Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes #Blazers strength & conditioning coach, Bobby Medina, says he would like to see C Meyers Leonard gain 15-20 lbs by start of 2012-13 season.>>>>>>> I agree he can put on a lot of weight on his frame without losing his athleticism, but isn't this a little too fast to put on this much weight?
he is now in the land of maple bacon bars, there is no minimum to how fast one can put on 15 to 20 lbs
Why bulk up a guy who is an athletic freak at his current weight? Let his body mature before ruining it, Medina.
Regardless of how it'd impact his game and his health, Leonard was listed at 225 lbs. out of HS (on Rivals), and he was listed a shade under 250 lbs. at the combine. That's roughly two and a half years to put on 25 lbs., yet the Blazers are going to put 20 lbs. on him in a few months? I'd imagine the strength and conditioning coaches at Illinois are pretty good at their job, and you'd have to imagine their #1 goal was to put solid muscle on Leonard. So, if all they could put on the stick figure that they were handed was 25 lbs., I'd be very impressed if the Blazers staff could put similar weight on Leonard in about 1/10th the time.
Yes, it is too fast. I've said this before, but I don't think he should actively try to put on any weight. He should not be on a workout or diet regimen aimed at gaining weight. He should be working out to stay lean, and see how his body develops in the next two years. He's already strong enough to contend with most NBA big men, he just needs to learn how to use it.
LaMarcus went from 234 lbs. at the combine to his current weight of 255 lbs., and it took him a while to get there. He gradually gained the weight and has been the healthiest bigman, outside a few minor issues, that we've had in this era.
Yeah, Leonard is at ~250 right now, and ~270 should be the heaviest he gets during his entire career. To try to get to that weight in a few months before his rookie season is actually pretty ridiculous.
He's already strong, he was second in bench press reps in the combine behind Jae Crowder, who could probably walk onto an NFL field and fit in with linebackers. He also has good lower body strength. There is absolutely no reason to rush his physical development, especially before he's even played an NBA game.
Just throwing it out there, at the combine, the physical freak known as Greg Oden weighed in at 257 lbs. and measured out to 6'11" without shoes and had 7.8% body fat (without participating in the bench). Meyers Leonard weighed in at 250 lbs. at 6'11.75" without shoes and 5.7% body fat (where he also had the second best bench result, and your arm length works against you putting the bar up for measure). Granted that Oden was twice the basketball talent Leonard is, based on the physical measurements, Leonard is actually already a better physical prospect than Oden was when he was drafted.
For comparisons sake, let's use Javale McGee. These are the height and weight of McGee and Leonard based on Wiki. McGee - 7'0 252lbs Leonard - 7'1 245 lbs I think it would be fine for Leonard to gain 10 pounds or so of muscle gradually. Not too sure it's a great idea to gain 15-20 within a couple of months though. It can be really hard on your knees. After my first "busy season" preparing taxes, I gained 20 or so pounds. I've lost it all since then, but I could barely run without my knees feeling like hell.
This goal of getting up to 270 sounds kind of ridiculous to me, not because I'm worried about Leonard's health (although I admit the thought crossed my mind), but because of how the league is now -- a perimeter oriented game where bigs have to play all the way out to the three point line to hedge on screen and rolls, close out on big men who shoot and be able to recover to the paint to contest shots and rebound. Leonard adding strength is fine and that definitely should be his goal (especially his legs) but 20 pounds between now and training camp won't be all strength, it's just mostly going to be bulk and maybe at the expense of quickness.
Medina seems the likely candidate for why so many of our players seem to slow down after we sign them, have foot, hamstring and knee injuries, and he needs to go. Maybe the Puppies could use him?
Keep in mind we do have a thread on this board called "Chris Haynes is full of shit", so there is a chance that he misquoted Medina. But yeah I agree with all of you, 20 lbs in about 2 months is not a good idea. David Robinson started out at 235 and ended up at 270, but that was over a few years.
Good grief. The hyperventilation and bloviating around here are ridiculous. A probably off-hand comment about putting FIFTEEN to twenty pounds of muscle onto Leonard's frame to help him take the pounding he's going to get as an NBA center suddenly becomes "OMG TWENTY LBS and his knees are going to wear out and he'll turn into a slug". Dwight Howard is listed at 265 and is 2 inches shorter than Leonard. I think that with Leonard's frame, he can fill out a bit and he'll be just fine.
I don't doubt everyone agrees Leonard's frame can handle 20 more pounds of muscle. I have no doubt Medina is good at bulking guys up in the weight room. I have every doubt Medina's methods make anyone a better basketball player. In addition, I fear the result of putting unnecessary weight on players and how extra weight affects peoples knees and joints. This sounds like when Przy came into the league and the Bucks decided to bulk him up. IIRC, that was attributed to slowing him down, messing with his game, and contributing to wear and tear on his knees. Pryz was injured a lot early in his career. I seem to recall there have been other similar stories in years past. IMO, and it's just MO, Medina is a dinosaur. I don't trust his methods. Leonard will fill in an get stronger naturally, over time. Mobility plus agility plus strength is the key. Not 'let's add x pounds of muscle'.
You've never heard of Medina making Greg Oden gain a lot of upper body weight while trying to recover? Why don't you gain 15-20 pounds in 3 months and tell us whether it made you a better basketball player.
Greg was the one who got hooked on building his body up. The Blazes encouraged him to lose weight. This thread is a typical example of what goes on around here. People read or hear something, worry at it and then twist it to fit their concept of the Blazer universe. I seriously doubt that Medina has designs on force feeding Leonard and chaining him to a weight bench.
