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Former Dir. of FB Performance Eric Lichter (Official Thread)

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marionstar

Top-ranked Buckeyes in tip-top shape

By JON SPENCER
For The Advocate



COLUMBUS -- If the Ohio State Buckeyes thought their thrashing of Texas bought them some extra time between squat sets this week, they underestimated Eric Lichter. Or "Hannibal the Cannibal," one of the nicer things they call him behind his back.

"Rather than make them softer with congratulations ... 'hey, great win'... we set a more intense tone this week," said Lichter, OSU's new director of football performance. "We're pretty healthy as a team, so we've turned it up a notch. Our job is to make sure at least the lifting portion of their workout is every bit as intense as it was for Texas and maybe even tougher because we've got to send the message about getting better every day." If the top-ranked Buckeyes take Cincinnati too lightly in Saturday's noon home game, they won't be able to blame Lichter. His tough love approach is one of the reasons Ohio State hired him away from the Speed Strength Systems Training Centers he co-founded near Cleveland.

Lichter attracted more than 35 NFL and NBA players to his centers, compiling an impressive client list that included LeBron James and ex-Buckeyes LeCharles Bentley (Browns) and Nate Clements (Bills).
Killer workouts this summer including a lot of uphill running. That's part of the reason the Buckeyes looked like they were running downhill against Texas.
"Speed-wise, he's like a guru," quarterback Troy Smith said. "There's not much you could sneak by him without him knowing it, from a physiological sense. Not only did we do a lot of running on hills, which is resistance training in itself, but there were a lot of obstacle courses on the hills.
"(The workouts) definitely helped against Texas. Not only that, but the staff did a great job of making sure X amount of guys played in the first half so the starters were able to compete with no drop-off in ability in the second half."
Revealing remarkable depth, Ohio State used 52 players in the first quarter alone and scored its first touchdown behind the backup offensive line. To combat the heat and humidity, the Buckeyes spent the entire week prior to the game focusing on hydration and nutrition. They guzzled water and Gatorade until they squished when they walked and ate four to five meals a day to keep up their sodium and potassium levels.
During the game, the players were able to plug themselves into a new shirt from Nike that blew 45-degree air into chambers sewn into the front and back of the tight-fitting top.
Bizarre? How about the high altitude tent Lichter recommended to wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez. He has slept and studied in it for over a year, believing it increases endurance.
After Gonzalez caught 8 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown against Texas, Lichter might want to see about buying the $5,000 hypoxic tents in bulk, maybe at a Boys Scout rate.
"We'll go to the edge of the earth to find an advantage for our athletes within the rules," Lichter said.
His title is not just some fancy name for strength and conditioning coach. His influence extends beyond iron plates and stationary bikes to diet and nutrition.
"It's not just getting in the weight room, it's not just getting out there running," Lichter, 31, said. "It's about teaching guys about rest and recovery. We're doing a lot of unique things."
Lichter would not elaborate, preferring to wait until early next year when he and speed coordinator Butch Reynolds can show off the new two-story training palace that will be part of the renovated Woody Hayes Athletic Center. For now they work out of a makeshift office next to the temporary workout room on the Buckeyes' indoor practice field.
"It's great to know that as hard as we pushed the players over the summer, it was worth it," Lichter said, reflecting on the win in Texas. "Now we have even more of a buy-in from the guys to continue to work at a level that is harder to maintain during the season.
"You scale things back a ton, because the physical workload in the weight room has been replaced with practice and games. But you can't lose that intensity."


Originally published September 15, 2006
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I think Lichter is doing a great job. In general there has been no injuries to speak of during the season (knock on wood). Specifically against Texas we looked considerably sharper at the end of the game. I think penalties come from being tired and Texas had most of the penalties in the second half. A face mask here or a hold there is a sign that you are reaching instead of moving your feet. Great job Eric.
 
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I had heard opposite things, claiming that Johnson did a better job of maintaining speed and intensity toward the end of the game.

The evidence of that being Grant's interception in the NIU game?

Just something I've been hearing.
 
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Oneshot;607976; said:
I had heard opposite things, claiming that Johnson did a better job of maintaining speed and intensity toward the end of the game.

The evidence of that being Grant's interception in the NIU game?

Just something I've been hearing.
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i don't think Gant looked slow as much as he looked kind of stiff...in fact, if he hadn't been running so fast, he would have had blockers, and wouldn't have fallen down when he went to cut past NIU's QB... in essence, if he had gone a little slower, it would have been a pick 6...
 
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I had heard opposite things, claiming that Johnson did a better job of maintaining speed and intensity toward the end of the game.

The evidence of that being Grant's interception in the NIU game?

Just something I've been hearing.
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So, based on one play by one player, people think Johnson was doing a better job of maintaining speed and intensity at the end of the game.....that's crazy. The team looked pretty fresh last Saturday night.
 
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Really?

Oneshot;607976; said:
I had heard opposite things, claiming that Johnson did a better job of maintaining speed and intensity toward the end of the game.

The evidence of that being Grant's interception in the NIU game?

Just something I've been hearing.
Click to expand...

Where have you heard these things?

And from whom?

Hard to believe that consistent maximal speed, speed endurance, anerobic endurance, strength, and power work would be inferior to rubber band curls and lineman-on-back jog drills.

Then again I have not seen the training program with my own eyes, so maybe you are right.
 
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Dispatch

OSU FOOTBALL
On a Lichter scale
Buckeyes using new techniques to reach goals set by their enthusiastic
first-year strength coach

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

20061205-Pc-E1-0500.jpg
</IMG> ERIC ALBRECHT DISPATCH Ohio State strength coach Eric Lichter works with Ted Ginn Jr. in the weight room in the Woody Hayes Center.


Energy surrounds Eric Lichter. It radiates from him, bounces off the walls and back to the Ohio State strength coach. He is a constant ball of motion and noise, as he gulps down a fastfood Mexican lunch while standing in his weight room, taking breaks to shout a greeting or quick instructions above the din of clanking weights and the stereo. He speaks with intensity, eyes growing wide beneath a shaved head as he leans forward and gestures to emphasize a point.
In his first year at OSU, Lichter has transferred some of this energy into reinvigorating the Buckeyes? strength and conditioning program. It wasn?t broken before, certainly, but players credit Lichter?s program with improving the team?s explosiveness and speed.
It?s just one reason why OSU is 12-0, No. 1 in the nation and preparing to play in the national title game Jan. 8.
"We were much more of an explosive and speed and powerful team than we have been in the past," said punter A.J. Trapasso at a recent workout.
It started with Lichter?s initial meeting with players after being hired in June. He wanted to set a tone, a mentality he hoped the team would adopt.
So he cued up documentary footage of a lion chasing and catching a zebra.
"Pictures always speak louder than just talking about it," Lichter said. "So that visual imagery of just that lion, when he got that zebra, and he got him around the neck and he just dragged him."
He emphasizes "dragged," clearly relishing this narration.
"And you see the tail whipping in the dirt, like he just finished that kill right there," Lichter said. "So that was the whole thing: Is that zebra going to kick hard enough at the lion to get away? Or is the lion going to get up there and then fall off?
"We always told them, ?There?s going to come a time in a game where you?ve got to finish the kill. You can?t let that prey slip away. If you?ve got a team fourth-and-10, and you let them (convert). ...
He puts his head down and smacks a fist into a palm.
"You?ve got to do it."
Lichter is not all about imagery, of course. There?s plenty of science to go along with the laws of nature.
His laptop computer is full of customized player-by-player workout sheets, with their maximum weights for each lift. The goal is to manipulate the workouts so a player is lifting between 85 and 93 percent of his maximums, he said.
Lichter talks about biomechanics and kinesthetic awareness and metabolic rates and injury prehab.
He demonstrates a number of techniques and workouts. One of his favorite tools are bosu balls, which are two long rows of soft rubber balls that players jump on, often while lifting weights.
The idea is to get used to instability, like what may happen on the field, while increasing balance and working on strengthening ankle muscles.
Lichter is a fan of most lifts being "ground-based" and not sitting on a machine, "because you don?t play football sitting down."
During the heaviest summer workouts, Lichter invented competitions to keep players interested.
One of those had quarterbacks dropping back in a sandpit, then spinning and trying to throw across the pit to a receiver while a staffer fired tennis balls at him.
The quarterback had to learn to plant, spin, duck and dodge while keeping his eyes focused downfield.
"I thought he did a good job of taking a veteran team, players who have been through a lot of summer workouts, and adding some challenges and differences and new energies," coach Jim Tressel said.
Lichter?s charges have collected 12 kills so far, with one to go. Asked if he had any plans for a unique motivational ploy before the title game, he grinned.
"I may be working my way over to the Discovery Channel to try to get an ultimate hunt that I haven?t been able to bust out on them," he said.
[email protected]
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pianobuck46;717310; said:
Correct me if I'm wrong--anybody, please--but to my eyes, Lichter was nowhere to be seen in Glendale, 1/8/07.

Is he indeed still on staff? Dying to know--thanks.

:gobucks3: :osu2: :gobucks4:
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I saw him in the tunnel as they were preparing to go out onto the field.
Don't know why he would be noticed during the game anyway, other than while providing some motivation?
 
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A recent premiuim article on EL's program talks about the huge improvements made by quite a few players over the winter conditioning session, most noteably a couple of returning starters on OL. I'm looking forward to seeing what effect EL has had with almost a full year on the job here, and his having the team to himself over the last few months.
 
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MililaniBuckeye;787526; said:
A recent premiuim article on EL's program talks about the huge improvements made by quite a few players over the winter conditioning session, most noteably a couple of returning starters on OL. I'm looking forward to seeing what effect EL has had with almost a full year on the job here, and his having the team to himself over the last few months.
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Sounds great, hopefully we can keep EL around for awhile because he is going to pay huge dividends for this team and program.
 
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