Offseason Training During a Pandemic 

 The year 2020 has made for an offseason like no other. Gryphon Football players are used to detailed structure, even long after a season has ended. This spring has been much different for them. Instead of gathering on campus to train and learn new skills or systems, U of G athletes are working on improving their game by themselves.  

And the Gryphon Football staff is conveying an important message. 

“The team that’s going to win the Vanier Cup this year is the one that has prepared as if nothing has changed,” says strength and conditioning coach Adam Kania. “If we’re sitting back waiting for things to happen, then it won’t happen.” 

The pandemic hasn’t stopped the Gryphons from getting ready for the next OUA football season, even if dates are still up in the air. A quick look at the team’s Instagram feed shows just how creative the players are in getting their work in, like offensive lineman Ben Lancaster pushing an SUV instead of a sled, D-lineman Alain Cimankinda doing dumbbell work with his couch as a bench, or running back Richard Morris carrying a ball and perfecting his footwork on a grass field. 

The gyms may be closed but the players can still put in the hours. It’s just a matter of creating solutions. 

“The challenge is that the guys without weights, especially our big guys, they’re going to lose a lot of muscle mass so what we’re trying to do is up the volume as much as we can in terms of the body-weight work,” says Kania, who send out reminders about proper calorie intake and completing the required reps. “They can get at least get a bit of a pump in and maintain what they have. 

“There’s a bit of education going on.” 

Kania is in regular contact with the team and he created a simple system for them to work out during quarantine. There is an augmented body-weight portion of the program and then the running component, which isn’t much different from when conditions are normal. Body-weight workouts are split into upper body and lower body, with the main premise being that each resistance exercise is paired with a counter explosive exercise. For example, if a Gryphon is doing sets of squats, maybe with a roommate on his shoulders, they follow that resistance work with something like a broad jump or a squat jump.  

Kania says that as the season eventually gets closer, there will be more emphasis on developing power so they have the necessary strength for camp and the season. 

The running program is already familiar to the Gryphons. The week starts on Monday with conditioning training, which is a longer distance run at about 70-75 per cent full speed, designed to help improve form. Tuesday is agility and acceleration work, involving a couple circuits. This helps starting sprint speed for distances of 10-20 yards. 

“That’s where football is anyway,” says Kania. “For lineman, they live in a five-yard box.” 

The players take Wednesday off and are encouraged to do a yoga class online to stay flexible. That also helps to create space for the body’s joints when they work out and improves explosiveness. Thursday is for hill sprints, with the 30-degree slope at the corner of College Ave and Lang Blvd providing the perfect angle. Kania says that running up a hill provides a great leg workout and also encourages ideal starting sprint mechanics, like leaning forward, as well as appropriate joint angles. 

“That’s some old-school Walter Payton stuff,” he says. “He was one of the best players of all time.” 

If Monday is about how an athlete starts, Friday’s focus is on how they finish. It’s max-speed sprinting and an emphasis on mechanics, which usually applies to the skill-position players like receivers and defensive backs, who need to cover longer distances. Saturday involves more yoga, while on Sunday, Kania encourages the players to put the earphones in and go for a long walk to clear their minds. 

There are some players who do have access to equipment, like offensive line standout Coulter Woodmansey. The fifth-overall pick of the recent CFL draft is fortunate on a couple fronts – his mom Johannah Jackson is a trainer/former Olympic weightlifter and brother Curtis is his training partner at the gym they have created. 

“We’re pretty lucky,” says Woodmansey. “We have a great gym set up at home and I have a Gryphon player I can do my work with. 

“We’re getting after it.” 

In addition to regular contact with all veteran Gryphons, Kania is also keeping tabs on the 37 incoming recruits. He notes that in this unprecedented time, it’s particularly tough for these young athletes. They’re excited about coming to university but there is obvious uncertainty about when they can come and what it will all look like. 

That hasn’t deterred future Gryphon Ethan Monaghan. The star defensive back from St. Thomas More in Hamilton has been following the program and can’t wait for the day he sets foot on campus to start his academic and football careers. Monaghan, one of three St. Thomas players to commit to Guelph (linebacker Kobi Ofuokwu and running back Josh Munoz), knew by October that he would be wearing the red, black, and gold.  

“I wanted to get started,” he says. “I really felt at home in Guelph. They talk about that ‘gut feeling’ – and I had it.” 

Monaghan has ramped up the off-season training regimen provided by Kania.  

“I text Coach Adam at least twice a week,” he says. “I ask him about tips on form and different drills I can do. He normally responds within 10 minutes.” 

Monaghan says that Kania, Coach Ryan Sheahan, and the whole staff have been tremendous at keeping in contact and letting the recruits know they are there for them. It’s also been comforting to have his teammates Ofuokwu and Munoz share the experience. They have a group on Snapchat named “STM University,” which also pays homage to other Gryphons from the Hamilton secondary school.  

“There’s a feeling of not knowing what’s ahead but we have each other to feed off of,” Monaghan says. “We know that everyone is going through this, all of the other teams in the OUA. 

“We just have to do our part, stay in the gym every single day. If we go in August, we have to be ready.” 

 Written By: David DiCenzo