(PRLEAP.COM) CINCINNATI, Ohio — The laundry list of injured Bengals players is unacceptable and could have been prevented with proper conditioning, according to a local fitness guru.

Rocco Castellano, an internationally known fitness expert and Cincinnati personality who is celebrated for telling it like it is, said professional athletes have an obligation to their coaches, owners and fans to be in peak condition and that those who fall victim to avoidable injuries such as pulled groins and hamstrings should be fined for each day they are not able to participate on the field.

“These football players are making millions of dollars and it is their job to be in their best physical shape when they come to training camp,” said Castellano, who adds that Sports Illustrated lists a total of eight Bengals players who have been sidelined owing to such injuries — which is double the number of problems that other teams in the AFC are facing — since Aug. 1. “Instead, what we are seeing is a bunch of athletes who are playing catch-up on their conditioning and, as a result, they are pulling muscles left and right.”

The fitness expert, who has worked with everyone from stay-at-home moms to beauty queens and professional athletes, and is now training a young woman for an upcoming episode of MTV’s “MADE,” said the Bengals’ strength coaches and team trainers are either ignorant, absent or indifferent about this situation.

“Some athletes don’t have a clue about conditioning and it is up to their strength coaches or trainers to have the knowledge and interest to help them live up to their potential, but this isn’t happening with the Bengals,” he said. “For example, Rudi Johnson, their star running back who has led the team in rushing yards and touch downs for the last three years, has a hamstring pull. No properly conditioned athlete should ever suffer that injury.”

Castellano says these injuries — and the loss of key players — can be easily avoided by structuring proper workout regimens for these athletes. He said most hamstring pulls are directly related to an imbalance in strength from the quadriceps and the hip muscle because the stronger muscles overpower the weaker ones. Additionally, he said that hamstring pulls tend to occur more in the weight room because athletes think they should be doing heavy squats when, instead, the muscle needs to be worked the way it was intended to move, by pulling the lower leg toward the buttocks.

“There is no excuse for being in poor condition,” said Castellano. “Barring sudden impact injuries such as a helmet to the knee or bruised ribs from an opposing player’s shoulder tackle, I believe that athletes who get conditioning-related injuries should be fined for every day they miss practice. It is their job to be fit for practice and play hard on game day.”

Castellano is the founder and CEO of askROCCO.com and he will be on tour in 2008 to offer boot camps throughout the country. For information, visit www.askrocco.com or call (513) 421-2651.