Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/462058
2015 RECRUITING ISSUE BY ANDREW IVINS There was a time when Micah Dew- Treadway did just about everything he could to gain weight. He ate bags of frozen salmon patties for dinner, lifted weights and drank as many protein shakes as he could find. But when you a s k t h e B o l i n g - brook (Ill.) High defensive lineman what made the big- gest difference for him between his junior and senior seasons, he'll tell you it wasn't his diet. No, it was some- thing else. "I actually think I improved a lit- tle bit because of Crossfit," Dew-Treadway said. "For a while I was just living in the weight room, but I wasn't getting much big- ger. What changed for me was when I started doing some Crossfit stuff in my gym class and stopped playing basketball." Crossfit, the trendy workout routine that has exploded across the country into an industry standard, isn't your typical football training. It's a program that relies heavily on endurance and core strength, and usually requires a membership at a private fitness center. But at Bolingbrook High, Crossfit was offered as an elective by former Eastern Illinois football player Kevin Zing, and according to Dew-Tread- way that's what has helped him get ready for Notre Dame. " I h a v e b e e n tryin g to b reak t h a t 3 0 0 - p o u n d mark and get lean muscle for a while now," Treadway said a few days before he enrolled e a r l y a t N o t r e D a m e f o r t h e spring semester. "I'm close now at around 285-290, but what really helped was the classes. "We had this thing on Fridays where we do a lot of Crossfit. We would run outside, even if it was cold. We would jump over benches and carry weights. I think it just all prepared me in a men- tal sense." And that's a good thing, because Dew-Treadway will need that attitude moving forward. After committing to Notre Dame in June, Dew-Treadway fast tracked his enrollment by electing to graduate Micah Dew-TreaDway Turns To crossfiT for Gains Dew-Treadway finished his senior campaign with 50 total stops, 15 tackles for a loss, eight sacks and four forced fumbles. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM