An uplifting bunch

By STEPHEN F. HOLDER
Published January 7, 2006

Bucs heavyweights Chris Hovan, Todd Steussie and Anthony Bryant are three of the most imposing figures on the team, combining for nearly 1,000 pounds of humanity.

Each will tell you the other two are among the strongest players on the team - just not as strong as he is. It's an ongoing debate that can be settled in only one place: the weight room.

"Everybody thinks Steussie is the strongest," said Hovan, a 296-pound nose tackle. "I beg to differ about 99 percent of the time, but that's what everybody would say."

Said Steussie, a 320-pound offensive tackle: "The funny thing is how (Hovan) can think he's even in the same category as me."

Refusing to be left out, Bryant, a 336-pound rookie defensive tackle, added this: "I think I'm the strongest guy on the team. But Steussie is pretty strong, too - for an old guy."

I decided it was best not to argue with any of the three, considering each probably could use me as a dumbbell.

But seriously, the weight room is a place of great importance in the NFL. In a league where the abundance of talent breeds intense competition, hard work in the weight room can be the difference.

"You want to do anything you can to give you an edge, and the weight room can give you that edge real quick," Hovan, 27, said. "The guys who work harder, later in the season, you'll notice that they have a significant advantage over guys who have been slacking all year."

Said running back Michael Pittman, known for his intimidating biceps: "NFL players are the best of the best, so you have to train like the best of the best. I take it very seriously. You have to get in the weight room. If you slack off, I guarantee you won't make it through the season."

That's why, for the Bucs, weight training is a priority. It's part of the culture.

Under strength and conditioning coach Garrett Giemont, players follow a regimen tailored to individual needs and positions. In the offseason, the intensity of the workouts ratchets up significantly, as players can work free from the restrictions of recovery time because there are no games.

It's during those workouts when competition is bred. Steussie and Hovan are reluctant to talk numbers, but we managed to coerce Bryant into divulging a few.

When it comes to his bench press, Bryant will casually put 405 pounds on the bar and do four sets of six reps. When he squats, he piles on 500 pounds and does five sets of 10 reps.

Fullback Jameel Cook, who weighs 237 pounds, thinks he might be the strongest player on the team "pound for pound." When Cook benches, he often will do three sets of 10 reps at 315 pounds.

The next time you leave the gym feeling like you've done something, think about those numbers.

But the reason Bryant, Cook and others hit the weights hard isn't so they can brag about their mind-boggling strength. There's a purpose.

"When you think about the defensive line, you think about explosion," Hovan said. "That comes from things like the power jammer. You get it from doing cleans. You get it when you squat, and then you have the bench press for when you try to knock guys off the line of scrimmage. Every lift has a specific objective.

"You have to make it football-related. A guy can look like Tarzan but play like Jane. That's not the reason you lift. You're lifting to keep your strength and to be a little bit stronger over the course of the season."

Giemont puts it like this: "Are you lifting weights to play football or are you playing football to lift weights? If so, maybe you need to be somewhere else."

Like, say, Muscle & Fitness magazine.

These guys have bigger goals than simply looking big. But they still have their fun, like when it comes to debating who is strongest.

If anyone would know, it would be Giemont. But he is much too smart to upset men who can lift untold amounts of weight.

"Here it comes," he said, anticipating the question. "If you think I'm going to answer that question with one guy's name, you're wrong."

[Last modified January 6, 2006, 17:47:02]