Published Nov 11, 2025 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 3 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n Not having the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Grey Cup gives us a chance to take a peek into another CFL organization\u2019s inner workings.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Exclusive columns by Ryan Stelter, Paul Friesen, Ted Wyman, Scott Billeck, Lorrie Goldstein, Warren Kinsella and others. Plus newsletters: Gimme Stelter for your beat on the city, The Exit Row for all your Jets news and On the Rocks for curling.Unlimited online access to Winnipeg Sun and 15 news sites with one account.Winnipeg Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Today\u2019s peek: into the back rooms of the Montreal Alouettes and what they call their 30-cal challenge.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n What began almost as a punishment two years ago has become a punishing workout players love and hate at the same time.<\/p>\n \u201cJust push the limits on our conditioning \u2013 and suffer,\u201d is how head coach Jason Maas described it on Tuesday. \u201cIt\u2019s something that separates us. Not too many teams want to do it or have done it. But we\u2019re willing and able and love it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a window to your soul, we like to say.\u201d<\/p>\n It started when members of the Montreal defence challenged each other after a less-than-stellar practice in 2023.<\/p>\n Putting two air bikes side-by-side in the weight room, they competed to see who could burn 30 calories the fastest.<\/p>\n The Winnipeg Sun’s Daily Headline News<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Advertisement 3<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n A week later, the entire team started doing it. Then coaches joined in.<\/p>\n When the Alouettes started winning, it created a snowball rolling straight into hell.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just doing something that you really don\u2019t want to do,\u201d is how veteran linebacker Darnell Sankey put it. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about football. It\u2019s about life, too. In life sometimes, especially as grown men, we have to do things that we don\u2019t want to do. To play on this football team, you\u2019re going to do the 30-cal challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if you don\u2019t do it, then you\u2019re probably not going to be here too long.\u201d<\/p>\n The air bikes allow players to use their arms and legs for power.<\/p>\n Maas says the best time for a big player is around 19 seconds. Smaller players may take 40 to 50 seconds.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you will give it everything you have, until you have nothing left,\u201d the coach said. \u201cWhich is what we ask our guys to do in practice and we ask our guys to do in the game. It will hurt you. And it\u2019ll hurt you really bad for a number of minutes. And our guys are willing to do that every week and try to break those records every week.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 4<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cA true test of character,\u201d D-lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund added. \u201cNo matter if you\u2019re injured \u2013 we\u2019ve got people doing the 30-cal just with their arms, people in there doing it just with their legs, people with torn ACLs in there\u2026 it\u2019s more than just a challenge. Throughout the game you\u2019re going to get tested that way as well. And throughout life.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, as in \u201923 when they won the Grey Cup, the Als have gone on a late-season run and reached the championship game, knocking off the Blue Bombers and first-place Hamilton along the way.<\/p>\n And yes, an air bike made the trip from Montreal. It\u2019s parked in the Bombers\u2019 part of the stadium, as Montreal took over the home team lockers and weight room.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know too many people on the team who actually like the bike,\u201d receiver\/kick returner James Letcher, Jr., said. \u201cWe saw it getting packed up and we were shaking our heads.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement 5<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n When their turn comes this week, though, they\u2019ll get on it and embrace the pain all over again.<\/p>\n Linebacker Alexandre Gagne says he doesn\u2019t get stressed by much, but the day he has to do the challenge he feels anxiety as soon as he gets out of bed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s something special,\u201d Gagne said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something special fun.\u201d<\/p>\n The times are tracked, so they can tell when someone slacks off.<\/p>\n Hence, the window into their souls.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much are you going to give us? It\u2019s all on you,\u201d Coach Maas said. \u201cIt\u2019s a choice. Do you want to make the choice to get better, or not? And it\u2019s for the guy next to you. So give \u2018er.\u201d<\/p>\n The Als will try to turn that pain into the ultimate pleasure on Sunday, taking on Saskatchewan in the CFL\u2019s title game with all those 30-cal challenges not just under their belts, but in their hearts and minds.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you get to this level, you\u2019ve got two teams sitting in the Grey Cup. What\u2019s different about those teams?\u201d Adeyemi-Berglund said. \u201cThey both believe they should be here. They both believe they\u2019re going to win that Cup. What\u2019s the difference?<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of the defining parts of our culture.\u201d<\/p>\n paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca<\/p>\n X: @friesensunmedia<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links SportsFootballCFL Get the latest from Paul Friesen straight to your inbox Sign Up Published Nov…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-277713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Montreal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MaasOnline.jpg\")
Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas speaks to the media at the Grey Cup head coaches\u2019 media conference in Winnipeg, yesterday. The Alouettes and Roughriders are set to to play the 112th Grey Cup on Nov. 16.\u2002David Lipnowski\/The Canadian PressArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Winnipeg](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/19.9.2\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-wsun-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
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