How Do Pro Football Players Stay in Shape in the Off-Season?

Diet

• Diet is the key to professional football players staying in shape while they have time off from work. With access to so much money, it can be easy to blow it all on unhealthy foods. Most players instead spend the money on their own nutritionist and consume enough calories, carbs and proteins to make it through intense workouts without putting on bad weight or losing their great shape. Calorie counts each day will vary by position. For example, a safety may only need 3,000 calories a day while a 290-pound defensive lineman can require more than 8,000 daily calories to retain muscle mass. A general NFL diet consists of one-third lean protein such as eggs, one-third fruits and vegetables and one-third healthy carbs such as pasta, rice and bread. These are identical splits to what the average person should consume, but the numbers will be much higher for an active professional athlete. The exact numbers are dependent on body size, needs and goals of the player.

Conditioning

• Pro football players keep their stamina at the proper levels in the off-season by not only performing basic cardio consistently, but by performing a variety of conditioning drills. These drills include tire jumps, hill sprints and ladder runs. All drills are aimed at burning excess fat and staying in shape. Most drills involve serious footwork. Agility, balance and coordination are extremely critical for every football position. Sprints are also a major component of conditioning -- 10-yard sprints all the way up to 300-yard sprints, also known as "gassers," are used. Players will also perform tire flips for a certain amount of distance, as well as pushing a heavy sled and performing rope quick waves while wearing a vest that can weigh up to 12 pounds.

Strength Training

• Strength at any position in pro football is critical to success, so pros have to be able to maintain their strength levels in the off-season. Professionals do this by focusing strictly on compound strength lifts for low reps with heavy weight. This means they train with squats, deadlifts and clean and presses to retain strength. For each exercise, players use a weight that is 70 to 90 percent of their total one-rep max and perform no more than five reps over the course of three to five sets on all compound lifts.

Rules

• Professionals are also allowed to train with teammates and coaches at the team's facilities, which trumps working out on their own. However, the league has very specific rules as to these types of workouts. Players are only allowed at team facilities for four hours over a 14-week stretch. This time can be distributed between watching film and more, but each player has up to two hours to work out if he wishes.