The top NFL players will now continue to set outrageous weight-gain records throughout the season since the NFL offseason is finished.
Athletes compete with their bodies, like in all professional sports, to build the physical stamina and mental toughness required to prepare for and resist what lies ahead.
The exercises and diets required to perform the corresponding job duties in football are mostly determined by the position.
Michael Thomas, a wide receiver for the Saints, this week accomplished five repetitions of a 575-pound deadlift.
Here, Mail Sport looks at some of the best athletes in the league at the weight room and the kitchen counter.
Saints All-Pro wide receiver Mike Thomas put up five reps of 575lb in an impressive display
DK Metcalf
Given his DNA, DeKaylin ‘DK’ Metcalf is one of the athletes with greater artistic talent. At age five, Terrence, a third-round choice in 2002, started exercising weights.
Amazingly, Metcalf’s seven-year NFL veteran father claims that at age five, he could squat 100 pounds and press 50 pounds.
In the months leading up to the 2019 scouting combine, photographs of Metcalf’s physique before his measurements — 6-foot-3, 228 lbs, and 1.6 percent body fat — surfaced, which obviously prompted much criticism. For good measure, he also set his 40-yard dash time to 4.33.
Naturally, this may appear to be the result of a fantastic diet, but in March 2022, Metcalf opened up to Kevin Garnett on his KG Certified podcast about his daily routine.
The Seahawks star admitted to the NBA legend that he only consumes “one meal, one coffee, and three to four bags of candy” each day.
In April of last year, Metcalf described a day in which he exercised twice before grabbing a coffee from Starbucks, which “will hold me until about 4-5 o’clock.”
Then, around 4:30 pm, he placed an order for two candy bags and a water. He won’t have to eat until after 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. because of this. If only the rest of us had it that simple.
Since arriving in Seattle, Metcalf has become famed for wearing sweatshirt crop tops pregame
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson, a former teammate of Metcalf’s who is now the quarterback of the Denver Broncos, is renowned for giving his bodywork top priority, even if it means performing high knees and other exercises for four hours on a flight to London.
Wilson didn’t hurt his eccentric character by admitting as much after traveling to London for a game against Jacksonville.
Wilson recently shared a video of himself exercising on a sliding board with a kettlebell and a football, which wasn’t to everyone’s taste. NFL commentator Mark Schlereth, a former Broncos Super Bowl champion, referred to the clip as “garbage.”
Russell Wilson, the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, is renowned for his complex exercise routine.
Wilson, meanwhile, continues to exercise and will undoubtedly keep posting. The nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback told Muscle & Fitness while he was in Seattle that he would exercise weights four times a week, including Olympic lifts to increase his quickness and two strength days.
Wilson claimed in a 2020 interview with Bill Simmons that he spends “$1 million, if not more,” just on rehabilitation. There are also two chefs, a performance staff, and a full-time trainer for him and his wife, Ciara. The issue of a cryotherapy chamber is another one.
Wilson also disclosed that, on average, he exercises 363 days a year, missing Thanksgiving and Christmas if he can. However, he occasionally hits 364 or the perfect 365.
Wilson claimed in 2015 that he gets five to six hours of sleep each night, adding that “that is plenty” for him. His weekly massage routine, which takes up 10 hours, does provide room for some rest.
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.
The Eagles quarterback has shown off his power and elusiveness since coming into the league
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.
Baltimore Ravens wideout Odell Beckham Jr. is known for his incredible one-hand catch ability
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.
Browns running back Nick Chubb has long been known for his incredible weightlifting feats
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.
Lane Johnson previously had trouble keeping on weight, until he adopted the ‘Vertical Diet’
