When Virginia broke ground to ceremoniously start its new Football Operations Center in early June, the moment took place just a few hundred yards from the John Paul Jones Arena. The basketball weight room resides on the court level of that building and it provides an example of one thing the new facility could add for the football team in the future.

The Cavaliers recently expanded their basketball strength and conditioning area from its original footprint to take over the visitor’s locker room space as well. With that increased space to approximately 6,000 square feet, those programs added more individual training stations. That created the ability to work out larger groups of players at once.

Beyond that simple numbers game, however, the expansion also included equipment upgrades. Part of that focused on science and technology components. The floor at certain stations, for example, includes force plates that allow the strength coaches to quantify measurements within the lifting routines and see if student-athletes are adapting to additional weight. The upgrades also added motion capture cameras to stations to help identify orthopedic needs or to teach specific techniques in a more detailed way. Digital screens can provide guided work as well.

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