Strength & Conditioning The Tiger Strength and Conditioning facility, which is located next to the newly remodeled indoor turf room in the south campus' Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex, opened in January 1993 and serves each of the University's intercollegiate sports programs. Under the direction of head strength and conditioning coach Mike Stark, assistant coach Lee Yerty, and several graduate assistants, all of the Tiger athletic teams, exMike Stark cept men’s Head Strength Coach a n d women’s basketball and the Tiger tennis teams, work on improving their physical conditioning at the Murphy Athletic Complex. Other teams train at the Larry O. Finch Center on the U of M’s main campus with assistant strength coach Ray Oliver. Stark, a former Tiger football player, has worked with numerous professional football players, including the Phoenix Cardinal’s Marcus Bell and Michael Stone, Indianapolis Colt’s safety Idrees Bashir and St. Louis Rams All-Pro receiver Isaac Bruce. The 10,500-square foot varsity weightroom is equipped with rugged, versatile hardware so that groups of up to 75 student-athletes can train concurrently with optimal effectiveness and efficiency. Workouts are designed and supervised by one of the Strength and Conditioning staffs certified specialists, and each student-athlete's individual progress is projected via computerized database. The Tiger Power philosophy couples functional, multi-joint movements with fundamental principles: exercise techniques are simplified and performed on an alternating heavy/explosive basis in order to maximize training effects while minimizing teaching and training time (as well as fatigue). Performance based fitness and work quality are the bottom line objectives. The weightroom's equipment upgrade plan reflects this philosophy and includes: 10 self-contained Olympic platforms and power racks; a plyometric/
medicine ball area; a complete dumbbell line; and a and J.C. Moreau will join Stark and Yerty as graduvariety of hip sleds, glute/ham stations, cable sta- ate assistants. tions and other supplemental pieces allowing stuMoreau, who will be entering his second year dent-athletes to perform an unlimited variety of exer- at the U of M, is a native of Quebec, Canada, and a cises and movements. The modern and spacious graduate of Colgate University. He lettered for three facility is also equipped with dressing/rest rooms; is years in football at Colgate and received his degree naturally illuminated; and is maintained at a constant in History and Education in 2000. Moreau served as 70-74 degrees. the head strength and conditioning coach at Lafayette In planning the College for two years where he was responsible for long range Tiger 23 Division I sports. Power programs, Cummins is a graduate of East Central Oklastudent-athletes homa University where he lettered in football. A naare assigned to tive of Norman, Okla., Cummins also attended the respective deUniversity of Oklahoma. velopmental levels based on individual Mike Stark works on the ability and fitness needs of Tiger training history. For student-athletes on a daily example, basis. newcomers begin with an extensive volume of "foundational" or generalized movements; and progress toward more intensive and specialized exercises with each successive phase. The actual workout menu The Tiger Weight Room, which was opened in 1993, is one of the finest facilities in the Mid-South. The Tiger Weightroom, which was opened in 1993, is one of the finest facilities in the Mid-South. the spacious Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex, the Weight Room has over 10,500 may remain Located Located on on the west side of the spacious Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex, the weightroom has square feet of space and can handle a group of 70 student-athletes at a time. fairly constant over 10,500 square feet and can handle groups of 75 student-athletes at a time. over a studentathlete's four or five year sport career; however, broad variations in workload combine the program's simplicity with a measure of sophistication. This year Vic Cummins