Summer Strength!!!

Looking back through emails and notes and papers on my desk, I came across a blog written by Christy Robinson last summer... Christy will be a junior for us this season and has put in the work every day since she arrived on campus two years ago. She holds a 3.98 GPA in nursing and will be a key component to this years team! While it probably mirrors the work being done this summer by her and her teammates, it is also the reflection of all that she has done in her two years here at Samford and I wanted to share what she wrote.

"Coming into my sophomore season, I knew what my main goal was: get stronger.  The post play in high school was not even close to the same level as the physical play in the post in college.  I struggled with this aspect of the game my freshman year and decided to work as hard as I could to change it.  Now, I know that I will never become a professional body builder, it’s obvious that is not in my genes.  However, this summer was my opportunity to really workout hard and gain some muscle.  I spent my entire summer at Samford taking classes and working out.  This took quite a bit of dedication because when my alarm clock went off at 5:30am every single weekday morning, my first thought was always “why am I doing this to myself?” There was no other place I would rather be at that moment than in my bed.  I knew this would be a struggle when I made the decision to stay both summer terms.  Coach Morris, along with our strength coach at the time Felicia, encouraged me to stay.  Looking back, I am very glad I did because I feel as if I have benefited tremendously. 

            To put it lightly, the workouts were tough.  The warm-ups could be a workout for most normal people as they left me covered in sweat before the real fun even began. We would lift three days a week with some agilities and then focus on conditioning the other two days.  On a few Thursday mornings, we met at the new sand volleyball court to have our workouts.  These days might have been some of the toughest days of my life.  We had to do sprints, shuffles, bear crawls and various other agility exercises in the sand which quadruples the difficulty factor.  Most days we did manage to have some fun in the sand with some competitions such as tug-of war and a wheelbarrow race.  Needless to say, when we left we were covered from head to toe in sand.  Overall though, we had a lot of fun and I truly enjoyed it. 

            I had to keep a food journal to keep track of everything that I put into my body to eat or drink.  It turns out that I was not eating enough to gain weight since the amount of energy I used daily was so high.  This is where Muscle Milk came into play.  As many on the team know, Muscle Milk was not at the top of my list for favorite snack.  My first ever protein shake took me about 30 minutes to drink.  That time has been cut down slightly although I still feel as though I had to force it down my throat some days.  Even though I did not enjoy drinking protein shakes or waking up at the crack of dawn every morning, it helped me improve physically for the upcoming season.  Comparing this preseason to my freshman preseason, I have made leaps and bounds.  A year ago, I could hardly even hold a side plank for more than ten seconds.  These summer workouts have really challenged me physically and mentally, but I feel as if they will really pay off for me.  I understand that my goal cannot be accomplished in just one summer, but it has put me one step closer in the right direction.  I feel as if this quote summarizes all the hard work that I put into my summer, “I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.”- Anonymous. "

 -Christy Robinson