For college students, the summer can be a boring time. Without school to occupy their attention many look to part-time jobs or volunteer work to pass the time. Others go to summer school, play video games in their parents basement to quell the boredom, or may try to work out and get into shape.

For the WVU football players, that last option isn't an option at all.

The weight room has always been an important facet for football teams. It's obviously a place coaches want their players to visit often so they can become bigger, stronger, and faster individuals. In the last decade, team training has really begun to focus on certain areas of the body to improve game play, rather than just heavy lifting, old school workouts. Gone are the days off offensive linemen only doing the bench press so that they can get more powerful in their upper body. Now, linemen perform sprints and leg workouts right along side running backs before they hit the weight bench.

One of the most important jobs in a football organization that doesn't often get talked about is the Strength and Conditioning Coach. The position at WVU began to be noticed when Mike Barwis was in control of the weight room. He taught guys like Pat White and Steve Slaton how to put on weight and retain their speed and it seemed to work out pretty well for them. When he left with Rich Rodriguez in 2007, the position was widely considered one of the most important ones to fill.

Enter Mike Joseph.

	“While it is tortuous, the work outs are already beginning to improve the players stamina and agility.” -- Linebacker J.T. Thomas

Joseph is heading into his third season as the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Mountaineers and players say he is taking the team's typical work out plans to a whole new level.

"This is the toughest summer so far since I've been here," Junior guard Josh Jenkins said. "Mike Joseph has done a really good job of picking it up. Everyday you have to crawl out the weight room because it's that tough, but I feel like it's making everyone better, including myself."

Senior Linebacker Pat Lazear, known for his toughness and intensity, tends to agree with Jenkins.

"This is definitely Joseph's hardest year. He's pushing us real hard," the Bethesda, Maryland native said. "I think he knows us better than he has before and knows our weaknesses and our strengths."

One of the aspects of the lifting program that gets overlooked is the coach knowing his players. Knowing a player's strengths and weaknesses allows for Joseph to not only make each workout more personal, but also allows him to know just how difficult he can make the workouts and still have his players respond to them. The heavy weightlifting regimen isn't just Joseph pushing the players just to do it. 

He is using the summer workouts to not only get his players stronger on the field, but to also get a head start on being in football shape when training camp rolls around.

"Everything is more intense. Everyone is working so much harder, you're being pushed harder, the running is harder, the lifting is harder, you're just doing more things. Everything is faster, kind of how we practice fast, the weight room is starting to become like that too," Jenkins said. "I feel it. Right now, I think we're in way better shape than we've ever been since I've been here. Guys are working harder and more people are leading to, when it comes to people working hard and I think that's a big difference."

Senior Linebacker J.T. Thomas says while it is tortuous, the work outs are already beginning to improve the players stamina and agility.

"Well, Mike Joseph has kind of taken the gloves off. He's given us exactly what we wanted to see and this has been the toughest summer yet. Things have been real progressive. We've been getting a little more and more and far as conditioning and agility drills and now it's all the way turned up. We're going full speed."

Junior defensive end Julian Miller, who has bulked up thanks to Joseph's work out plan, feels that the intensity of the lifting is directly correlated to the focus of the players.

"I think this year, the summer has been more focused on actual football rather than anything else outside of the football program. I think everybody has really built in and gone along with the program and we're all out here hustling and working real hard this summer," Miller said. "I can honestly say the team, as a whole, is coming together a lot better than the past summers and work out wise, we're definitely getting stronger and faster."

While it may not be pleasant, weight lifting certainly does seem to be positively affecting the Mountaineer players. Many feel this is the best shape the team has ever been in and say they are ready for training camp, something you don't often hear players say. Camp is one of the most physically grueling activities the team participates in, but center Joe Madsen feels it may be a blessing this year.

"We've all been talking about how we can't wait for camp just to get out of the whole swing of looking at Mike's face and not having to weigh in and lift a bunch of weights."