I think for some players they think or use camp as their way to get up to speed before the season starts, whether it's weight, conditioning, playbook... This is the wrong mentality, the goal of camp is to practice plays, at full speed, if you have certain players using those precious camp reps as condition reps or memorization reps, then your not using camp reps wisely, it's about being ready to practice harmoniously, no one dragging the others down for reasons that could of been controlled right now.. So to make a long story short, dolphin players, camp begins ASAP, and if you don't prioritize this next three weeks as a cramming session for major testing, then you simply are not maximizing your own professional ceiling nor the teams. Three weeks to training camp, Tom Brady is working his *** off, whatta you doin?
Also, if I remember correctly Tom Brady had 4 weeks less vacation time then all dolphin players, member that dolphin players, member when you choked the last two weeks, y'all were on vacation then.
At the same time this mindset is contributing to the injuries like the ones suffered by Mike Pouncey. Unfortunate, but it it's the state of the NFL right now.
I'm not disagreeing with the broader point, but Brady can go **** himself. I could care less about anything that comes out of that smug bastard's mouth.
Maybe Tom Brady should be drilling his team on the Heimlich Maneuver. It'll come in real handy in the playoffs.
Training your body? Or wearing down your body and risking injury? You can't claim that OTAs and other training sessions are harmless when we get guys that are going to miss most or maybe even all of the season because of injuries taken during them.
That kind of offseason preparation will get the Pats ready to fall short again this year. While I'm getting tired of them, I can't say I don't enjoy watching them lose in high stakes games.
You don't want to get out of shape, but if you are in good shape, you can give your mind and body rest. Sometimes, to be prepared mentally and physically for camp, you have to take a break. Frankly I think the days of coming into camp to get in shape are past for 90% of the players. Obviously, the work one does February to June is vitally important in terms of getting stronger, in better condition, and getting the playbook down. July, in my mind, should be a time to get some rest for your body (without gaining weight) and get a way; while still doing enough to maintain the condition you are in at the start of July. Everyone is different, but I'd get some rest, get away, then the last couple of weeks ramp up (Mentally and physically). And, then cool down a bit the last few days to just give yourself some rest. All that depends, of course, on having worked your way into peak physical condition the prior 6 months.
That would be called a severe case of jealousy.. He's going to hall of fame partly because this is his mindset..put the hate down and you can learn from the best.
Hope you take frequent breaks often, because weightlifting 6x and 5x cardio a week is hell on your joints...
Offseason training workouts being something that "will wear you down" and "contribute to injuries" is an interesting mindset I've never seen from anyone in athletics quite frankly. This is what actually prepares your body for a season full of wear and tear. Very strange viewpoints.
I know right,I think there is some misconception that strength training is just limited to doing four sets of the same exercise, three different exercises per body part...back and bi's today boys.. I don't think I even want to get into a debate with folks who think that correct cardio and strength training during the time off from actual football, after a proper amount of rest and recovery time, could be detrimental..lol. The training is a science, atrophy is the worst enemy..must maintain..must enter training camp Peaking, not regular season peaking..you don't want to be trying to make gains during camp, you want to have your body right and peaking right when camp begins, because, when camps begins, it's about football and light training, not pushing in the weight room during training camp..maintaining and playing ball..fast..your gains have already been established if you did it right.
On top of that, there is no More contact during offseason, which means they have nothing to recover from, these are fresh *** bodies, they don't need another three weeks of doing nothing, if they do that these next three weeks they WILL NOT be at their best when camp begins, which brings me back to my original point, if your players are at their peak come training camp, your practice reps will be most efficient and effective, thus creating the best possible muscle memory that your looking for come regular season. A good strength and conditioning coach knows this and should be applying it..
As long as you split the muscle groups to different days and have a 3/1 load/deload week, he should be fine. Doing full body 6 days a week is not healthy.
I think the CBA limitations on what they can do and when are ridiculous. Heck, the Bye week schedule is so limited that other than rest there is basically no advantage to in terms of extra practice time. More time for study and more time for the coaches to plan but limited other than that.
Like Bill Parcells used to say, "That's why you lift all them weights in February and March" ... But, I think the off-season training, while a key, needs to be done with the appropriate build up all elements - weights, rest, cardio, flexibility, etc. When you look at top athletes in all sports, they give their bodies proper rest before entering the grind. Plus, the fact that basically starting in August you are in for six months of nothing but football 6+ days a week, you don't want to grind it out in July. You don't run marathons in the days leading up to running a marathon. It really comes down to wisdom - vs a) laziness (that will not do); or b) overworking. But, another variable are the skill positions (esp. QB and WR). Like golfers and tennis players, you want to not just be in shape, but the last couple of weeks you really want to be working on your fundamentals of throwing motion, building arm strength (without wearing it down) and catching footballs.
We let the pro athletes run around in shirts and underwear 4 different times, for three days each time, over the course of 6 months, with 0 heavy contact, before I say anything else what exactly are you guys debating specifically?, because if you think the athlete going on a sophisticated nutritional, cardio, stretching and strength program for 5 to 6 months with the goal of the body to be peaking in late July you don't really know what your talking about imo..so maybe some should just be more clear as to what their proposing.
Preparation 101...if there are any injuries whatsoever, by all means rehab those injuries to strengthen the muscles around the injury, for the rest, do not take the next three weeks off, stay in your routine, heighten the importance of flexibility, nutrition, quicks, mental focus, position specific strength training,and the understanding of your playbook. Take three weeks off and think that you are at your best when camp begins, you are setting yourself up for injury.
Film room and technique work are one thing but guy like Eddie George overtrained themselves to and early end to their careers...it takes balance and discipline not fanatical 24/7 conditioning..imo.
I'm not an expert on training or conditioning, but George had a pretty normal length career for a RB. He also had a pounding style, a big workload, and a lot of miles on him from college as well. (I watched a lot of his games at OSU, and he was a HUGE focus of their offense).
I think you a certain extent you are right, but also have to realize there is a difference between having a great looking body and an actual functional body. A lot of what you talk about is more for body builders not athletes.
BS. Read the posts again, maybe slower. What part of "flexibility", "nutrition", "quicks"," position specific strength training", and understanding your playbook" Has to do with esthetics..nada. Moving on, if these guys lay off and rest their body's and minds for The next three weeks they will not be peaking 1st day of camp..listen to Tom Brady, he's talking to you.
Your "I feel fine" is not akin to athlete that depends on their body in order to perform. It's basically like saying you use Shell unleaded gasoline in your Honda Civic and it seems to drive OK so it should be good enough for Formula One race cars too.
That's a straw man. I'm sure Kiko Alonso thought he was just showing strong work ethic doing a heavy amount of workouts in Oregon while he waits for training camp to start. Then he tore his ACL during those workouts. I'm just saying the NFL is constantly scaling UP the off season workout schedule in some sort of competitive feedback loop akin to a nuclear arms race...and it's taking its toll.
And your using minimal instances of injury to defend your theory.. I'm guessing your envisioning these dudes in dirty golds gyms pumping their chest and tris. I'm explaining how and when you should be peaking your body and for what reasons.. Atrophy is the bodies worst enemy, especially when it's inevitable that the body is about to go thru vigorous strains.. Must prepare the body to withstand and be strong.. Lets say you and others disagree with Bradys advice here, and you do the opposite, you think that the chances of injury are less because you chose to be sedentary for the next three weeks rather than proactive with a smartly designed routine with emphasis on flexibility, cardio, position specific strength, playbook focus? Not only are you setting your body up for failure because of the extremes involves if you take the sedentary route, your dragging down the purpose of training camp..execution of plays at fastest speed possible.
Given the number of players that over train (yes, I do believe this is possible) during the off season, one isolated incident, or two isolated incidents, such as Alonso and Pouncey, aren't really enough for me to correlate such injuries to over training yet. It may contribute to sustaining such injuries, but to be filed as the prime reason is a little ambitious IMO. Players who take every opportunity to relax are just as likely to sustain such injuries in camp. Do we then attribute it to the fact that they didn't prepare enough? Where do we draw the line? If Alonso had an injury free Pro Bowl year we can then attribute it to his level of off season training commitment?
Do we know what he was doing to tear it, because none of the things I suggested are condusive to shredding the knee, this dude had a torn labrum of his hip in January so I'm interested to see what he was doing..
Ray Lewis' old offseason workout schedule was from February until the start of training camp. He did this 5 times a week. Cardio on the beach in the morning. Weight lifting in the afternoon. http://www.nflplayerworkouts.com/ray-lewis I've been around football all my life and DJ is absolutely right. I've never seen a great player take a 3 week layoff this close to camp. You keep doing your own workouts until training camp. That is when the team's S&T staff take over. Then, you continue to work. During the season is when workouts taper off.
That's where we're at in this conversation..rest in relation to being injury free relative to the violence and physical extremes of the sport, or intelligent training/nutrition of the body in relation to staying away from injuries in a physical sport.. Take the latter every time..it's a no brainer.. My take on this may be being sensationalized, the correct type of training in these next three weeks is imperative to peaking at your camp..that's all, I don't take much stock in the theory of rest before.
I'm curious as to why there's even a debate about this. Most every player that was interviewed by the Finsiders during OTAs has indicated they've got some kind of training regimen they're going to be/currently are involved with between the end of OTAs and the start of training camp. Suffice to say, I'm not expecting anyone to come in looking like Karlos Dansby in 2011 or John Jerry.
I think it is absurd to refer to another team choking during the playoffs after watching the Dolphins completely choke during their last two games last season. I think most of the animosity toward Brady and the Patriots on this forum is nothing but envy by Dolphin fans. I am sure every true Dolphin fan would love to have a team with the same success the Patriots have had over the past decade. Brady may be hated by many Dolphin fans now, but they would all love him if he played for the Dolphins. Eventually the Patriots will be without Brady and they will just be another team in the AFC East. Unfortunately that time is still 3-4 years from now and therefore, the Dolphins, Jets, and Bills will just continue to compete in an effort to finish 2nd in the AFC East, while the Patriots continue to win the division. Personally I would rather see the Dolphins make the playoffs and possibly choke and lose to another playoff team. At least that is better than choking against two mediocre opponents like they did against the Jets and Bills in 2013.
Right, and I think that's the key point, camp is not about lifting weights, it's about playing fast and being mentally sharp so your position and responsibility is covered, you want the body to be sharp when camp starts, you want it to be strong and you want your lung capacity to be high, if you can get it to peak at camp there still isn't a whole lot of contact in camp nowadays, you should be at your best, while your in camp, and it's weight room time, your maintaining, your stretching, your taking care of the body you worked for so hard.
For the few straglers who might feel like some here on the site do..just a basic training concept of when To peak your body..
I don't get the reasoning: if your team chocked some game you can not anymore say a word about other teams choking experiences or recognizing their beautiful choking jobs? and I am not saying TB is a chocker, I wanna be clear, it is just that I don't get why it is absurd: if you choke, you choke, I don't think you have to be a fan of a clutch team to recognize it or saying out loud as usual, sorry for my English
