The Wolverine

February 2018

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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48 THE WOLVERINE FEBRUARY 2018 There are six exam rooms, aside from the 30 open-area treatment ta- bles with available stimulation and ultrasound machines, hot packs, cold packs, massage units and more. A nutrition station offers far more than a granola bar and a mug of choc- olate milk, although you can get both there. This spot provides six coun- selors, four registered dieticians, and enough sustenance to keep an army of hungry athletes prepped for battle or recovering from one. "This is the South Campus fueling station," Conway mentioned. "It's meant for pre-activity fueling, and post-activity recovery. We have a va- riety of different bars, nuts, trail mix, Gatorade, water, juice, two smoothie machines … chocolate milk, regular milk, cereal, a variety of breads and spreads. "Before 2014, we could just give them fruits, nuts and bagels. Now, we can feed them any time we want with anything we want." Within reason, of course. The dieti- cians are always watching. A 25,0000-square-foot weight room turns the calories into carved torsos, fit for competition. The first floor fea- tures Olympic rack systems, the self- contained units allowing athletes to perform nearly all necessary lifts. There are bungee cords in rails for explosive exercises, and three paths to the upstairs unit: regular stairs, plyo- metric stairs and a ramp that takes travelers up a 22-percent incline. The second floor features battle ropes, sleds, plyo boxes, slide boards and medicine balls up to 150 pounds, along with tires for flipping. Check out the weight room, treat- ment tables, medical offices and nutri- tion station, and it's a good bet Michi- gan will be able to turn the heads of countless potential Wolverines and their parents on recruiting trips. Michigan officials saw plenty of fa- cilities before they came up with and executed the Athletics South project. One operation that closely mirrors what U-M offers is at Air Force, al- though there all sports use the training facility. At Michigan, football has its own (increasing) training space. Basketball does as well, sharing it with Mich- igan golfers. Hockey is on its own, although the U-M skaters will head south at times to use certain training benefits such as the aforementioned ramp. Steve Donoghue, project manager, noted the facility has in place some restrictions venues at other schools do not, in keeping with Michigan's academic mindset. No mandatory team training activities can take place there between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., when many classes are conducted. If an athlete doesn't have class on a given day during that time period, he or she can come and work out. "You'll go to a lot of other schools, and they'll be able to train at 1 o'clock or noon or whenever," Donoghue said. "We're very restrictive on that." Michigan's new tracks represent one of the gems of the effort. U-M special projects coordinator Jeff Porter — an Olympian and former Michigan stu- dent-athlete who has been around the globe competing in the 110 hurdles — says the new indoor facility is simply the best in the world. The 200-meter hydraulic competi- tion track at the push of a button el- evates three to four feet on the ends, like a race track, allowing for faster times. It can be made flat again for practice, so it's not too hard on run- Six exam rooms are available for U-M student-athletes inside of their new home, in addition to 30 open-area treatment tables. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL The South Campus fueling station provides needed calories for Michigan's leaders and best, before and after workouts. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL

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