Mike Williams builds on his body of work

[The_Philster]

It might be a stretch to call Mike Williams lean and mean this spring. When you're 375 pounds and as good-natured as the Buffalo Bills right tackle, the cliche doesn't quite fit.
How about robust and resolved? Williams has himself in the best offseason shape of his young career and is determined to build on his success of last season.

"I felt pretty good at the end of last season about my performance," Williams said after Friday's practice in Orchard Park. ...more

[Cntrygal]

"I've come into the offseason with the mind-set that I just want to be physically in shape for training camp," he said. "I'm not focusing too much on strengthwise. I don't know how much stronger I can get. It's just maintain muscle tone and maintain the strength that I have and stay in shape."

A typical bench-press session for the 6-foot-6, 375-pounder is 325 pounds in sets of eight repetitions. That kind of strength gives Williams road-grading potential in the Bills' power running game.

[G. Host]

Seems a little light bench press for a guy his size, a size they are admitting now is at 375 not 360 as listed on the roster. I really hope he does well - I bought his jersey.

[wchutalkinboutwillis]

Yeah, as a standard, most NFL players should be able to bench their own weight at least 10 times. 325 for 8 doesn't impress me all that much for MW. Maybe he should cut down on the Subway Chicken Teriyaki and switch to a few Double QP's w/ cheese.

[qcsabresfan84]

It says that a typical bench press session is sets of 8 with 325, which means that hes doing more than just one set. If he does three sets, which is pretty standard, he could probably do between 12-16 reps if he wanted to do one set. That leaves his max at about 510, at least. So i dont really think that we've got to worry much about his upper body strength.

[mayotm]

The point of the article wasn't to discuss how much big Mike bench presses. The point was that he's in better shape and working hard. I think that's excellent news. I think he is going to have a breakout season.

[Cntrygal]

Yeah, as a standard, most NFL players should be able to bench their own weight at least 10 times. 325 for 8 doesn't impress me all that much for MW.

10 times? DAMN!

It says that a typical bench press session is sets of 8 with 325, which means that hes doing more than just one set. If he does three sets, which is pretty standard, he could probably do between 12-16 reps if he wanted to do one set. That leaves his max at about 510, at least. So i dont really think that we've got to worry much about his upper body strength.

good point

The point of the article wasn't to discuss how much big Mike bench presses. The point was that he's in better shape and working hard. I think that's excellent news. I think he is going to have a breakout season.

That was the point I had gotten out of the article - I had just quoted that one section, because it seems like alot to me.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

It's good to see that "Big Mike" has finally gotten serious about getting in shape. Perhaps even more importantly, to me, is that he has finally realized that the motivation to become the player that he has the talent to be and that we have all been waiting for him to become has to come from inside of himself. That leads me to believe that we are finally going to see the kind of consistently dominant play that we have all been expecting from him since he was drafted.

As for his work with the weights, I would rather see a big guy like M.Williams doing more reps with a somewhat lighter weight than doing fewer reps with max weight--especially since the weight that he is working with is pretty much equivalent to or greater than the weight of the players that he is going to be matched up against--because guys who are as big as "Big Mike" are more likely to have problems with their stamina rather than their overall strength. "Big Mike" is certainly big and strong enough to get the job done, but you want to see him be able to do the job as well in the waning minutes of the 4th Quarter as in the opening minutes of the game.

[The Spaz]

It's good to see that "Big Mike" has finally gotten serious about getting in shape. Perhaps even more importantly, to me, is that he has finally realized that the motivation to become the player that he has the talent to be and that we have all been waiting for him to become has to come from inside of himself. That leads me to believe that we are finally going to see the kind of consistently dominant play that we have all been expecting from him since he was drafted.

As for his work with the weights, I would rather see a big guy like M.Williams doing more reps with a somewhat lighter weight than doing fewer reps with max weight--especially since the weight that he is working with is pretty much equivalent to or greater than the weight of the players that he is going to be matched up against--because guys who are as big as "Big Mike" are more likely to have problems with their stamina rather than their overall strength. "Big Mike" is certainly big and strong enough to get the job done, but you want to see him be able to do the job as well in the waning minutes of the 4th Quarter as in the opening minutes of the game.

I think I would leave his weight training up to the strength and conditioning coach.

[wchutalkinboutwillis]

[QUOTE=Cntrygal]10 times? DAMN!

Absolutley. Look at linebackers. It is not uncommon to see a linebacker bench 225 for 20+ reps, or 250 for 15+ reps.

[Tatonka]

if williams is working out with 325, 3 to 4 sets of 8-10, i guarentee his max bench is over 500-525.

a guy i work with has a max bench of 545 and he works out with 275, doing 5 sets of 10. his work out is for definition though, that is why he does so many reps.

i am pretty sure that mike williams is plenty strong for his size. how many guys bench in the 600s in the nfl? slim to none.

[The Spaz]

if williams is working out with 325, 3 to 4 sets of 8-10, i guarentee his max bench is over 500-525.

a guy i work with has a max bench of 545 and he works out with 275, doing 5 sets of 10. his work out is for definition though, that is why he does so many reps.

i am pretty sure that mike williams is plenty strong for his size. how many guys bench in the 600s in the nfl? slim to none.

I agree. Also the rookie guard we just drafted Justin Geisinger can bench 600lbs. which is sick.

[Mr. Cynical]

It says that a typical bench press session is sets of 8 with 325, which means that hes doing more than just one set. If he does three sets, which is pretty standard, he could probably do between 12-16 reps if he wanted to do one set. That leaves his max at about 510, at least. So i dont really think that we've got to worry much about his upper body strength.

Bingo.

[colin]

a bench press is FAR from a true measure of total strength, let alone the particular kind of strength required to block.

williams did in the high 30's in the combine with 225, he is very very long arms and broad shoulders which would hurt his ability to bench a large weight anyhow. i don't think anyone who has played against mike would say he lacks strength.

[alohabillsfan]

I AM JUST HAPPY HE FOUND THE GYM!