The murderous grinding that NBA players go through definitely takes its toll. The new rules allow more physical play, and the players are getting more freakish with every generation.

Centers are the most injury prone players in the NBA. Sam Bowie, a center taken by the Portland Trailblazers ahead of Michael Jordan in the draft, was labeled as the biggest bust when his career was severely hampered by injuries.

In 2007, center Greg Oden was taken first overall (coincidentally by the Trailblazers also) ahead of Kevin Durant. Oden never played a full season due to injuries and was cut by his team. Meanwhile, Durant is now the second best player in the world.

Roy Hibbert was close to being a bust, but then he broke out in last year's Eastern Conference Finals. Hoping to keep the momentum going, He underwent a gritty, workout this summer that concentrated on his own needs. No showing off at the gym, just business.

From Grantland: Hibbert's offseason trainer Mike Robertson on training NBA centers: "It's incredibly hard. You gotta think like every inch you add to somebody's body means more leverage and more body weight to control. The analogy I like to use is holding a sledgehammer. If you hold a sledgehammer really close to the end it's really simple. But the farther you move back, there's more and more torque on that sledgehammer that you're trying to control."

It is those boring, uninspiring exercises that are secretly fueling Hibbert's improvement as an athlete. By focusing heavily on mobility and stability, Hibbert isn't just improving his strength and power, he's lessening the chance of being hit by nagging injuries - assuming he stays diligent with his in-season maintenance lifting.

"It's not going to be the A-roll when people are looking to make a training video. when talking about exercises like the ones in the montage above. "It's the stuff that I know as a performance coach will translate to him moving and feeling better on the court."

... But mindlessly lifting otherworldly amounts of weight, while much more fun to watch, write, and talk about, doesn't properly prepare an athlete for an upcoming season, especially a uniquely tall one - even by NBA standards - in Hibbert. Doing some of the same things that Robertson does even with his everyday clients may seem dull, but it's actually far more vital to the Pacer big man's athletic development.

"I don't want him to do things that look cool in the weight room, but don't transfer over when he goes out onto the court," says Robertson.

"That's his foundation," says Robertson. "You can do all the strength and power stuff and you will improve it to some degree, but you're ultimately limiting your potential if you don't build a good foundation first."