Chris Livingston discusses strength program at Kentucky

Kentucky freshman forward Chris Livingston is learning to workout in a whole new way. Since arriving in Lexington for summer workouts, he says he has had to change his mindset on what it means to get the most out of his body.

Livingston spoke to the media about this new mindset. He said it’s no longer about the look of an athlete for him. It’s also about the movement of a basketball player that he wants to have.

“I think it helps a lot because it’s not just about being good looking, strong and having physique. It’s about being able to make your body move the way you’d want a basketball player to. Your agility, whether you want to be faster or more explosive,” said Livingston. “Those are the things we’re working on. It’s not all just about building muscle mass but making your body move in the way it is supposed to with stretching and recovery.”

The Wildcats revamped their strength and conditioning program with the hire of Brady Welsh. Welsh held the same job at Purdue last season before joining the UK program. With Rob Harris having run that position for nearly a decade, it sounds like Welsh is already bringing an all-new look to the weight room.

Livingston says that has been the biggest transition for him coming out of high school. The workload is naturally going to get bigger when you get to college. The type of work, though, is something he says he has never focused on before.

“The biggest transition I could say is the workload. I’m used to doing a bunch of skill workouts. I’m a basketball player so I’m used to playing basketball,” Livingston said. “Going from lifting to practice to skill work to getting shots, it’s a lot on your body. You really have to learn to take care of your body, recover the right way, stretch, things like that.”

Kentucky takes pride in being one of the best programs in college hoops. In order to meet that standard, it’s all about the development they do with their bodies and skillset during this stretch of the offseason. Livingston makes it sound like Welsh is already off to a strong start with this new Wildcat team. The dividends of that work, though, won’t be seen until they start their Bahamas Foreign Tour in August.