With the NFL offseason now behind us, the league’s stars – as they will throughout the season – continue to put up freakish numbers in the weight room.
As in all professional sports, players go to war with their bodies to build a physical and mental strength to prepare and endure what is to come.
With regard to football, the position very much dictates the workouts and diets required to fulfil the needs of the respective role.
Saints receiver Michael Thomas put up five reps of a 575lb deadlift this week.
Here, Mail Sport looks at some of the league’s best in the weight room and at the kitchen table.
DK Metcalf
DeKaylin ‘DK’ Metcalf is one of the more aesthetically gifted athletes, and it’s no surprise given his genes. The son of 2002 third-round pick Terrence, was lifting at the age of five.
Incredibly, according to his seven-year NFL vet father, Metcalf could press 50lb and squat 100lb at the age of five.
Metcalf continued to turn heads with his physique in the lead-up to the 2019 scouting combine with photos surfacing of his physique before his measurables – 6-foot-3, 228lb and 1.6 percent body fat, which obviously drew widespread skepticism. He also dialed up a 4.33 40-yard dash for good measure.
Naturally, this may seem like it is product of a phenomenal diet but in March 2022, Metcalf shed light on his routine to Kevin Garnett on his KG Certified podcast.
The Seahawks star told the NBA legend he eats just ‘one meal a day, drink one coffee and eat three, four bags of candy.’
Metcalf gave an example of a day in April of last year, where he worked out twice before getting a coffee from Starbucks; which ‘will hold me until about 4-5 o’clock.’
Then at 4.30pm he ordered two bags of candy and a water. This will hold him until 8:30-9pm before he then has dinner. If only it were that easy for the rest of us.
Russell Wilson
Metcalf’s former teammate-turned-Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has been known for prioritizing his bodywork – even if it means doing high knees and other exercises for four hours on a flight to London.
Wilson did his quirky reputation no harm after admitting as much after arriving in the English capital for a game vs. Jacksonville in London.
As recently as this month, Wilson posted a video working out on a sliding board with a kettlebell and a football – a moment in time not enjoyed by everyone. Former Broncos Super Bowl champ and NFL analyst, Mark Schlereth called the clip ‘garbage.’
Nonetheless, Wilson continues to work out and will indubitably continue to post. While the quarterback was in Seattle, the nine-time Pro Bowler told Muscle & Fitness that he would lift weights four times per week; involving Olympic lifts to improve his speed, alongside two strength days.
During a 2020 interview with Bill Simmons, Wilson said he spends ‘$1million if not more’ on recovery alone. This includes a performance team, a full-time trainer – for him and wife, Ciara – a full-time masseuse, two chefs. Then, there’s the matter of a cryotherapy chamber.
Wilson also revealed he usually works out 363 days a year, skipping on Christmas if he can and Thanksgiving. Though, there are times he does hit 364 or the perfect 365.
In 2015, Wilson said he sleeps five or six hours a night, saying ‘that is plenty’ for him. Though, there is time for some downtime in his schedule with 10 hours a week being allocated to massages.
Jalen Hurts
The Eagles quarterback has shown off his incredible power and elusiveness since coming into the league in 2020. Certainly no more so than during the Philadelphia Eagles’ run to the Super Bowl last season.
Hurts has long been known as a weight room specialist, owing to his powerlifting career in high school. He is widely known for being able to squat 500lb as a high school sophomore.
As Hurts grew into the face of the franchise he has found a disciplined diet to bring him to a place of consistent high-performance.
‘Just changing things that I put in my body. I think it’s really helped as far as my conditioning,’ he said in a 2022 press conference.
‘How I feel when I wake up. Eating my greens, eating a lot of protein, and drinking a lot of water so I think it’s very beneficial.’
During his collegiate career at Oklahoma, Hurts hit the 585lb mark for the back squat. In 2021, video surfaced of Hurts pushing out a rep of 620lb of a trap bar deadlift.
Odell Beckham Jr.
The Ravens receiver may have skipped OTAs, but Beckham is known for getting the work in notwithstanding his celebrity status.
Beckham frequently posts workout videos across his highly-viewed social media platforms, with one recent clip showing him pulling up in a lavish car.
The former Giants, Browns and Rams receiver trains with Jamal Liggin, who looks after several NFL stars. Liggin told Inside Hook Beckham works through a variety of reactive drills with lighting, training around five or six times a week.
As for Beckham, he is put through weight workouts, in addition to running hills or performing sprints on the beach. Route running too, is of course part of Beckham’s offseason.
Famously, there is a video of Beckham pulling an SUV with a rope back in 2018 while on the Giants.
Beckham’s celebrity status was born out of his incredible one-handed catch, while he has always practiced them in pregame warmups, Beckham has also partaken in Jerry Rice’s famous brick workout and worked with Pro Football Hall of Famer Cris Carter on hand-eye coordination drills.
Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes’ ability to make consistently absurd throws is fueled by his arm strength and ability to stay in control while at unusual angles. Much of this could be credited to his medicine ball workouts with trainer Bobby Stroupe.
In an interview with Men’s Health in 2021, Stroupe said medicine balls serve as the center of the quarterback’s workouts.
‘Medicine ball training is so important to Patrick’s regimen because he likes to produce power from multiple different angles in the way that he plays the position of quarterback,’ he said.
The two-time NFL MVP’s workouts includes medicine ball throws that train his body to draw power from different areas.
Stroupe said the plyometric movements Mahomes performs, such as single-leg broad jumps, help the QB rapidly decelerate and then quickly regain speed when he changes direction.
‘Weight room exercises are important because they help us with the concept of resiliency,’ he added.
‘The stronger an athlete is the most they conduct power and the more they can conduct speed.’
Nick Chubb
Hurts may be the squat king among quarterbacks, but he is seemingly no match for Browns running back Nick Chubb.
Also a former powerlifter, Chubb has been recorded squatting as much as 675lb. Last year, a video surfaced on Twitter of Chubb squatting 610lb with a Tsunami Max bar.
According to the Tsunami website, it allows a ‘150 percent stronger peak force’ than a traditional barbell when the same weight is loaded.
Chubb has been a force in the weight room for some time, recounting to the Akron Beacon Journal that he was benching 405lb, power cleaning 395lb and close to 600lb during his high school days.
Lane Johnson
Philadelphia’s stalwart offensive tackle of the past decade is widely regarded as one of the greatest Eagles of all time.
Lane Johnson — who stands at 6-foot-6 —credits his recent NFL success to his outrageous 5,500 calorie-per-day diet.
Three years ago, Johnson aimed to get from 312 to 330 pounds. But, he struggled to eat enough to put on and maintain the weight. He hired personal trainer Stan Efferding in 2020, per The Athletic, who put him on the mammoth ‘Vertical Diet’.
One of the keys of the diet is a meal called the ‘monster mash’, a massive mix of beef, rice and eggs with a ton of calories, carbs and protein. The diet also includes 250 grams of protein each day – the equivalent of around five chicken breasts.
Fat makes up around 30 percent or less of his diet, with carbs making up the remainder. Most of his carbs come from foods the body digests quickly such as rice and orange juice.