Urlacher's M&F Workout

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1

Did anyone happen upon the latest issue of Muscle and Fiction with Brian Urlacher gracing the cover ? I wanted to ask all of your opinions on a few things.

  1. 555 pound squats for a 6’4" and 245 lb college athlete and 405 on clean, (very) good or (very) bad ?

  2. Never maxing out in the off-season; Smart idea ? I can understand the logic in-season.

  3. What’s with all the machines ? I also read the very short Ronnie Brown interview near the front and he talked about not squatting, that you have to have ‘perfect form’ or you would get hurt of free weights (no shit). Also, lat pulldowns ? Ewww. It just seems like a giant cop-out to me, not learing to squat, clean, snatch and deadlift properly.

  4. Did ANYONE get wtf the strength coach was going on about in his training methodologies which were in italics ?

  5. Why no deadlifting or cleans ?

  6. It seems like Urlacher’s routine is not about getting stronger but more of a maintenance workout for sport-specific purposes. There is a lot of core, plyo and agility work, which imo, is very smart. Is this the case with most NFL programs ?

  7. Personally, I liked the article, but did anyone else like it ? What did you think of the workout over-all ?

2

555 is over double his bodyweight, plus he’s tall, so that’s awesome. And the 405 clean is great too, considering that a lot of football players muscle the bar up instead of doing an Olympic-style clean (where they drop under the bar).

3

I read it, and if that is actually his workout… then great for him. See, he’s already made it, he’s in the NFL, he’s the top dog. So “maintaining” or, rather, avoiding potentially dangerous lifts is a smart business move. If he injures himself lifting, which of course is still a low chance, his career could be over.

He’s taking it safe.

4

Are you saying Ronnie Brown does not know how to squat, power clean, snatch? Or are you trying to say that he was saying you need perfect form to do these exercises? I know from first-hand experience that Ronnie knows how to do these things and was taught by a VERY GOOD STRENGTH COACH!!!

5

[quote]obatiger11 wrote:

  1. What’s with all the machines ? I also read the very short Ronnie Brown interview near the front and he talked about not squatting, that you have to have ‘perfect form’ or you would get hurt of free weights (no shit). Also, lat pulldowns ? Ewww. It just seems like a giant cop-out to me, not learing to squat, clean, snatch and deadlift properly.

Are you saying Ronnie Brown does not know how to squat, power clean, snatch? Or are you trying to say that he was saying you need perfect form to do these exercises? I know from first-hand experience that Ronnie knows how to do these things and was taught by a VERY GOOD STRENGTH COACH!!![/quote]

He said more the latter but then he went on to also point out that he doesn’t do them either as he prefers not to risk injury in the weight room:

“I use machines more… When you train with free weights you have to have great technique or you could hurt yourself. The last thing I want to do is to get hurt in the weight room so I use a leg press machine, and a squat machine…”

I too was sort of surprised at the absence of the basic free weight strength exercises from these guys workouts too… but like someone else mentioned here they’ve already made it to the big time so there might be more for them to lose than gain by doing heavy power movements in the weight room, whereas a D1 college guy is still trying to make it so he needs the edge the heavy power stuff will give him so to him it’s probably worth the small risk of injury.

That was my take on it anyway.

-Phil

6

[quote]AndrewGpv03 wrote:
I read it, and if that is actually his workout… then great for him. See, he’s already made it, he’s in the NFL, he’s the top dog. So “maintaining” or, rather, avoiding potentially dangerous lifts is a smart business move. If he injures himself lifting, which of course is still a low chance, his career could be over.

He’s taking it safe.

[/quote]

That is right. He is not trying to get significantly bigger or stronger.

He is trying to be the best football player he can be for as long as possible.

He already has the physique he needs to compete at the highest level.

His priorities are different from most of ours.

7

I am not bad-mouthing Ronnie Brown nor his strength coach to whoever was getting all uppity about my remarks on that. I am not saying he doesn’t know how to do it either. Learn to bloody read and comprehend what’s put in front of you.

Clearly, Ronnie Brown is a superior athlete. Clearly, I was merely remarking on my suprise at a lack of free-weights. Cleary, someone needs to work on their reading comprehension.

I also agree that it makes sense Urlacher is already at his physical peak, already a Pro Bowler and a ferocious player. Yes, his needs are different. Whatever he does seems to be working and I am pleased to see that he actually squats.

I am drinking the Urlacher Kool-Aid even more now. I was impressed by the fact that he even cleaned at all, let alone a fair bit of weight. More power to Urlacher for being dedicated to lifting, nutrition and conditioning.

8

Considering these guys have already gone through the programs they need to go through to gain the weight/strength needed and they are at the playing weights in which they feel comfortable its not suprising they are doing these type of lifts.

They are being paid millions of dollars…money that the can potentially lose if they injure themselves off the field. Also take into consideration they play 2 of the hardest positions(in terms of toll taken on the body) in football…

A good diet and a program that is easy on the joints is intended to help keep them up and running for longer periods of time.

9

[quote]t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
I am not bad-mouthing Ronnie Brown nor his strength coach to whoever was getting all uppity about my remarks on that. I am not saying he doesn’t know how to do it either. Learn to bloody read and comprehend what’s put in front of you.

Clearly, Ronnie Brown is a superior athlete. Clearly, I was merely remarking on my suprise at a lack of free-weights. Cleary, someone needs to work on their reading comprehension.

I also agree that it makes sense Urlacher is already at his physical peak, already a Pro Bowler and a ferocious player. Yes, his needs are different. Whatever he does seems to be working and I am pleased to see that he actually squats.

I am drinking the Urlacher Kool-Aid even more now. I was impressed by the fact that he even cleaned at all, let alone a fair bit of weight. More power to Urlacher for being dedicated to lifting, nutrition and conditioning. [/quote]

Hey douchebag! Maybe you need to work on your fucking writing skills. ! I know for certain from first-hand experience Ronnie B. knows how to squat, power clean, and power snatch.

Maybe you should upgrade your fucking reading material. Afterall, I think everyone on this website would agree that Muscle and Fitness is a bullshit mag. and should not be taken seriously.

Do you honestly think that Ronnie B. is going to take time out of his busy day to write a fucking article for M & F?? Just goes to show you know very little about college or professional athletics.

This was probably some article written by some fuckface with as 'bout as much education as your self, that Ronnie B. agreed to sign his name too. Do you really think that a professional FB player gives two cents about writing an article for some piece of shit, gay ass bodybuilding mag???

No, they don’t!!! Someone else probably wrote the article, then they were asked to sign their name to it for several thousands of dollars. They didn’t read it. They just wanted the money associated w/ having their name published with the article.

10

[quote]obatiger11 wrote:
t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
I am not bad-mouthing Ronnie Brown nor his strength coach to whoever was getting all uppity about my remarks on that. I am not saying he doesn’t know how to do it either. Learn to bloody read and comprehend what’s put in front of you.

Clearly, Ronnie Brown is a superior athlete. Clearly, I was merely remarking on my suprise at a lack of free-weights. Cleary, someone needs to work on their reading comprehension.

I also agree that it makes sense Urlacher is already at his physical peak, already a Pro Bowler and a ferocious player. Yes, his needs are different. Whatever he does seems to be working and I am pleased to see that he actually squats.

I am drinking the Urlacher Kool-Aid even more now. I was impressed by the fact that he even cleaned at all, let alone a fair bit of weight. More power to Urlacher for being dedicated to lifting, nutrition and conditioning.

Hey douchebag! Maybe you need to work on your fucking writing skills. ! I know for certain from first-hand experience Ronnie B. knows how to squat, power clean, and power snatch.

Maybe you should upgrade your fucking reading material. Afterall, I think everyone on this website would agree that Muscle and Fitness is a bullshit mag. and should not be taken seriously.

Do you honestly think that Ronnie B. is going to take time out of his busy day to write a fucking article for M & F?? Just goes to show you know very little about college or professional athletics.

This was probably some article written by some fuckface with as 'bout as much education as your self, that Ronnie B. agreed to sign his name too. Do you really think that a professional FB player gives two cents about writing an article for some piece of shit, gay ass bodybuilding mag???

No, they don’t!!! Someone else probably wrote the article, then they were asked to sign their name to it for several thousands of dollars. They didn’t read it. They just wanted the money associated w/ having their name published with the article. [/quote]

.

11

[quote]
Hey douchebag! Maybe you need to work on your fucking writing skills. ! I know for certain from first-hand experience Ronnie B. knows how to squat, power clean, and power snatch.

Maybe you should upgrade your fucking reading material. Afterall, I think everyone on this website would agree that Muscle and Fitness is a bullshit mag. and should not be taken seriously.

Do you honestly think that Ronnie B. is going to take time out of his busy day to write a fucking article for M & F?? Just goes to show you know very little about college or professional athletics.

This was probably some article written by some fuckface with as 'bout as much education as your self, that Ronnie B. agreed to sign his name too. Do you really think that a professional FB player gives two cents about writing an article for some piece of shit, gay ass bodybuilding mag???

No, they don’t!!! Someone else probably wrote the article, then they were asked to sign their name to it for several thousands of dollars. They didn’t read it. They just wanted the money associated w/ having their name published with the article. [/quote]

Dude, just because you think about Ronnie Brown when you play with yourself at night doesn’t mean you have to go getting all pissy when somebody says something even slightly critical.

12

sigh Grow up, whoever is trying to start a flame-war with me. It’s idiots like you that turn a decent thread into garbage not worth reading. I merely wanted to ask some opinions and questions.

13

I actually enjoyed the M&F article on Brian Urlacher a great deal. Based on the routine presented in the article, he still does a lot of free-weight stuff for his upper-body but uses a Free-Motion machine for lower body-squats.

His reason for doing so has already been discussed here. He did a lot of heavy squatting and power cleans while in college… and credits a lot of that to his success. Nothing wrong with the article… pretty good stuff.

14

I’m sure Tiki Barber is glad he didnt buy into that thinking. He started working with a PL in NJ a few years back and his career took off. Fewer injuries and he had his best year last season at the age of 32. He box squats in the 600’s, deadlifts–the whole nine.

15

[quote]t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
Did anyone happen upon the latest issue of Muscle and Fiction with Brian Urlacher gracing the cover ? I wanted to ask all of your opinions on a few things.

  1. 555 pound squats for a 6’4" and 245 lb college athlete and 405 on clean, (very) good or (very) bad ?

  2. Never maxing out in the off-season; Smart idea ? I can understand the logic in-season.

  3. What’s with all the machines ? I also read the very short Ronnie Brown interview near the front and he talked about not squatting, that you have to have ‘perfect form’ or you would get hurt of free weights (no shit). Also, lat pulldowns ? Ewww. It just seems like a giant cop-out to me, not learing to squat, clean, snatch and deadlift properly.

  4. Did ANYONE get wtf the strength coach was going on about in his training methodologies which were in italics ?

  5. Why no deadlifting or cleans ?

  6. It seems like Urlacher’s routine is not about getting stronger but more of a maintenance workout for sport-specific purposes. There is a lot of core, plyo and agility work, which imo, is very smart. Is this the case with most NFL programs ?

  7. Personally, I liked the article, but did anyone else like it ? What did you think of the workout over-all ? [/quote]

Those are very good numbers. There are quite a few linebackers with better numbers than that, but remember he is a speed linebacker and not as strong as others. Plus at 245, considering he is what, 6’4, is pretty trim for a linebacker.

16

Urlacher apparently is 260 now. lol @ Urlacher being a ‘speed’ linebacker…he’s scary, not just fast.

17

[quote]obatiger11 wrote:
Hey douchebag! Maybe you need to work on your fucking writing skills. ! I know for certain from first-hand experience Ronnie B. knows how to squat, power clean, and power snatch.[/quote]

Yes, we all get it. You worked with Ronnie Brown’s strength coach and got to see him work out. Good for you. Nobody cares. Lots of people here have worked with top-level coaches and athletes.

To the OP, I definitely read the article as soon as I saw it; I’m a huge Bears fan :-). I can’t really say much to answer your questions that others haven’t already, as far as these guys not wanting to injure themselves.

As for the coach’s italicized quotes, the author was simply trying to show that he speaks with a bunch of words that make what he’s doing sound more complex than it really is. From what I gathered the guys don’t even listen to him really. They just get in, lift, and get out.

Having received my B.S. in Kinesiology, I understood most of the stuff he (the coach) was talking about, but, as I see it, I think it’s ridiculous when people try to over-complicate lifting and nutrition (I see that here a lot). But that’s just my opinion.

As the strength coach at my school said when I was doing my internship under him, “This stuff ain’t rocket science”.

18

[quote]t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
Urlacher apparently is 260 now. lol @ Urlacher being a ‘speed’ linebacker…he’s scary, not just fast.[/quote]

Dude, there are PLENTY of linebackers with better numbers than that. Urlacher relies in his speed just as much as anything.

19

[quote]Nicholas F wrote:
t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
Urlacher apparently is 260 now. lol @ Urlacher being a ‘speed’ linebacker…he’s scary, not just fast.

Dude, there are PLENTY of linebackers with better numbers than that. Urlacher relies in his speed just as much as anything.[/quote]

Keep in mind, Urlacher was a Safety in college. They converted him to LB because of his ability to cover the field and make hard hits. He added mass in the form of muscle to be able to handle the brutality of being a LB.

All in all, an impressive guy to watch play the sport.

20

[quote]Arioch wrote:
Nicholas F wrote:
t3h_Squirr3l wrote:
Urlacher apparently is 260 now. lol @ Urlacher being a ‘speed’ linebacker…he’s scary, not just fast.

Dude, there are PLENTY of linebackers with better numbers than that. Urlacher relies in his speed just as much as anything.

Keep in mind, Urlacher was a Safety in college. They converted him to LB because of his ability to cover the field and make hard hits. He added mass in the form of muscle to be able to handle the brutality of being a LB.

All in all, an impressive guy to watch play the sport.[/quote]

and how is it that you my boy _______?