Growing up, Scott Greenawalt was always told first impressions were a lasting one.
So when the Kansas State strength and conditioning coach goes about setting up his workout program for newcomers into both basketball programs at K-State, he tends to keep that thought in mind.
"The first week is probably the roughest and I try to plan it out that it is," said Greenawalt, who enters his fourth season at K-State. "I want to make sure to set a standard there.
"It's extremely hard. They've probably never done anything like that before and that's alright because we're at a new level, this isn't high school anymore.
Greenawalt is given a large block of time with recruits when they visit the K-State campus. He warns them that his strength program is not for the faint of heart. He even sets up a workout with the veteran players so the recruits can watch the immense challenges they would be put through if they were to sign with the Wildcats.
But even then, Greenawalt said, they still don't know what's about to hit them when they first arrive for their first workout.
"I can sit there and talk about it and tell them what they're gonna do until I'm blue in the face, but unless they see it, they're not going to understand," explained Greenawalt. "And they still don't understand. Until you do it, you're not going to understand.
"So I sit down with them, I say 'listen, this is what is going to happen,' I'm very upfront and honest. I don't tell them it's going to be like smelling roses over here. It's going to be very hard, very intense, a lot of energy, it's going to be very loud and you're not going to be able to walk for a couple of days.
"All of our coaches, whoever is recruiting that kid, we're talking to that kid, 'hey, this strength and conditioning is a huge part of our program and I just want you to be prepared for it.'"
Greenawalt's four phases
Greenawalt breaks the strength and conditioning program into four seasons.
The postseason is from April to the beginning of summer. The goal during the postseason phase is to let the players' bodies heal from the daily grind of the season.
The program then kicks into the offseason program, which is an eight-week period stretching from the beginning of June to the end of July. During this time, Greenawalt works the players' upper and lower bodies two days each. On Wednesdays, he uses a form of dynamic conditioning that stretches from bicycle sprints, sandpit training or going into the indoor football facility to work on footwork and agility.
Greenawalt's main focus in the summer months is in the weightroom, although on lower body days the team gets in some conditioning by pushing sleds, pulling sleds and flipping tires.
"In the summer, I want to get them bigger, stronger and more mentally tough," he said. That's my biggest goal.
"We don't do a whole lot of conditioning right now because they play open-gym everyday. They do individual workouts with our managers everyday, so they're doing their conditioning there."
When August rolls around, the Wildcats enter what Greenawalt calls preseason mode. This time period stretches all the way to the Wildcats first game in November.
The Wildcats focus more on conditioning during the preseason phase so they are ready for practices and games.
Once the season starts, Greenawalt initiates in-season training. During this timeframe, Greenawalt looks to back off on the volume of lifts but not the intensity.
"We'll go down to three days a week or possibly two times a week depending on how many minutes these guys are playing a game," explained Greenawalt. "If they aren't playing very much, you're going to lift three or four times a week.
"If you're starting and you're playing 28 to 35 minutes, whatever it might be, I'm going to back off the volume. We're still going to lift very hard, we're going to get stronger, we're going to get better but we're going to do it in a smart way."
Greenawalt said the goal is to get the players stronger during the season, which doesn't happen at a lot of other programs.
"I know a lot of strength coaches today say, 'we're going to maintain throughout the season.' Well that's not getting you better. Somehow, we're going to find a way to get you stronger," he said. "Most of our kids, I look at us where we are at preseason to where we are at in April, and generally most of our kids are getting stronger.
"Now they're not making gains like they make in the summertime but we're still making gains."
A different style
under Martin
K-State men's basketball coach Frank Martin prefers his guys to get up and down the court in a hurry.
"When coach Martin got the job, he said, 'hey, we're going to be doing a lot more pressing and are going to be getting up and down a lot more. I don't care how you do it, but I just want to make sure you know this is what I want our kids to do.'
It's a different style than what Greenawalt was used to under former coach Bob Huggins, who preferred strength over speed.
Greenawalt said there comes a point where guys can become too big, hindering a player's speed and agility.
"When I was with coach Huggins, he wanted everybody to bench 300 pounds and look like Godzilla and all that stuff and that's fine, I can do all that," Greenawalt said.
"But, does it become an issue? I've had kids that maybe got a little too big, so you know what? We gotta train a little harder. There is a point where you can get too big, not too strong, because you can always be stronger. But when it comes to putting on a lot more mass, we gotta be careful with that.
Under Greenawalt's watch, the Wildcats undergo year-round body fat testing. Every few months a test will be given to each player on the team to check on an individual's progress.
"I'll have that done because I feel it doesn't matter what you weigh but you gotta be lean," he said. "So if your kid is going to put 20 pounds on, I'm fine with that, but I want it to be lean muscle mass. I can get a kid to gain 20 pounds no problem, just have them eat McDonalds everyday but that's not going to be very productive. So when we're lifting, everything is designed for lean muscle mass.
"That has a lot to do with their nutrition as well and I can't walk around campus and tell them what to eat. I can educate that kid and make sure we're eating the right stuff. But let's be honest, these kids are college kids, they aren't going to eat a perfect diet everyday."
Greenawalt used Curtis Kelly, a transfer from the University of Connecticut, as a prime example. When Kelly came to K-State last year, he weighed in at 265 pounds and had a body fat measuring of 27 percent.
Just recently, the 6-foo-9 junior weighed in at 238 pounds and 17 percent body fat, something Greenawalt credits to better nutrition.
"Since he redshirted, I said, 'OK Curt, you're going to sit out for the year and you and I are going to become best friends,'" Greenawalt said. "I said, 'Curt, we're going to train hard, I can watch you do all this stuff, we're going to work on everything, but you gotta fix your nutrition.' Because when he first got here, I would see him walking around the parking lot with a bag of potato chips. I would see him down at Freddy's (Frozen Custard) eating two double-cheeseburgers. I'd say 'Curt, this ain't helping brother.'
"Talk about little changes, I said well, 'OK, you like double-cheeseburgers, fine. You get two of them everyday? Let's do this: You get a single-cheeseburger, and instead of eating that second one, you're going to get a grilled chicken sandwich, and instead of drinking coke, you're going to have a fruit punch, or a lemonade or a water.' It's little things like that I try to hit on."
Greenawalt, who has trained more than 20 college athletes who are now professionals, admits he may not be the most well-liked guy on campus for the first couple of days of a newcomer's experience. But added that usually changes quickly.
"Yeah, they probably hate me after the second day, but I really don't care because they'll end up liking me," he said. "They'll see the results."
