Contrary to what you might think, players aren't going to be cursing Redding's ancestors because their muscles are sore from pulling freight trains or picking up 500-pound stones. If they're muttering anything under their breath - provided they're not huffing and puffing too much to do so - it will be that he isn't asking them to lift that much weight at all.

Redding, whose Nebraska roots can be detected in his folksy central plains accent, brings a slightly different philosophy to the Packers' offseason conditioning program. Players will be focusing as much on endurance and explosiveness as building muscle mass and brute strength.

Packers Weight Room Will Produce

The Green Bay Packers and head coach Mike McCarthy havent made a lot of moves this offseason, but they did add something that could have lasting effects through the 09 season. Today, we look at the new Green Bay functional weight program.

Why Write About a Weight Program?

Because it matters.

For a moment, lets forget about contracts and general managers along the shores of the Bay because the Packers added something that will prove to be bigger than an overpriced free agent.

This morning, while taking a peek at the headlines in the NFL, a Tom Silverstein story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught my eye because it wasnt about the Packers need for a nose tackle or a Fire Ted Thompson blog.

Silverstein was writing about the impact new Packers head strength coach Dave Redding will have on the team this offseason. So how come this is never written about, and why doesnt this become a story in every city in the league?

Strength programs matter, folks. A couple of weeks back, I wrote a piece explaining why offseason programs in the NFL are, well, pretty lame and most of the time useless. But that changes dramatically when you have a strength coach whos a motivator and who brings in a program that trains these men to be football players not some roided up body builder you see on those fitness shows at 5 in the morning.

These are athletes. Train them like athletes, and they will respond. They will come to the weight room with some motivation, and you will begin to see the results on the field.

A faster, stronger, more agile football player.