MORGANTOWN - Stop by the Puskar Center on just about any weekday during the next two months and what one is likely to see can range from the mundane to the bizarre.

Yes, there will be West Virginia football players there. They will be lifting weights, running, doing position drills - sans pads and footballs, of course - and, naturally, what has become over the years a staple of Mountaineer summer conditioning, running the law school hill.

Oh, and then there are the yoga sessions.

"Sometimes,'' Mike Joseph said, "those are funny to watch.''

Beginning last week and hitting full stride this week, West Virginia's football players are officially in preparation mode for the start of practice for the 2009 season on Aug. 7. Well, at least that's as official as "voluntary'' offseason workouts can be.

With the beginning of summer school classes last week, virtually all of WVU's returning players are now into the summer conditioning phase of their yearlong regimen. By the start of the second summer school term that begins in July, the majority of the incoming freshmen will have arrived and begun workouts, too.

It's a long, grueling process for the players, but it is just as taxing on Joseph, the school's strength and conditioning coordinator, and his staff, who have to find ways to avoid making the workouts monotonous.

"We get started in the winter [right after the end of the season] and that's a grind because the season has just ended, everyone has a full class schedule, it's cold and snowing and they have to get up early in the morning. Summer's a little different.'' Joseph said. "You have less of a load in terms of class schedule, the weather's nicer and guys are usually starting to get excited because the season is getting closer.

"But as you go on during the summer and the intensity levels and the volume goes up, obviously bodies start to get beat up, a little tired, a little worn out. But we're always trying to change it up and add variety, challenge them, add a lot of competition into the workouts. If you add a little bit of fun to it and a little bit of energy to it, guys tend to respond well.''

MORGANTOWN - Stop by the Puskar Center on just about any weekday during the next two months and what one is likely to see can range from the mundane to the bizarre.

Yes, there will be West Virginia football players there. They will be lifting weights, running, doing position drills - sans pads and footballs, of course - and, naturally, what has become over the years a staple of Mountaineer summer conditioning, running the law school hill.

Oh, and then there are the yoga sessions.

"Sometimes,'' Mike Joseph said, "those are funny to watch.''

Beginning last week and hitting full stride this week, West Virginia's football players are officially in preparation mode for the start of practice for the 2009 season on Aug. 7. Well, at least that's as official as "voluntary'' offseason workouts can be.

With the beginning of summer school classes last week, virtually all of WVU's returning players are now into the summer conditioning phase of their yearlong regimen. By the start of the second summer school term that begins in July, the majority of the incoming freshmen will have arrived and begun workouts, too.

It's a long, grueling process for the players, but it is just as taxing on Joseph, the school's strength and conditioning coordinator, and his staff, who have to find ways to avoid making the workouts monotonous.

"We get started in the winter [right after the end of the season] and that's a grind because the season has just ended, everyone has a full class schedule, it's cold and snowing and they have to get up early in the morning. Summer's a little different.'' Joseph said. "You have less of a load in terms of class schedule, the weather's nicer and guys are usually starting to get excited because the season is getting closer.

"But as you go on during the summer and the intensity levels and the volume goes up, obviously bodies start to get beat up, a little tired, a little worn out. But we're always trying to change it up and add variety, challenge them, add a lot of competition into the workouts. If you add a little bit of fun to it and a little bit of energy to it, guys tend to respond well.''

Changing things up can mean a lot of different things. The competitive aspect Joseph talked about is one of those, usually in the form of lifting or speed challenges on Fridays, just before the players break for the weekend.

"The biggest thing is we try to throw all these things at them where they're getting work done, but they might not always realize it,'' Joseph said. "Training can get you into a rut if you're doing the same thing every day, every week and we're always looking to find different ways to change things up.''

For Joseph and his staff, though, perhaps the most delicate part of scheduling workouts is to get as much work done without it become counterproductive. Take running the law school hill, for example, although the same theory applies to repetitive lifting or running or almost any other workout.

"It's one of those things that, depending on how you do it, it can be very taxing on your body,'' Joseph said. "And if you're trying to recover or you're trying to get to the next week of workouts, you have to pick and choose when you do it. I could push guys all summer long, but if I don't give them a chance to recover then they're going to start breaking down. And then we have issues with injuries or just being worn out going into camp.''

Enter the yoga sessions. In a typical week, West Virginia's players will lift and/or run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The weekend is one of those brief recovery periods. So are Wednesdays, when yoga comes into play.

"They actually do a good job,'' Joseph said. "They're never going to look like the people you see doing it on TV. Basically they're just doing some movements that will help them with their hips, their back, their hamstring - just something that will get them in a better position athletically.''

Reach Dave Hickman at 304-348-1734 or dphickm...@aol.com.