Mebane, like other Seahawks, has been
exhibiting impressive growth in the weight
room this offseason.
When defensive end Brandon Mebane sprawled out on the bench press back in February, he put up 255 pounds. Three months later, he had strapped on an extra 110 pounds to that barbell, pushing 365.
Mebane's drastic improvement mirrors the changes going on around the VMAC lately with an almost complete coaching overhaul. Chris Carlisle is one of those new coaches, who heads up the strength and conditioning for the Seahawks.
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Carlisle was the head strength and conditioning coach for USC under Pete Carroll for nine years, where he won the 2006 National Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society.
Proper strength and conditioning is the most important method to avoiding injuries. If your body is not prepared to take hits then you'll probably be limping off the field.
Incidentally, injuries have been one of the major problems facing the Seahawks the past two seasons, which saw an entire offensive line filled with backups and star players benched on injured reserve.
Some believe strength and conditioning has been one of the major factors affecting Seattle, and Carlisle signed on with the team to hopefully alleviate the problem.
Other examples of Seattle's improvement in the weight room came via the Seahawks.com official blog.
Safety Jamar Adams benched 315 pounds today, a spectacular number for a defensive back, according to Carlisle. And defensive lineman Red Bryant, who was putting up 75 pounds per dumbbell in February, lifted 135 pounds per dumbbell on the incline bench press this morning, a 53 percent jump in three months for the third-year lineman.
Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
