Boulder – Colorado running back Hugh Charles is 190 chiseled pounds, and every bit of it is an optical illusion.
How can that much muscle be on such a small frame?
Charles is listed at 5-feet-8 in the media guide. That’s 68 inches, meaning he has roughly 2.8 muscle-packed pounds per inch of height. It isn’t by mistake.
“I feel I can be a better back with the weight on,” he said.
The junior starter at tailback made it his mission to add muscle and learn strategies to keep it on during the season. In May, he traveled to New Jersey for three weeks to train with Joe Corini, who works with New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.
“I worked out two hours a day for five days every week,” Charles said.
The difference is noticeable. The speedy Charles has been known to be a home run threat when he touched the ball, but he was a threat to fall to the ground on the slightest whack from a defender.
He insists those days are gone. He rushed for 842 yards and six touchdowns last season at 183 pounds. His goal is to reach 195 pounds, and he says he hasn’t lost any speed.
“It’s a good weight for me,” Charles said.
Summer no Holliday
CU coaches wanted running back Mell Holliday in town during the summer to work with the Buffs’ new strength coach, Jeff Pitman.
But with a sizable commitment to help his family, which includes his five children, he instead went back to Nebraska to work at a welding company.
He worked out at a local YMCA after his shifts, and had the understanding from the coaching staff.
“Yeah, the coaches wanted me here, but (head coach Dan Hawkins) also understood my situation about my family,” said Holliday, 22. “He understood that I was in a hard spot. Fortunately, he let me go to make the money that I could.”
Holliday was one of the Buffs’ big surprises in 2005 as a walk-on, climbing to second on the depth chart before he was ruled ineligible because of transfer rules. Though he missed summer workouts in Boulder, he says he was able to maintain strength.
“I feel as though I’m right where I was, or even better,” Holliday said. “I trained a year and a half at Lincoln on my own before I got here. It’s never hard to train. The coaches seem to be really pleased with me so far, so that’s a good sign.”
Footnotes
Today is the first day the Buffs will practice in full pads. It also is the first day the entire team will practice together. … Running back Thomas Perez is expected to practice today, ending a drawn-out saga concerning transcripts from his old school, Compton (Calif.) Community College. … CU’s first scrimmage is Saturday at Folsom Field, and Hawkins said it will be 85 to 90 plays. … Wide receiver Jarrell Yates is scheduled to have an MRI on a dislocated right shoulder. … Suspended safety Tyrone Henderson is “getting pretty close” to making his return, Hawkins said.
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
