Michigan Injuries and Mike Barwis

Training cannot turn you into gumby.  While "prehabbing" probably reduces your risk of some non-contact injuries, it can't help you when a dude slams into your thigh with a helmet at full spped, or when someone falls on you and your leg bends in the wrong direction.

Take a 300lb anything and run it into a 300lb anything at full human speed (what, 20mph?) and there's a hell of a lot of force/momentum in that collision. People get hurt playing football. Shit happens. 

In no way, shape, or form are a few dinged up players an S&C coach's fault

I think in Denard's case he will learn to pick his spots regarding when to take on a lot of contact or try and avoid it.  The play he got dinged up on, he left his feet.  I can recall a point later in the game when he went outside and basically hit the turf avoiding contact all together as it likely would have only added a yard or two to the run. 

Roundtree, well that clearly was not preventable. 

It's a legit question, that I do not know the answer to.  I do know he, as far as I understand with no spinal cord rehab experience, devised a plan to help Brock rehabilitate.  Also, Vincent Smith is looking 100% 10 months removed from a torn ACL.  I suspect if there is an effective way to maximize injury prevention, Barwis is in the know on that.

Wow really? Do you watch much football? It happens all the time. It's the risk of playing the sport.

Just think how many injuries there would have been without Barwis...

Sometimes young guys are more apt to get hurt because they don't have the muscle mass yet. Rountree got hurt because the dude waylayed him right in the midsection.

Sometimes you have to factor in the individual. Junior Hemingway came into camp a little heavier than the coaches wanted and according to Rich Rod himself had to play his way into better shape. Lo and behold, he misses the first game with a bad hammy. If he's catching a ride to the gym every day with Denard & Devin to wolfwrestle with Barwis, that particular injury is probably not happening. Chalk the rest up to 250 pound guys diving and falling on your legs and joints. There has never been an injury free football team and never will be. Maybe Mouton and Molk getting up after going down is already a product of the Barwis injury prevention program.  

I guess the first question I need to ask is whether you actually watched the game.  If you did live, I may understand.  If you watched it on a television and watched a 260 pound man lay on Carvin Johnson's knee, you probably would not have listed him.  Not sure what lift others, other than Barwis, teach to prevent that one. 

Also, not sure there is a dumbbell lift to protect a 190 pounder running at speed and colliding with a 230 pounder.  Do you know one?

Perhaps Roundtree should have been benching more and he wouldn't have gotten hurt either.

This question is ridiculous. 

2 words, Hyperbaric Chamber

in how quickly they return.

There would only be a correlation to Barwis' training if the injuries were of the type that training would/could have prevented them.  Hammies, ankle sprains, muscle cramps, abdominal sprains - maybe (not always - some dudes just have weak ankles or tight hammies).  But the injuries that we suffered - a huge man laying down on Carvin Johnson's knee, another huge man moving at a high rate of speed into Roy Roundtree's midsection (causing him to puke blood later in the day) and Denard taking a helmet to the thigh - are not preventable, unless someone can figure out a way to train players to develop armor around their bodies (which, my the way, I would not put past Barwis). 

I think the Barwis program is just fine.

Some people seriously need to learn to address others with respect rather than arrogant disregard or insolence. Especially when addressing fellow Michigan fans bringing up discussion points. 

If you disagree with something, there are far more civil ways to express yourselves then what I see far too often on here.  That sort of junk is beneath you all as Michigan fans.

Suggestions might be to make a counter point with authority for your position, or perhaps poke good natured fun, or simply don't answer and go respond to some other thread.

 This is a great blog, but it turns to shit when we try to be vulgar versions of Simon from American Idol.

If a player goes down from a wolf attack... That might be Barwis' fault.

And tired of hearing guys spout off about training when they know nothing about the subject and have probably never put a bar on their back. The question is legit people. Enough of the Barwis nut swinging already. Before I get flamed, I personally have listened to him talk about his methods and they sound good, but that doesn't mean he can do no wrong. Here's my take: dings like Denard's are pretty unavoidable from a S&C standpoint, but when you have guys going down with pulled hammies and torn ACLs from cutting and no contact, you start to raise your eyebrow. Not saying Mike hasn't done a great job, but stop blindly thinking he's the BeSt eVeRrrr without having a clue!

And another one of my pet peaves: when people say, oh blah blah blah player packed on 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason... NO. Just, no. The rate at which the body synthesizes muscle tissue is nowhere near that rate, even in ideal situations. Most of that weight is either fat or glycogen retention. /rant

...got caught off guard with UConn's 4th down quick count and was unprepared for the contact and got caught out of position, I think. Bum luck.

Get well fast, Carvin. 

Not good, but holy crap there are some teams getting totally ravaged in week 1, particularly with suspensions.

I'm with you though about Michigan. It seems like ever since Kolodziej was lost before the 2005 season opener, Michigan football has been one major triage unit.

Notre Dame has only one noted injury TE Mike Ragone this week.

that conditioning can reduce injuries:

1)  If an athlete has great aerobic conditioning, and does not get tired, he is less likely to make the small miss-step or the slightly slow reaction that gets him hurt.

2)  Increased stretching and flexibility means body parts will stretch when put under stress instead of tearing or breaking.

3)  Increased muscle mass will protect bones, ligaments, and cartilage in joints.  For instance, increased muscles in the spine will protect the bones, disks, and ligaments from being over-stressed and tearing or breaking.  Likewise, increased muscle mass aroung the knee will help protect ligaments and cartilage from damage when stressed (as in a clip or cut block).  Same goes for shoulder muscles protecting from a separated shoulder, neck muscles from a stinger, etc. etc....

What Barwis says & does is correct.

to remove a double post.

sorry

This is the basic premise, simply stated. There is, however a lot more to it than that. One example of those things being to balance antagonist muscle groups and correct any deficiencies.

And thanks for all the negs. Grow up.

about how Barwis' training methods stack up for injuries. Lots of people are convinced he is good at making kids better players, but how you extrapolate injuries. . .