Those extra pounds Alex Green sculpted onto his frame through an offseason in the weight room have already come in pretty handy.

As promised, Hawaii's spring practices have featured heavier hitting than the past few years and Green has been involved in some of the loudest pops in fulfilling his blocking duties in the backfield.

“;I know it's a blocking system, so I had to put on more weight to block linebackers and defensive ends,”; the senior running back said. “;Being at 210 wasn't really cutting it for me. Being 230 now, I'm feeling pretty good about it.”;

While he has some added bulk, Green's also shown he still has the burst to pop through the hole when given the ball, an attribute he showed off in rushing for 476 yards on a team-high 86 carries in his first season with the Warriors as a junior college transfer.

Green backed up Leon Wright-Jackson last year and is suddenly the Warriors' most experienced back, leading to a new position on the depth chart and on the leadership scale.

Green and fellow senior Chizzy Dimude are the only UH backs on the roster to carry the ball in a Division I game. And Green is looking to now provide the guidance he received from last year's seniors.

“;I think he's doing a good job of not necessarily being a big talker but being a leader by just showing a lot of confidence,”; running backs coach Brian Smith said. “;I think that really lifts the offense a lot, having a guy back there that's got a lot of confidence and knows he can get it done.”;

Some of that confidence springs from a conditioning regimen Green adhered to between the end of the season and the start of spring ball. Along with working in the weight room in the Warriors' strength program, he had regular sessions with Dimude and cornerback Lametrius Davis doing ladder drills to keep his feet nimble.

“;I figured out the stronger you are the more confident you are,”; Green said. “;I don't know why it took me this long to figure it out, but I I'm glad I got it now rather than during the season. ... I can really work on it, get stronger and go into the season really confident and ready to go against USC (UH's opening opponent).”;

Green said he now feels faster with the added strength and having a season in the system also allows him to react with greater decisiveness both as a runner and in his blocking assignments.

“;He's light years away from when he came in here,”; Smith said. “;He's buying into playing a lot more physical, he's buying into the technique and he's seeing results.”;

Most times his position puts him between the quarterback and an on-rushing defender. That means taking on linebacker and neighbor Aaron Brown in 11-on-11 periods in often jarring encounters.

“;We always joke about who's going to hit who harder,”; Green said. “;So when we come up, we always have a little glint before the snap. He tries to bring it, I try to bring it to him and it just makes us better.”;

While Green and Dimude have gotten most of the carries in practice, Smith said freshmen Hogan Rosehill and John Lister have also had strong starts to the spring.

Rosehill redshirted in his first year out of Kamehameha-Hawaii. Lister, a grayshirt, had a touchdown run during the overtime drill to close yesterday's practice.

“;(Rosehill has) become a lot more physical, got bigger and stronger, and that shows,”; Smith said. “;John Lister's showing some good things running the football and picking up what we're doing in just a couple days.”;