On a cloudless morning at the Ching Athletic Complex field, University of Hawaii football players sweated from the heat and strength/conditioning coordinator Bubba Reynolds’ demanding workouts.
The Rainbow Warriors sprinted, jumped, twisted in every direction of the compass, tossed heavyweight balls and twirled ropes thick enough to pull boats.
“We have to put in the work,” quarterback Dru Brown said of the first week of this phase of the Warriors’ offseason conditioning program. “We just can’t sit around and win games. Some people may be able to do that, not us. We need to put in the work. I know Bubba’s going to get us right for the season.”
Since the start of the recently completed spring semester, the Warriors have followed Reynolds’ four-cycle program leading to the July 26 start of training camp. The Warriors worked out for five weeks beginning in January, went through the five-week spring practice in February and March, then participated in a four-week strength/conditioning program through early May.
“We’re building up the durability of our athletes,” Reynolds said. “We’re making sure we build a strong enough base to be able to make it through (training) camp and make it through the season.”
January’s cycle focused on “getting rid of a lot of mobility restrictions (that were) inherited during the season,” Reynolds said. “Football is an asymmetrical game. … We wanted to get them back to being as strong as they could.”
After spring practice, workouts focused on acceleration and top-end speed, Reynolds said.
Beginning this week, the emphasis is on building endurance.
“Football is an alactic sport,” Reynolds said, referring to the strength and energy needed from play to play. “Your ability to recover (for the next play) is based off our aerobic system. … Football games are 3, 31⁄2 hours long. For us to make it through an entire game (at a high level), we need to build the foundation of our system that helps us recover from our big bouts, our seven-second bouts of play.”
To that end, the workout sequences are: intense activity, short rest, intense activity and so forth.
Wideout Keelan Ewaliko has worked on a ranch and competed as a bull rider.
“It’s a different kind of hard,” Ewaliko said of the football training. “In bull riding, it’s more legs and a little bit of balance. When I’m training for football, it’s a different beast in itself. You’re using all your body.”
Brown said the workouts are another chance to develop team chemistry.
“I love all these guys like brothers,” Brown said. “I wouldn’t come out here with anyone else.”
