In the seventh game of last year’s season, Taylor Funk, junior forward for the men’s basketball team, tore a ligament in his right thumb and was subsequently ruled out for the season. While Hawks’ fans saw Funk dressed in street clothes during games last season, few were aware of the physically demanding conditioning program he completed behind the scenes to improve his body composition.
One workout was to run the stairs of Hagan Arena while the team practiced. Funk said that he ran about six miles of stairs during one session. Pushing him during the entirety of the intensive cardio session and completing the workouts alongside him was Eric Lang, head strength and conditioning coach for the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team.
“I really respect that,” Funk said. “I’m not sure how many strength coaches would run six miles of stairs with you.”
Lang arrived on Hawk Hill in June 2019 after working with the Houston Rockets organization for three years, serving as the Rockets’ assistant strength and conditioning coach and head strength and conditioning coach for their G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
In his role as head strength and conditioning coach at St. Joe’s, he said he designs meal plans, individualized corrective mobility programs and individualized strength programs for each player on the team. He attends all practices and games, and leads team strength training and conditioning sessions.
Billy Lange, head coach of the men’s basketball team, wrote in an email to the Hawk that Lang is transformational in regard to the body development of St. Joe’s players.
“We want to be the best in college basketball in the space of body development and Jill [Bodensteiner’s] commitment to hiring Eric Lang was a major step,” Lange said. “Eric is transformational. Our player’s feel Eric’s preparation and authentic care for their whole being as he equips them for life in all ways related to their physical health. We are excited for what the present and future hold under his energy and guidance.”
After Funk’s injury in early December 2019, Lang developed an individualized conditioning plan for Funk to resculpt his body while ensuring that his conditioning level remained high.
“It’s not like he hurt his lower body, so for him, we really focused on his body composition and conditioning,” Lang said. “I wanted to make him feel as if he had not missed a season from a conditioning standpoint.”
Funk said that in order to become a better player for his position, he had to shed weight from his then 240-pound frame. Under Lang’s direction, Funk said he began to do various forms of cardio every day.
“[Lang] said that in order to see the results, you really have to nail the cardio,” Funk said. “I was running, swimming, riding a bike, running stairs or doing sprints every day.”
Funk also said Lang stressed the importance of eating healthy.
According to Lang, diet and nutrition were especially important to Funk, as someone who aimed to decrease his body fat percentage.
“For him it was eating cleaner, healthier foods,” Lang said. “Making sure he was eating appropriate portions for his goals.”
Funk stopped eating sugar and bread, and focused on eating lean proteins. For that, he said that Lang offered a dietary rule of thumb.
“The more legs on an animal, the more fat there is,” Funk said Lang told him. “So cows or anything with four legs, mostly fat. Then you get down to chickens and it’s less. And then, eggs and fish. It just always stuck with me, so I ate a lot of eggs, and a lot of fish.”
Currently, Funk weighs 210 pounds. He said that the hard work under Lang’s direction bodes well for his jumping ability, lateral movement and leg strength. While the hard work wasn’t always enjoyable, Funk said it is rewarding.
“I mean it wasn’t fun, but it kind of got addicting because you saw so many results so fast,” Funk said.
For Lang, successes like Funk’s aren’t accidents, but rather the byproduct of commitment and diligence. He said that body maintenance is what separates the great players from the average ones.
“A lot of times, it’s taking care of their bodies and nutrition, stretching a little bit more, waking up and getting an extra lift in,” Lang said. “They really put the work in. The little things they do every single day are what make the biggest difference.”
Funk credits Lang with providing him with the foundation and the support needed to transform his body.
“I don’t think I could have done that without the knowledge he gave me and the conversations we had,” Funk said. “Everything I did, he would do with me. While I would run a suicide, he would do it with me. When I went on the eliptical, he would do it with me.”
