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Brandon-Area Training Facility Helps Professional Football Players

SCOTT E. RUPP, Tribune photo

Washington Redskins' offensive lineman Mike Pucillo, of Riverview, spent four days at HIT prior to training camp to increase his stamina, strength and leg power to sustain his level of play throughout a 60 minute game. This summer a the center marked his

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By SCOTT E. RUPP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 8, 2007

Updated: 08/06/2007 09:22 pm

Additional Photos

TAMPA - Mike Pucillo leapt from one treadmill to the next as sweat poured down his arms and face.

Seemingly exhausted, he kept up the routine for several minutes - 30 seconds running, one minute walking.

Pucillo, of Riverview, is a backup offensive lineman with the Washington Redskins. As a professional football player, he has become accustomed to these types of drills.

Still, that didn't make the task less strenuous. Breathing heavily, he continued to shower in his own sweat and soldiered on.

'Just like the name says: High Intensity Training,' Pucillo said. 'It's just like camp. The large workload is what I need for what I'm trying to accomplish.'

Broad-framed, the 6-foot-4, 300-plus-pound lineman wants to make the starting roster this year and hopes Mark Gochenour, executive director and exercise physiologist of HIT Center in Tampa, west of Brandon, can give him solid training that will get him in top physical condition to impress his head coach, NFL Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.

The Tampa HIT Center is one of two in Florida that use a combination of science and technology to sculpt individual, intensive exercise programs for athletes. The centers operate in 11 other states as well. Many of the Tampa center's clients are professional athletes or those in training for Olympic trials or other major competitions.

Finished with the treadmill exercise, Pucillo and Gochenour made their way to a large room at the back of the building filled with equipment such as a sand pit, weights, medicine balls, boxing gloves and a gigantic treadmill, as well as space to run.

'We're going to the hot box now, Pucillo,' Gochenour said. The hot box is a room with no air conditioning. It's usually arid and downright hot - the perfect place for a football player to train, Gochenour said.

Pucillo's University of Auburn T-shirt was soaked and stuck to his skin.

'He sweats more than any man I know,' Gochenour joked as Pucillo, a 1997 Brandon High School graduate, jumped up and down on a crate, raining sweat down on his trainer.

Pucillo, a five-year NFL veteran, spent four days a week for five weeks this summer preparing for grueling training camp, now in progress.

Toward the end of one of Pucillo's training sessions, Gochenour rolled tennis balls to him while he swatted them away, stooped in his playing position.

Grunting, he successfully shuffled toward each ball and pawed it away as Gochenour kept others rolling. The exercise was designed to give Pucillo greater leg strength and better lateral movement.

It's sports-specific, Gochenour said. He changes each session to fit the needs of each of his clients, whatever the sport.

'This really gets me in shape for camp,' Pucillo said, 'though you can never be completely ready for camp.'

This is the second off-season Pucillo has spent working out at HIT. It helped him last year, and he expects the same this season.

'I knew going to camp last year that I felt better,' he said.

Pucillo, a seventh-round draft pick in 2002, wants to get back to the starting role he had with the Buffalo Bills.

'He's slated to be a backup, but we're getting him ready for any position he can play,' Gochenour said. 'Get him as a starter.'

This year, he'll have the support of his new wife, Kim, who has been at his side encouraging him since high school, he said.

'This year I feel like I have a much better start. It's tough. Whoever said it isn't, is lying,' Pucillo said during a short break. 'If you don't push yourself, there's a lot of extra guys my size who want to get into the NFL.'

As he finished the session and toweled off, Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad member Chas Gessner entered and quickly began footwork drills and running the rope ladder laid on the floor.

The wide receiver has one goal in mind: making the Bucs' active players' roster.

Doing that, Gessner said, will require more speed and explosiveness. He spent several days a week for a number of weeks before NFL camp working out at HIT. Gochenour also helped him on the track working the core of his body, legs and back.

Gochenour, a runner, is preparing for the Olympic trials next year in a final attempt at making the Olympic Games. Several of his clients run with him while he trains, including Gessner.

'He should be the No. 3 guy this year. That's what we're working on,' Gochenour said.

Gessner, of Tampa, was one of eight guys on the practice squad for the Buccaneers last year. As a practice player, he could train with the other Bucs players at the team's training facility but couldn't play in games. He believes the individual attention he gets at HIT may give him an edge this year.

'Here, I tailor my workouts to where I can work on exactly what I need to work on, as opposed to working with 60 or 70 guys,' he said. 'It's coming together. It's definitely been productive for me.'

After stretching his legs over a line of hurdles - an exercise for hip flexor muscles - he eventually made his way to the weights. Gochenour watched him throw a bar of weights up over his head as an Olympic weightlifter might, then hold the pose for several seconds. The move is supposed to work the lower back, Gochenour said.

On the massive treadmill at the back of the room, Gochenour pushed Gessner to speeds of more than 20 mph in several series of drills, alternating between running and resting. Then Gessner ran backward to work the hamstrings.

'That burns,' Gessner said through a deep breath.

'I feel like, you know, when horses have little babies and they can't stand up?' he joked, pretending to wobble on his legs like a newborn colt.

Gessner said he values the intense workouts and trusts Gochenour to help him achieve his goals on the football field. He said he appreciates HIT because the philosophy is total body conditioning and mixing up drills to keep the workouts fresh.

He wears a weighted vest outside the training center to simulate moving around while wearing football pads. He started with 11 pounds but shed some weight and settled with seven.

'I've always tried to mix it up to get that edge,' Gessner said. 'My thing has always been hard work. Not to ignore the things I need to bring my game to a higher level. This is a full-time thing.

'I'll be damned if there's someone that's going to work harder than me.'

Working clients hard to maximize their athletic potential is something Gochenour said he takes pride in. But he has some rules.

Rule No. 1: Don't get them hurt.

Rule No. 2: Don't break rule No. 1.

Rule No. 3: Make them faster and stronger.

Workouts generally last one hour, with little time for rest between drills. Gochenour said he pushes his clients to get maximum results.

Professional athletes say the work is the real, tough deal.

Detroit Lions defensive end Corey Smith, a former Buccaneer, spent three weeks with Gochenour after hearing about the place from Tampa Bay's Ryan Nece.

'I told him Gochenour I couldn't wait to go back to camp just to get away from him,' Smith joked about Gochenour's heavy-duty training sessions.

Smith worked the hurdles, hit the treadmill, played in the sand pit and performed punching exercises during a recent session.

'The toughest part is the heat - but it's a good thing,' Smith said, adding, 'I don't get a lot of rest time, and I would think that would be an advantage.'

Quarterback Chris Simms visited HIT several times this summer after hearing about it from Gessner and Buccaneers tight end Anthony Becht. He called his first workout great but admitted it was strenuous.

'This pushes you and works you hard,' said Simms, who worked on increasing his foot speed and memory recall. 'One of the best things about his workout is that he grinds you and grinds you.'

Simms is part of the 'Big Boys Club,' athletes who can run more than 20 mph on the treadmill. Gessner's also a member.

Teammate Nece, a linebacker, tiptoed through the ladder drills, his feet pounding the ground as he made his way back and forth across the room.

'Get lighter on your feet,' Gochenour ordered. 'I can hear you all the way down here.'

Gochenour said lighter steps meant Nece would be quicker on his feet and power more quickly into a play.

Nece, of Tampa, began to work out at HIT last season and has continued to train there since. 'There's several guys from the Bucs, Detroit and Seattle. People start gravitating to where they're gonna get the most bang for their buck. Everybody is looking for the edge. I'm excited to go into the season and test my speed,' he said.

Nece said he has been criticized for over-training, but his rebuttal is that the training keeps his body up to par and far from breaking down. Along with training at the Buc's headquarters at One Buc Place and at HIT, he practices yoga, pilates and mixed martial arts.

Becht began training with Gochenour during the past year, also looking for an edge and to mix up his training as he heads into his sixth season. Much of the off-season was spent in the hot box.

'It's different than One Buc. I focus more on my individual needs,' Becht said. He discovered HIT on his own and began to lead his friends and teammates there. 'It's a great place to go just to sweat it out.'

He said he has noticed a difference in his speed, power and strength.

As a blocking tight end, he wants to increase his value and remain a starter on the field, especially in third-down situations.

He said HIT offers top-notch training for professional athletes, high school athletes going off to college and recreational athletes wanting to hone their skills.

Pucillo finished his workout and toweled off.

'He Gochenour treats people with respect, but he demands a lot,' Pucillo said. 'I want to get back into the starting line with the team. In any occupation, you want to make it to the highest level. That's why I come in.'

HIT CLUB ALUMNI

Several professional athletes work out at the Tampa High Intensity Training Center.

Reporter Scott E. Rupp can be reached at srupp@tampatrib.com or (813) 657-4510.

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