Training days: the NFL's offseason workout programs are in full swing, and teams are using everything imaginable—from 'The Beast' to martial arts to steel chains—to give players the physical edge they'll need this fall

Sporting News, The, June 9, 2003

Maybe so. But when it comes to building bigger, stronger football players, there's still room for the kind of innovation that has less to do with software and more to do with hardware--the Home Depot variety, that is. Pick up some scrap pieces of lumber or steel chains and you have the latest training devises in Denver and Chicago. Place a couple of trash cans at each end of a 40-yard field and you have the setting for a workout in Nashville. Or just face off against a martial arts instructor in Cleveland--no special equipment necessary.

Each team has its own variations on the best ways to increase strength, endurance and flexibility. The only constant is that now, more than ever, each team is stressing the importance of its program--whatever it is--and most players take part. Even the Bengal's participation can be counted in the dozens these days.

Bottom line: You can bring in all the fancy monitors and measuring devises you like, but if you want players to be opening cans of whup-ass in January, they'd better be paying their dues now. It all comes down to effort and sweat. Through the eyes and words of its photographers, the SPORTING NEWS looks at how six teams are trying to build tomorrow's champions today.

CHAINS OF COMMAND

It's like something out of a B-movie horror flick, heavy chains lying across torture devices intended to inflict pain. Yet this is no torture chamber. It is the weight room of the Bears' training facility in Lake Forest, Ill.

The steel chains, gleaming in the sun of a mid-April morning, are known as "power links," and for now, linebacker Warrick Holdman (left) is the latest victim. He is study in pain as he jerks the huge chains from the floor in a shoulder lift. "This gets you ready for taking the pounding that comes with the games," he says.

The power links have the unguided feel of a free weight--with one key additional effect: The weight increases as the athlete lifts it. A chain raised over Holdman's head is more than twice the weight of the same chain held at his side.

Physical development coordinator Russ Riederer is sold on the chains, which are making their first appearance with the Bears. "Would I go with chains entirely? No," he says. "But it is the purest form of variable resistance. Besides, you keep up with different ideas, and it keeps the guys involved."

Defensive end Alex Brown has chains draped over the bars he is about to bench. "Whoever thought of this is pretty smart," he says he gets positioned. After multiple reps, he jumps off with a hoot. "You can't help but love lifting weights."--Albert Dickson

THE MARTIAL PLAN

In a dark corner of the Brown's indoor training field in Berea, Ohio, defensive end Courtney Brown sets up against Chris Hoy, who gives away 100 pounds and about 8 inches to Brown. Hoy is about to teach Brown a lesson.

With Brown's head-sized fist leveled at his nose, Hoy slaps the end's wrist and quickly spurts to the side and behind Brown. And so the lesson is done. "The D-line guys want to get to the outside of their opponent's body to get the quarterback," says Hoy, a martial arts instructor from Cleveland. "This just give them that little edge to make the big play."

At Browns camp, martial arts have taken center stage. You won't see high kicks and broken cinder blocks, but make no mistake, the goal is to break the opposing linemen. The lessons weren't a huge hit at first, but the players have taken to them. "This stuff has been good for my hand placement and speed," says Brown.

For offensive line training, crewcut former NFL lineman Tom Myslinski lines up against tackle Ryan Tucker, a Gizzly Adams look-alike. Myslinski puts on "focus mitts" that force Tucker to target his hits precisely. In a series of quick punches, Tucker goes off on the red pads, pushing Myslinski back. "You want to screw up the timing of the defensive lineman," says Mislinski, an adviser for the Browns. "We've always trained the feet for football. Now we're training the hands."

Tucker has an interesting take on offensive line play. "Pass blocking is like real violent basketball, where body placement is important," he says. "Run blocking is all attitude--I am going to kick ass."--A.D.

ACCOUNTABILITY IN CINCINNATI

"Chip! Chip!"

The cries pierce the air in the bowels of Paul Brown Stadium. Every 30 seconds, it seems, someone is calling the name of Chip Morton, the Bengals' strength and conditioning coach. Morton is new in town, but then so are many things in Cincinnati these days.

The Bengals' head coach, Marvin Lewis, is new. So is two-thirds of his staff, including Morton, who came with Lewis from Washington. The team's weight room, after a $250,000 makeover, might as well be new. But above all, what's new in Cincinnati is that the weight room isn't empty. After years of indifference, most of the players--usually upwards of 40 a day--are participating in the team's offseason program. And they're hanging around longer each day.

That explains the frequent calls for assistance. Much of Morton's time is spent showing the players how to use the new weight machines, to lift dumbbells or work on flexibility while using a giant green physioball, even to maintain a chart detailing their progress in the gym. "This program is structured down to every detail," Morton says.