Kennedy Leonard during a recent team workout.
Photo by: Jeremy Cannon
Buffs Making Gains In The Weight Room During Offseason
May 02, 2018 | Women's Basketball
BOULDER – Colorado's women's basketball team is specifically looking to improve in one important area during this offseason: physical strength. The Buffs, who were a young team last season, lacked physicality at times against some of the bigger teams in the Pac-12. The goal this offseason is to change that and make the team one of the more dominant ones in the conference.
Since the season ended, CU has spent much of its time in the weight room, lifting five days a week to hopefully build more lean muscle mass and strength. After just seven weeks of strength training, the team has noticed changes already.
"We did weights for five days a week and Wednesdays we pushed sleds," Kennedy Leonard said as she prepares for her senior season. "We also played some pickup and then we did individual workouts three times a week for about 40 minutes. Nothing too crazy, but we still got our conditioning in and we got a ton of weights in."
Leonard has seen dramatic improvement in her squats. She maxed out at 269 pounds early in the season and has bumped that up to an equivalent of 409 pounds after squatting 215 pounds 30 times in a maxing test. Quinessa Caylao-Do (292 pounds) and Annika Jank (279) have also seen impressive gains on their back squat. Both of those totals were over 50 pounds higher than their early-season maxes.
"We all did maxes in the weight room and you can tell that people are already getting more cut and lean and it's only been [a few] weeks since we started it," Leonard said. "People are just trying to put on weight so we don't get pushed around as much."
The consensus around the team has one common goal: get big. For different players, that means a different part of their body. Alexis Robinson would like to get stronger in her legs, while Caylao-Do is looking to put more mass in her arms.
"Right now, where we're at in our annual plan, it's a great period of time where we can focus on changing their body composition, adding lean muscle mass and decreasing body fat," strength and conditioning coach Adam Ringler said.
Leonard mentioned that there are days when the team does a total of around 90 squats in one workout. But there are a variety of workouts that build towards the team's weight room goals.
"In the summer it's muscle-building and when people come back before Italy, we'll do more on-the-court stuff and conditioning," Leonard said. "Right now, we're just trying to get ripped so we can sustain it and hopefully it'll stick through all of the conditioning too."
"We've spent this six, seven-week period where we've been focused on changing bodies," Ringler said. "But what could it look like if we spent the next two months approaching it the same way before we really start ramping up the intensity for basketball? It gives me a lot of hope for these athletes and this team to continue to evolve and continue to change their physiques leading up to preseason camp."
ITALY TRIP
As Leonard mentioned above, the team is going to Italy this summer. The 10-day trip overseas will take place in mid-August between the end of summer school and the beginning of the fall semester. The men's basketball team took a similar trip last summer and played several exhibition games against teams from Italy to help prepare for the season, while also sightseeing and learning about culture in a foreign country.
LEONARD WINS CUSPY AWARD FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE
CU held its annual CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards on Tuesday night at the Coors Events Center. Leonard took home the Female Sports Performance Award, presented by Ringler and men's basketball/golf strength and conditioning coach Steve Englehart. Ringler said that Leonard earned the award, not necessarily for her physical strength in the weight room, but for her preparation for games.
"Steve talked about the individual strengths of the male lifter of the year, where I think Kennedy's outrightly deserving of this award just for the way she prepares for the game and prepares for basketball. Pound-for-pound, she might not be the strongest athlete that we have here at Colorado, but I would put her up against anybody with her relentless pursuit of what it takes to be a champion."
Men's golfer Wilson Belk was the male winner.
Since the season ended, CU has spent much of its time in the weight room, lifting five days a week to hopefully build more lean muscle mass and strength. After just seven weeks of strength training, the team has noticed changes already.
"We did weights for five days a week and Wednesdays we pushed sleds," Kennedy Leonard said as she prepares for her senior season. "We also played some pickup and then we did individual workouts three times a week for about 40 minutes. Nothing too crazy, but we still got our conditioning in and we got a ton of weights in."
Leonard has seen dramatic improvement in her squats. She maxed out at 269 pounds early in the season and has bumped that up to an equivalent of 409 pounds after squatting 215 pounds 30 times in a maxing test. Quinessa Caylao-Do (292 pounds) and Annika Jank (279) have also seen impressive gains on their back squat. Both of those totals were over 50 pounds higher than their early-season maxes.
"We all did maxes in the weight room and you can tell that people are already getting more cut and lean and it's only been [a few] weeks since we started it," Leonard said. "People are just trying to put on weight so we don't get pushed around as much."
The consensus around the team has one common goal: get big. For different players, that means a different part of their body. Alexis Robinson would like to get stronger in her legs, while Caylao-Do is looking to put more mass in her arms.
"Right now, where we're at in our annual plan, it's a great period of time where we can focus on changing their body composition, adding lean muscle mass and decreasing body fat," strength and conditioning coach Adam Ringler said.
Leonard mentioned that there are days when the team does a total of around 90 squats in one workout. But there are a variety of workouts that build towards the team's weight room goals.
"In the summer it's muscle-building and when people come back before Italy, we'll do more on-the-court stuff and conditioning," Leonard said. "Right now, we're just trying to get ripped so we can sustain it and hopefully it'll stick through all of the conditioning too."
"We've spent this six, seven-week period where we've been focused on changing bodies," Ringler said. "But what could it look like if we spent the next two months approaching it the same way before we really start ramping up the intensity for basketball? It gives me a lot of hope for these athletes and this team to continue to evolve and continue to change their physiques leading up to preseason camp."
ITALY TRIP
As Leonard mentioned above, the team is going to Italy this summer. The 10-day trip overseas will take place in mid-August between the end of summer school and the beginning of the fall semester. The men's basketball team took a similar trip last summer and played several exhibition games against teams from Italy to help prepare for the season, while also sightseeing and learning about culture in a foreign country.
LEONARD WINS CUSPY AWARD FOR SPORTS PERFORMANCE
CU held its annual CU Sports Performers of the Year (CUSPY) Awards on Tuesday night at the Coors Events Center. Leonard took home the Female Sports Performance Award, presented by Ringler and men's basketball/golf strength and conditioning coach Steve Englehart. Ringler said that Leonard earned the award, not necessarily for her physical strength in the weight room, but for her preparation for games.
"Steve talked about the individual strengths of the male lifter of the year, where I think Kennedy's outrightly deserving of this award just for the way she prepares for the game and prepares for basketball. Pound-for-pound, she might not be the strongest athlete that we have here at Colorado, but I would put her up against anybody with her relentless pursuit of what it takes to be a champion."
Men's golfer Wilson Belk was the male winner.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
G
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
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