Completed Event: Women's Basketball at Eastern Kentucky on March 19, 2026 , Loss , 58, to, 72
Final Score
Women's Basketball
58
at Eastern Kentucky
72
The University of Utah Athletics
Find the Joy in Movement with Director of Sports Performance Lindsey Kirschman
6/16/2026 11:29 AM | Women's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY — Lindsey Kirschman has been the Director of Sports Performance for the Utah women's basketball team for the last four seasons. Her primary responsibility is developing the training program for the Utes both during season and during the off season.
Those two time periods look different in the weight room but the goal is the same: become strong and find joy in movement and exercise.
During the off season Kirschman encourages the athletes to "bring life back to exercise and fitness."
"This is how I approach summer training," Kirschman said. "I like to bring life back to exercise and get back to the soul of fitness. You have a little more flexibility with the schedule and nicer weather. I like to focus on the joy of movement again. Especially for athletes, but really for everyone and especially anyone who lives in a place like Salt Lake City, where the winters get long and you're inside for months at a time. The season can be long and exhausting so it's important to take the off season to reset and recharge."
Kirshman's movement of choice in the summer is hiking and trail running. She encourages athletes to get out and hike because it helps build strength and mixes up part of the regular routine they have inside the weight room.
"To get technical, hiking is a unilateral movement," she said. "You're using one leg at a time when you're hiking or walking and that's very different from a lot of the movements we do in a fitness class or weight lifting. Hiking is great because it adds resistance to that unilateral movement. The incline makes it tougher so you're working on lower leg strength and cardiovascular fitness. You also have a distraction from the fact that you're working out because it's so beautiful. It also helps players strengthen their ankles for balance and coordination.
"Hiking is good for the soul," Kirschman continued. "Land is medicine and nature is healing. You can go out on a hike and think about all of our problems and the hustle and bustle of life and then you're up above the city and can look down on it all and realize how small it all is. There's a big beautiful world outside of that mess we call life. Hiking is just good for the soul and rejuvenating."
Summer time training depends on each individual but Kirschman encourages everyone to find something they love and focus on that. Summer is a good time to push outside of comfort zones and start mixing things up between effort levels.
"You can always change up your pace or resistance to activities to make things more of a challenge," Kirschman said. "Some people really like fitness classes, I have athletes that go home and enjoy going to yoga classes and that's great! It's challenging their systems in different ways. It's refreshing because it's not the same thing you're doing in the weight room all year long."
The off season is the perfect time to push yourself and experiment. It's a time to "find your biggest gap and work on improvement."
"My biggest gap is finding joy in movement after the long grueling winter and basketball season so in the summertime I seek out that joy," Kirshman explained. "For some people, they might notice they only go for long runs but never spend time in the weight room or vice versa. Summer is the perfect time to get outside of our comfort zone and start filling in those gaps in our regimen and routines."
According to Kirschman, whether you're an athlete looking to get in shape to prepare for an upcoming season or just someone looking to get started on a fitness journey there are three major keys to success. First, find something that you love that you can do consistently. Second, if you have hesitancy because you don't know where to start, don't be afraid to ask questions and ask for help. Lastly, it's hard when you start but have patience and push through the first couple weeks of discomfort.
"I understand why a lot of people resist working out," she explained. "First of all, people often don't know what to do. There's so much good information if you look in the right places. I strongly encourage people to have the courage to ask questions to a human and not just look on social media. Find a professional to ask because there's a lot of us out there and we want to help. Second of all, it sucks and feels horrible when you first start. It's hard and your body hurts and you feel like it should be easier than it is so you get discouraged. It takes two or three weeks of being consistent to break out of that phase to start feeling better. Don't quit before you get to the threshold where it starts to feel good."
Kirschman and the 2026-27 Utes have started summer workouts in preparation for the upcoming season. Having the team all together makes the off season grind that much better because according to Kirschman 'working out with someone makes it more fun.'
Those two time periods look different in the weight room but the goal is the same: become strong and find joy in movement and exercise.
During the off season Kirschman encourages the athletes to "bring life back to exercise and fitness."
"This is how I approach summer training," Kirschman said. "I like to bring life back to exercise and get back to the soul of fitness. You have a little more flexibility with the schedule and nicer weather. I like to focus on the joy of movement again. Especially for athletes, but really for everyone and especially anyone who lives in a place like Salt Lake City, where the winters get long and you're inside for months at a time. The season can be long and exhausting so it's important to take the off season to reset and recharge."
Kirshman's movement of choice in the summer is hiking and trail running. She encourages athletes to get out and hike because it helps build strength and mixes up part of the regular routine they have inside the weight room.
"To get technical, hiking is a unilateral movement," she said. "You're using one leg at a time when you're hiking or walking and that's very different from a lot of the movements we do in a fitness class or weight lifting. Hiking is great because it adds resistance to that unilateral movement. The incline makes it tougher so you're working on lower leg strength and cardiovascular fitness. You also have a distraction from the fact that you're working out because it's so beautiful. It also helps players strengthen their ankles for balance and coordination.
"Hiking is good for the soul," Kirschman continued. "Land is medicine and nature is healing. You can go out on a hike and think about all of our problems and the hustle and bustle of life and then you're up above the city and can look down on it all and realize how small it all is. There's a big beautiful world outside of that mess we call life. Hiking is just good for the soul and rejuvenating."
Summer time training depends on each individual but Kirschman encourages everyone to find something they love and focus on that. Summer is a good time to push outside of comfort zones and start mixing things up between effort levels.
"You can always change up your pace or resistance to activities to make things more of a challenge," Kirschman said. "Some people really like fitness classes, I have athletes that go home and enjoy going to yoga classes and that's great! It's challenging their systems in different ways. It's refreshing because it's not the same thing you're doing in the weight room all year long."
The off season is the perfect time to push yourself and experiment. It's a time to "find your biggest gap and work on improvement."
"My biggest gap is finding joy in movement after the long grueling winter and basketball season so in the summertime I seek out that joy," Kirshman explained. "For some people, they might notice they only go for long runs but never spend time in the weight room or vice versa. Summer is the perfect time to get outside of our comfort zone and start filling in those gaps in our regimen and routines."
According to Kirschman, whether you're an athlete looking to get in shape to prepare for an upcoming season or just someone looking to get started on a fitness journey there are three major keys to success. First, find something that you love that you can do consistently. Second, if you have hesitancy because you don't know where to start, don't be afraid to ask questions and ask for help. Lastly, it's hard when you start but have patience and push through the first couple weeks of discomfort.
"I understand why a lot of people resist working out," she explained. "First of all, people often don't know what to do. There's so much good information if you look in the right places. I strongly encourage people to have the courage to ask questions to a human and not just look on social media. Find a professional to ask because there's a lot of us out there and we want to help. Second of all, it sucks and feels horrible when you first start. It's hard and your body hurts and you feel like it should be easier than it is so you get discouraged. It takes two or three weeks of being consistent to break out of that phase to start feeling better. Don't quit before you get to the threshold where it starts to feel good."
Kirschman and the 2026-27 Utes have started summer workouts in preparation for the upcoming season. Having the team all together makes the off season grind that much better because according to Kirschman 'working out with someone makes it more fun.'
Wednesday, March 11
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