less than two hours.
We dont stop and pause. We keep moving, Redding said. So, in between sets of everything we do, theyre doing more activity, with trainers, core work or if they have any (injury) issues that theyve had in the past.
To keep players from slacking off in the weight room, assistant strength and conditioning coach Mark Lovat took pencils and chart cards out of their hands and has their workouts projected on a video screen. Similar to reading off a menu board at a fast-food restaurant, the players can pick from a list of five to seven lifts or exercises to do that day.
It gives us more volume of what were doing, Redding said. It gives (the players) more variety. This gives them ownership in what they can design to do their own thing. Ownership is important. If you give me ownership in something, Im going to work harder at it.
Underlying goals of Green Bays workout program, which is heavier on free weights than it was in the past, are resilience and longevity for the players on the field. The Packers endured a slew of nagging injuries of the muscle-pull variety last season.
Were going to peak in nine weeks, Redding said. Were going to be at a point where theyre going to be at new strength levels, new capacities, new endurance and hope they gain the durability and flexibility and the mindset to be ready for a hard, long season.
Notes, Quotes
Defensive tackle Johnny Jolly is in the clear to participate in the Packers offseason activities.
His drug possession trial in Houston was postponed twice in late March and pushed back to start June 26.
The Packers complete their offseason program, which includes voluntary organized team activities in late May and early June, with a mandatory minicamp June 23-25.
Jolly, a starter, was arrested last July in Houston for possession of codeine. He was indicted in October on the felony charge.
Receiver Greg Jennings recently reiterated that he isnt being consumed by his contract status with the team.
After emerging last season as Green Bays top wideout, Jennings is entering the final year of his rookie contract as a second-round draft pick in 2006. He is considered the top priority among several players who will be in their contract year for the organization to reward with an extension before next year.
In my heart of hearts, honestly, I feel like Im going to be a Green Bay Packer for my career, Jennings told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Thats me. And I dont want to say (the Packers) feel the same way and then they do something different, but Im pretty sure they feel the same way. So, I should be here.
New strength and conditioning coordinator Dave Redding is given to descriptive analogies when he talks football and weight training.
This is an abusive sport, Redding said. Because of the number of bodies out there flying around, 22 bodies flying around, theres not a sport like it in the world. Theres more participants, theres more collisions, theres more pile-ups, more bodies.
In other words, its like being in a car wreck, Redding added pointedly.
So, Redding and his staff have the players on a nine-week workout program intended to keep them out of harms way on the highway, er, football field.
Building up muscle mass and building up strength and endurance and work capacity and workloads, hopefully we can prevent them from that car wreck taking over and winning the battle, so to speak, Redding said.