“[Morning practices are] something you do have to think about just because there are a fair number of players that do miss practice or miss meetings, which certainly makes it challenging to have afternoon practices,” Murphy said. “But we just felt more comfortable having the ability to get the kids as much rest as we can in season, and meet with them prior to practice, which would be very challenging if you’re having a six a.m. practice.”
That’s just the in-season schedule. Out of season, players engage in a much heavier workout schedule, only then they attempt to gain weight rather than just maintain it. Following the season, winter lifts are held for an hour and 15 minutes in the mornings on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. During the spring, the team holds 12 spring practices. Working three days a week for four weeks, these practices begin at 6:30 in the morning.
“We were the first ones to even have workouts in the morning,” Murphy said. “I think the bottom line is that it guarantees you’ll have your whole team. It’s just really challenging to try to run a practice if you’ve got anybody, or several players, missing because they have class conflicts. So that can be challenging in terms of getting them enough repetitions, getting everybody in sync.”
The most difficult part for the athletes isn’t so much waking up early to workout. Rather, it’s maintaining the rigorous schedule of a Division I athlete while trying to simultaneously excel at an Ivy League academic institution.
“I think the biggest thing is that you get to sleep early enough on the day before and on Monday,” sophomore linebacker Anthony Camargo said. “Also, after the lift and everything, you’re going to be exhausted so you’ve got to make sure you get a good breakfast.”
Harvard’s class schedule helps a bit. Since there are few courses that meet at 8 a.m., players can finish their workout in time to grab a nap before class.
“Most classes here don’t really start until after eight o’clock,” Camargo said. “If you get showered and ready and get back to breakfast, you can get maybe a 30 to 45-minute nap before class. If I don’t get that little nap in, I’ll be nodding off throughout the day, and it’s extremely hard going on five to four hours of sleep depending on what time you fell asleep the night before.”
As it turns out, naps become a key source of refreshment for the players throughout the day. That, and careful planning, are the keys for staying on top of their work.
“If you have lift that day and practice, you’ve got to find the time to nap in between meals and class—otherwise you’re going to have a tough practice,” Webb said. “Just knowing the obligations you’re going to have... and then making the right choices so that you don’t put yourself in a bad position where you have three things due on top of football.
“Obviously if you have buddies that are in similar courses, you guys can game plan and try to figure out how to best organize your time and schedule,” Webb added.
Yet between essays, problem sets, exams and sleep deprivation, the players refuse to let their workload distract them from being successful, on the field or in the classroom.
“We do our best to get sleep, but it’s hard with all the homework, papers, and tests that we have,” Camargo said. “But when we come out here we try to put everything that is affecting us on that side of the river in the back of our mind. If we’re tired and we’re sore or whatever, we just try to get as excited as we can and as pumped up as we can.”