Have you ever hotly debated which Rocky flick was the toughest?
On Christmas morning, do you go through your new shirts and immediately rip off all the sleeves?

Do you view Mean Gene Okerlund as a role model or source of inspiration?

Or are you the kind of guy who would rather eat Cheesy Poofs and watch Love Boat re-runs than get into the gym for a little extra work, the type of athlete who would be ridiculed by Hans and Frans for being a “girlie man that should be carried out to the garbage by his love handles.”

Either way, the fact remains that lacrosse players are becoming stronger and more athletic with each passing season. Let’s be honest. Our sport has more goons and meat-heads than some of us care to admit, and the number grows every year.

We aren’t saying that to play for a top team, you have to subscribe to the meat-head mentality (in fact, we hope you don’t). But we do advise that you make as much of a commitment to becoming a stronger athlete as you do to becoming a more skilled athlete.

So “hear me now and believe me later...”

At the Padonia Fitness Center in Timonium, MD, Kurtis Shultz has been training some of the area’s finest lacrosse players for the past three years. Shultz played basketball at Maryland for 4 years, and also attended the Naval Academy. He holds a 2nd degree black belt in Karate and teaches kickboxing and fitness classes at Padonia. Essentially, Kurtis is a bad man. And when he’s training lacrosse players, they don’t get off easy.

“For most of today’s top college teams the weight program is taken as seriously as fall ball practices,” said Shultz. “So, for all of you Varsity and even JV high school players (depending on your personal physical development), getting an early start learning proper techniques in the weight room will be a key part of your growth as a player.”

All high schools have a wrestling coach who likes to tell you that his grandmother could take you in a fist-fight and yells “Break Down!” when he sees you in the hallways. Usually, guys like these are more than happy to set you up with a basic weight program. Just find the first teacher you see wearing a pair of chucks and a whistle around his neck, and you’re on your way.

“What you want to do is slightly modify the basic program to accentuate the muscles and the motions that apply most to the lacrosse field,” said Shultz.

Shultz currently works with Team Toyota, the Baltimore Thunder, and the Loyola men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, setting up individual work-outs, as well as teaching kickboxing as a means of cross-training.

Shultz explains that the components of a basic weight program are the presses (flat bench, inclined bench, close grip, and military), tricep extensions, curls, standing or bent over row exercises, squats, dips, pull-ups, and crunches.

The following are the general areas that most lacrosse players will want to spend a little extra time developing:

PUSHING MOTIONS: Triceps & chest. The pushing motions are key, especially for defenseman. Defenders must be able to keep attackmen off their body by pushing them away while moving their feet. The pushing motions are also key for an attackman securing elbow room on the crease, moving bodies around in a loose ball tangle, and when facing off. Remember to stress the inclined press exercise here, because most of the time when you’re pushing off other people, you’re also leaning forward, which puts the burden on the upper chest and shoulders.

Exercises: Bench. Inclined bench. Close-grip Bench. Tricep Extension Exercises.

“FOUNDATION” DEVELOPMENT: Torso (Abdominal, or “Oblique”) development. A strong foundation is key, regardless of the position or the situation. For offensive players, it is not as much arm strength as the twisting motion of the torso which will give you power on a whip shot. For defensive players, a strong mid-section will allow you to recoil and recover after throwing a hard wrap check.

Exercises: Crunches are key to abdominal development. Always be sure to protect your lower back and retain proper form. And even more important than the up and down (crunch) motion is the twisting motion of the abdomen. This is called working the ‘oblique’ muscles. Standing shoulder to shoulder with a partner and passing an 8 pound medicine ball back and forth will work these muscles nicely.

Shoulders and back. Again, strong shoulders are a key to executing the diversity of the motions required by skilled stick work. Shooting, checking, facing-off, any and all. In addition, shoulder exercises will make it less likely to put the arm in a compromising situation that could result in damage to the rotator cuff.

Exercises: Military Press, Pull-Ups, Upright and Bent-Over Rowing Exercises.

WRIST STRENGTH. Popeye would have made a great lacrosse player. Wrist strength benefits stickwork offensively, defensively, definitely on face-offs, as well as in the cage. A fantastic exercise is to sit upright on a flat bench, with 15 lb. dumbbells in each hand, and let your arms hang straight at your sides. Allowing your arms to hang straight down, simply rotate the dumbbells, turning your fists outward and then inward, starting and stopping the rotation using your wrist muscles. Wrist curls with the 45 lb weight bar are also very good (palms facing up and then palms facing down).

BICEPS? GREAT FOR LAUDERDALE, BUT CURLS WON’T HELP MUCH FOR COLLEGE PARK. HOWEVER.... We bring up biceps to remind you of the importance of balance. If you do a lot of tricep work, you want to balance it with bicep work, just as if you do a lot of chest work, you also want to strengthen you back, so you don’t become too hunched over. Think in terms of balance when setting up a program. Although we’ve outlined the muscle sets that you want to stress, mix up your work-out from time to time, and try to also exercise the complimentary muscle sets.

Benefits of Increased Strength (by Position): ATTACK. All attackmen want to be able to physically assert themselves as they confront defenders, whether they’re intent on finding the cage or just looking to get a step and some room to feed. And crease men, you need to be able to hold your own, because it can be war in there when you’ve got six long sticks crashing down on your arms every time a feed comes your way. Muscular arms will always stand up better to a season of stick and body checks.

DEFENSE. For defenders, an ability to push with real force is critical, especially against the huge attackmen you see more and more frequently these days. You need the ability to keep an offensive player from bull dodging his way into your body. You need the ability to push him back, to retain the buffer zone that will allow you to throw checks and allow your feet to recover. And then there are the times you need to slide with the body.

GOALIES. Goalies are a bit of a different breed, and each school’s goalie coach mixes his own concoction of drills and exercises. Agility and reaction drills are essential, but strength is also important.

MIDFIELD. (God bless them). They need to work on all of the above. Not only will greater strength allow you to better assert yourself on the field in all these different ways, but it will also help you to ignore the inevitable stick and body checks that come crashing in.

SIDE NOTE: Nutritional Supplements. Listen up, folks... Mark McGuire knows how to hit the baseball, plain and simple. He is not knocking them out of the park because of something that is bought in a nutrition store. Although these products can be purchased over the counter, doctors still have no clue as to the long term effects of the products, just as with steroids twenty five years ago. What will help you more than anything? A balanced diet and a good night’s sleep. Without those two things, you’re not going to get to where you need to be. “If you don’t eat well and give your body the proper nutrition, the supplements aren’t going to be building upon anything,” said Shultz. “I’ve tried out the different over the counter products myself, and the thing is that in the short term, they can make you feel hot sometimes, and then they can make you feel cold. They can mess up your bowel system, and nobody has any idea what the long-term effects on the body will be. 85% of the college strength coaches out there won’t even recommend the stuff, which is telling you something. Usually if there’s an over the counter supplement, they’ll be willing to try out any and all of it.” So there you have it, boys and girls. Don’t waste your money on any of that garbage, get a good night’s sleep, and eat some vegetables for a change. End of lecture.