Many people wonder what kind of workouts Penn State sports teams use. For those fans, Paul Harrison offers some insight. Harrison, head strength and conditioning coach at Penn State, is in charge of every team sport's strength and conditioning program, with the exception of football. His workout has often been compared to the HIT (high intensity training) workout, which consists of doing an overall body workout, with one set per exercise, each done until the athlete can't complete any more repetitions.

Harrison, however, said that comparison is unfair. He said that the HIT weightlifting program gets a bad reputation, and that his workouts can include multiple sets per exercise. Like a HIT program, however, Penn State's workouts are brief but extremely intense.

"Some coaches feel that just by being in the weight room lifting, their athletes will become better," Harrison said. "We feel that the strength that an athlete gets from lifting just gives them the potential for better performance. We would rather they lift hard when the get into the weight room than lift for a long time."

Another hot topic that Harrison talks about is plyometrics. Plyometric training is usually thought of as a kind of jumping activity that is designed to enhance speed and explosiveness. Many of these plyometric drills are unnecessary, Harrison said.

"Any footwork or agility drill is inherently plyometric," he said. "Even running is a plyometric movement."

Harrison said that the workout will often vary depending on the sport for which an athlete is training. He said that all athletes use all their muscles when they perform, so it is important that every muscle is worked regardless of sport. However, sports have their own unique injury areas, places that are more likely to develop and injury because of the specific movements that sport requires. To combat this, Harrison often adds extra sets of exercises that focus on these specific areas.

Some might look at the Penn State strength and conditioning workouts and conclude that the system is outdated or inefficient. This is inaccurate, Harrison said. He said that most people forget that ultimately, all that strength in the weight room does not directly apply to an athlete unless that athlete is a power lifter.

"We approach strength training as a supplement to enhance athletic performance not as a substitute for it," he said. "The strength gained in the weight room is only useful if the athlete can apply it to their sport."