Cesar Ruiz’s first conditioning workout as a member of the Michigan football team didn’t go so smoothly.
The freshman center and mid-year enrollee had to complete 12 gassers, a notorious football exercise in which players sprint back and forth between sidelines. The drill is difficult for those who play skill positions and even more so for linemen like Ruiz.
“I almost couldn’t finish the workout,” Ruiz recalled. “I finished it, but I felt horrible, I was dying.”
Several months later, Ruiz faced 16 gassers at a summer workout.
This time, though, the conditioning went much better.