No sport is embedded in American culture as much as the American Football. For most it is the heart and soul of American sports right now. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many aspire to look as fit as a football player.
While there is nothing wrong in aspiring to be like an American football player, but that is not as simple as it seems.
You see, the reason why you as a regular gym member train for fitness is different to why an American football player train for fitness. So, it is important to know about NFL players diet plan.
In this sport every position requires a different workout and diet routine. Some positions may require just strength and brutes while the other position may need some more speed and alongside the strength.
Firstly, you need to understand that an NFL player trains not for a beautiful physique, but to able to have the physical prowess to play in their certain positions. Every position requires different levels of weights, strength and speed that effect their workout and diet routine.
Understanding the reasoning behind the training and NFL Players Diet Plan
While a normal fitness freak would want to shred their fat, have a complete pack of abs and look like a perfect beach model.
On the other hand an NFL player goes into training and prepares their diet to perform at their top best in their respective position. There is a difference in mentality.
Of course looking sexy is a healthy side benefit of such explosive and enduring workout.
Secondly, there is a reason you cannot actually go ahead and train and eat like a football player. Every football player has their own workout routine and diet plan.
Let us have a look at certain examples.
Example
In order to better understand the workout and NFL players diet plan of any certain NFL player you need to know this.
For example, a certain receiver should be one of the fastest humans on the planet, or in America at least. That is because they need to outrun the corner back, who themselves are pretty quick. Well, they do not need to just outrun them, but keep them from bringing them down. So yeah, it would require strength, agility, speed and explosiveness all in one.
So there workout would largely revolve around intense workout to minimize their fat to reduce body weight. This would help them with the speed and then heavy weight lifting will have them with adding strength.
When it comes to diet it would focus on eating lean meat like chicken and fish and acquiring carbs through vegetables. This would avoid the accumulation of fat and also provide them with the much needed energy.
Then there we have a corner back. Let’s take the example of Troy Hill, unlike some Tony Hill consumes more than 5000 calories. Troy Hill is one of those who is trying to get his weight up so he can crash into wide receivers and stop them effectively.
The diet that Troy Hill consumes everyday is protein shake, omelet and bacon in the morning. Yeah, that is right, it is in the morning.
Unlike Hill we have Cam Thomas who wants to drop 15 lbs, the defensive tackle. In order to increase his speed he need to get lighter from his 343 pound body frame.
So what an average workout routine for NFL player may look like?
Warm up
The workout routine like any other starts with a warm up. So as the players need to move with speed and the way they move is also important.
Starting with a little stretch and working their hips, hamstrings, quads and shoulder is a common sight. This keeps the blood flowing and creates the foundation for advanced workout.
Later the players move towards banded resistance work and little sprints here and there to get the body moving.
Training for speed, agility and acceleration
After NFL players diet plan, we have another big part of training routine for NFL players, especially for those whose performance depend on speed and acceleration.
Positions like receiver and cornerback require explosive speed and acceleration alongside agility to alter the direction in a split second.
These training regime includes a lot of weighted and banded sprints. Other routines will revolve around jumping through hurdles practicing the same routines again and again to master the balance and position of the body.
Even then it is never easy to maintain form and outrun the opponent so it is also about the instincts of the player. So in order to perfect the body movement and incorporate speed into it, it is all about getting as many perfect repitition as possible.
It involves a lot of weighted cardio exercises to perfect the movement and add that necessary speed.
And of course after such enduring exercise it will show on the body.
Strength exercise
This is a no-brainer as any NFL player will require insane strength to compete at elite level. The strengthening exercise covers the strengthening of the core and building up the body through compound weight lifting such as bench press, commando press, squats and deadlifts.
These exercises are some that you can also add to your routine, if you no longer have.
NFL athletes like any other work up the weights and the focus revolves around gaining muscle mass and strengthening the body.
Most of the exercise is high-intensity interval training, this allows to add more explosiveness and endurance.
NFL Players Diet Plan
The diet of any NFL player depends on what position they are playing and how they want to affect their performances.
Usually you will find an NFL player eating only lean meat and relying on protein shakes to build them up. Alongside the above mentioned protein intake the athletes try to keep their carbohydrate consumption through green vegetables with low starch quantity to avoid storing of glucose as fat.
When it comes to fat, NFL players diet plan relies nuts and fish for fat consumption. The use of fish oil and olive oil is always in their diet plan.
The use of supplements for body recovery and digestion of food is also a part of their diet routine. This helps them take in and absorb all the necessary nutrients.
The mentioned diet is an average diet routine of an NFL player. But any player may choose to change their diet plan according to the requirement of their position and performance. As I mentioned about Troy Hill.
The recovery of NFL player after workout (NFL Players Diet Plan)
Unlike us NFL players cannot slack off or take a day off from a workout. Their workout and diet routines are all carefully managed. Every player’s data is recorded so to keep a proper eye on their fitness and how they can affect the game.
For that reason their recovery is also out of the ordinary. It is nothing like taking a hot bath and going to bed and then sleeping for long hours. For them everything goes very calculated.
Their training is quite enduring, explosive and puts extraordinary body stress. And to cap it off they have to go through their routines every day. That is why they use supplements to heal their bodies such as turmeric which helps with inflammations.
Secondly, after every workout session the players go through a proper cryotherapy and massage to relieve stress. Cryotherapy and massage help in reducing inflammation, healing the body and circulating blood through the body.
Then the players get the compression bag therapy, they are like bag sleeves that holds, contracts and squeezes the legs.
Now, when it comes to rest, the players have a proper timetable to sleep and rest. Most of them sleep for more a good 8 hours to recover themselves.
If you don’t know, then sleep is probably the best recovery option. Sleep helps one with their growth hormones and increase in testosterone levels. This helps them get up stronger.
Another form of recovery for the players is also a day off or two in a month for them to relax their minds and relieve mental stress.
Such hectic workout routines are not just stressful to the body, but also to the mind.
Concluding NFL Players Diet Plan
While looking like an NFL athlete is surely possible as their workout routine produces some extraordinary bodies. But, following the routine is not something an average person can incorporate into their workout routines or their diets for that matter. You can definitely take some tips and exercise routines for yourself but only some. So if you are looking for a beach body or just a fit life, it doesn’t necessarily means you have to follow them from an NFL player fitness guide book. It is better to look for a routine that fits your needs and a diet to go with it.
