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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Worth the weight

Saxons benefit from Buchkoski’s unique program

On a late November Monday afternoon weight training workout that supplanted football practice, Ferris players – linemen Elliott Bosch and J.D. Robinson among them – were put through their paces by strength coach Drew Buchkoski.

During one drill, players would kneel on the floor, tucked nearly prone, behind a weight bar bearing 25-pound weights and 25 pounds of attached chains dangling on each end, a total of 150 pounds in all. On command they exploded to their feet and in one motion powered the bar to their chest, sunk to a deep squat, then rose and pushed the weight in a military press above their heads.

Following repetitions, it was over to an elastic band attached to a weight rack. They held it by hand between their legs and popped forward working on hip explosiveness. Finally it was over to do a calf squat, with bar and weights that were also secured by bands for further resistance.

Then the athletes headed off to a neighboring gymnasium for a position drill that replicated what had been practiced in the weight room.

It is all part of the strength training strategy that Buchkoski introduced to Saxons athletes two summers ago. His regimen is a departure from the traditional weight-lifting power cleans, squats and bench presses supplemented by weight-gain diets heavy on peanut butter and banana sandwiches that were staples of football programs years ago.

While not revolutionary in itself, it was a revelation at Ferris. Parents of athletes have called and sent e-mails effusive in their praise of what it has done to improve the physical makeup of their sons.

“It wasn’t new to me, but the level he was doing it at was new and implementing it the way he was able to in summer was hard to do in classroom setting,” Saxons football coach Jim Sharkey said. “I think it pays off. Drew has been as valuable as any coach I’ve had.”

Buchkoski said his program is derived scientifically from his associations with professional and collegiate strength programs, and is based on Eastern European functional lifting and dietary programs specific to a sport.

His card reads “Drew Buchkoski, APX Strength, West Coast Division.” His program incorporates weight-lifting exercises designed to duplicate “muscle memory” moves on the field, coupled with yoga, resistance work and other drills for flexibility.

Sugar drinks and salty snacks are out in favor of five to eight 300- to 600-calorie daily meals that Bosch said include tuna, turkey and whole grain foods, sports drinks and Muscle Milk protein shakes.

Buchkoski became Ferris’ strength coach through happy circumstance after moving back to Spokane in 2007 to be closer to his son.

“To make a long story short, my son was here, I moved and enrolled him in school, met Jerry Karstetter at a GNC store and my life changed forever,” he said last fall.

Karstetter was in the store purchasing supplements for his son, Jared, now a wide receiver at Washington State.

“We talked for 21/2 hours,” Buchkoski said.

One thing led to another and he wound up working with Ferris.

Pictures of Jared Karstetter before and after intense sessions with Buchkoski last spring offer dramatic visual proof of physical change.

The 1995 graduate of DeSales High in Walla Walla became enamored of strength training while at Eastern Washington University and interned with the Seattle Seahawks during a summer camp.

“I was on the operations staff, but wandered into the weight room,” Buchkoski said of his newly discovered passion.

The program he has set up for Ferris athletes is position specific and embodies aspects of NFL player off-season workouts, derived from Russian, Czech and Bulgarian ideas.

“It is all science based,” he said. “Every kid is built different, has a different hip structure, and you have to get rid of weak links. It doesn’t make sense for a defensive lineman to do the same thing as a wide receiver. If you lift functionally at 150 to 250 pounds, it is better than the old-school way of shrugging up as much weight as you can.”

His program puts bodies under duress with unconventional weight routines, and is about flexibility through pilates and hot yoga, stretching body fibers and rebuilding them through resistance.

“You gain strength through balance,” Buchkoski said.

An example is Bosch, who Buchkoski said couldn’t get into a proper three-point stance because of inflexibility and weakness of his hips. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound All-GSL defensive lineman has increased his hip movement by 6-8 inches and is being recruited for college.

“Coming out of my sophomore year, when Butch came, I wasn’t bending very well,” Bosch said. “It was lack of training a little bit and my genes.”

Monday’s drill with chains swinging from the weight bar forces other muscles to work, and helps stabilize and improve body balance. Buchkoski makes sure his students do the drills right and are fatiguing, but the results become evident on game film during fourth quarters and when athletes do their maximum lifts at season’s end.

“I’ve gained a lot of strength,” Bosch said. “But my feel for my body on the field has changed a lot, even if it’s just keeping your balance when you bounce off a guy instead of falling down.”

Robinson said that once you get the technique down, it’s simply a matter of getting stronger.

“Last year I felt like guys were bigger, faster and stronger than me,” the 6-2, 210-pound senior said. “This year it’s kind of changed around a bit.”

The bulk of Buchkoski’s program lasts six months during the off-season, but Mondays during football are reserved for training as well.

“The great thing about what I love to do is putting it in a high school setting and seeing kids grow and transform,” he said.

Parents attribute Buchkoski’s arrival in no small measure to the team’s corresponding 22-2 record and top-eight state playoff football appearances the last two years.