Football has become one of America’s most popular sports. The collegiate and professional athletes are strong, fast and motivated. Most of them have amazing genetics but they also train and eat right to compete alongside the best. With the NFL draft approaching, I want to explain how elite football athletes train.
When the athletes prepare for the NFL combine, they need to excel in specific tests including a 40-yard dash, vertical jump, bench press and the shuttle run. I know every position requires different attributes, strengths and workouts but there are some general guidelines to performing well.
40-yard dash
This test is all about explosiveness from a dead stop start. The athletes are timed at 10, 20 and 40-yard intervals. You don’t always need heavy weight to improve power. To develop power and explosiveness, I recommend using box jumps, squat jumps with 30% BW, knee jumps, long jumps, sprints, Litvinov conversion, potentiate activation and sleds. We like to use 5×2 on these workouts with 2 minute rest between. Make sure each movement is “all out” and protected with a full rest between.
Vertical jump/Broad jump
You can use similar movements that I described above to improve power and explosiveness. You will also want to add some strength movements on the legs using back squats and dead lifts at 80-95% of your maximum effort. Some typical formats we use for strength include 4×4 at 80% of your maximum effort, 6×1 at 90% and 5×3 80%.
Bench press
Bench press is all about strength endurance. The athletes are expected to bench press 225 lbs. with as many reps as possible. Use sets of 10×10, ladders of 20-1 and sets to failure. Make sure you protect your shoulders with shoulder mobility drills and get used to using 225 lbs. on the bar.
Three cone drill/shuttle run
These two test an athlete’s agility and ability to change directions at high speeds. We use ladders, cone drills, sprints and tracks for agility work. These workouts can be intense so they need to be protected with a full recovery.
You need to train to get good at these tests but there are many other things that need to be addressed when setting up a training program.
Power endurance
Football plays usually last around 15-40 seconds and are repeated over and over again. Athletes need to get used to recovering fast, not wasting energy and being able to focus under stressful situations. One of my favorite workouts we use on athletes is picking a machine (rower/skier) setting a work time of 30 seconds and setting an active rest time of 1-2 minutes. The athlete has to hit a certain distance during the 30 seconds, then the distance is increased every set. During the active rest, a certain task must be executed. This teaches the athletes how to focus during stressful times and how to physically and mentally recover.
Strength/power
Every football player needs strength and power. These guys focus on big boy lifts including dead lifts, box squats, dead stop squats, back squats, front squats, cleans, shoulder press, jerk, bench press and pull-ups. New is not always better. Stick to what works.
Mass
The key is adding muscle and staying fast and functional. Again, each position dictates how much mass and speed, but in general, everyone wants more muscle while maintaining a good power to weight ratio. The key is eating around your workouts. These guys consume thousands of calories and are eating constantly.
The main take away is just like any other athlete, there is no magic pill. The one thing these guys have in common is the willingness to put in the work and suffer.
To find out more information regarding NFL training, contact Pat at pat[at]patsgym.com.
