Rob Gronkowski retired from the NFL last night, and will be remembered as the greatest tight end in NFL history. Gronk was a physical freak, a human steamroller, an actual beast. His brutally physical approach meant he could only play the game for so long, but after nine NFL seasons, Gronk leaves a trail of wreckage behind him.
Do how did Gronk transform his body so that no one on the football field could cover him? He had a reputation for being a cartoon doofus, but Gronk was very intelligent about how he treated his body in the off-season and how he moulded himself to peak physical condition.
Last winter, Gronk sat down with Men's Fitness to discuss his gym routine. He spoke about the power of resistance workouts and his love for working out without gym equipment.
How do you train and get yourself ready for the NFL season?
Gronkowski: In the offseason, it’s about taking care of your body the correct way, working out and eating right. During the season, it’s extremely important to make sure you’re getting the treatments you need to recover for the next day, and getting the proper rest and sleep so you can bounce back stronger. Eating the right way is so important, too. I always make sure I’m putting the nutrition in my body that will help keep me fuelled and energised when I get on the field.What are some of your favorite exercises and workouts to do?
I love doing resistance workouts, especially with resistance bands. I feel like they just help me out big time, keep me loose, keep my body strong, and keep me moving quick. I feel like those workouts are just the best for my body of anything that I do. When I’m working on speed and my quickness, I’ll train my fast twitch muscles, making sure I’m going in all different directions and not just straight back-and-forward. I make sure I’m doing lateral motions side-to-side and doing it quickly. Working on those muscles helps me stay active on the field and helps with my speed a lot.I mean, I love doing just bodyweight type workouts, just a lot of high reps of those. It’s great to have a gym, but if you don’t have access to anywhere at the moment, I believe you can just get a full workout in just using your body or whatever’s out there in nature for weights. A log, a big rock, whatever you have. I like doing a lot of body squats, and you can come up with many, many exercises just using your body.
This instagram video from 2017 captures just how intense of a gym beast Gronk was.
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Gronk was a one-of-a-kind freak but he put in the work in the gym to become the best tight end of all time. His gym tips work for everyone.
