ISU's Knott inspires teammates over summer

AMES - A devastating injury sustained just before April's spring game could have sent Iowa State linebacker Jake Knott reeling.

Adrift with a broken right ulna bone.

Under the knife and off the radar.

But instead, it sent him straight to the weight room - and two weeks' worth of muscle-preserving one-armed workouts.

"I had surgery on Friday and began weight training on Monday," said Knott, who is back to full strength after another grueling summer as a Cyclone. "I didn't miss a step or anything like that."

Knott - the 2010 team leader in tackles with 130 - stood out as one inspirational story for Iowa State players during a productive, but longer-than-expected off-season.

"When you're in there, even if you're tired or whatever the case may be and there's somebody - a good example is Knott, doing something with one arm," offensive lineman Brayden Burris said. "You see them working through it, giving it up, it makes you want to get right back to doing it."

Summer workouts help solidify the foundation for a team's identity, said the Cyclones' third-year strength and conditioning coach Yancy McKnight.

"It shouldn't matter if it's Monday at six o'clock in the morning, or if it's Saturday night at seven o'clock at Jack Trice," he said. "That switch has got to be flipped at all times."

That trigger spurs strength and camaraderie, which coalesce around weight stacks as well as yard markers.

But how much does on-the-field success stem from expending summer sweat?

"All of it," said Cyclone senior cornerback Leonard Johnson, a preason all-Big 12 pick by Athlon Sports. "The summer is really where you do most of your learning. And it's vital you come in and be open-minded, willing to reach out."

Not to mention reaching up.

Iowa State, which went 5-7 in 2010 and opens this season Sept. 3 against Northern Iowa, hopes to return to a bowl game for the second time in three years.

And Cyclone players emerged from this off-season stronger and healthier than ever during his tenure, McKnight said.

"We really didn't have a bad day in our workouts," McKnight said. "We had some days where we needed to maybe kick-start it a little bit, but we really didn't have bad days this summer. And in the past two years, we had some bad days."

Lifting effectively requires more than brute strength.

Proper form and technique are required to maximize muscle development and prevent injuries.

"In college, it's a lot more complex," said Knott, who is a member of Iowa State's 500-plus pounds squat and 300-plus pounds clean clubs. "It's not just about a bench and a squat. It's about what types of squats you're doing, what types of cleans you're doing, what types of bench (presses). There's speed bench, you can have bands, chains, really anything. It's not really about your max out. It's about how hard can you work and how does it translate to the field?"

Forget guesswork. Think science. Precise, finely-tailored formulas are adapted to each player and specific situations.

"Some people wonder why we'll do front squats instead of back squat sometimes," Knott said. "It's because it works different muscles. You use different muscles when you're making a tackle or running downfield. So there's a variety of different squats - probably five different squats (McKnight) will have us do and they all translate differently to the field, which is good, because it's not just one basic thing."

Or one-armed work.

The fully-healed Knott's well beyond that - and back to pumping up his teammates as they seek major gains.

"He's always in there pushing people," Burris said. "When someone's struggling with weight, he's always right there, in their ear, getting them coached up and motivated to get it done."