Peter Dyakowski
CFL.ca
Professional football players, especially us offensive linemen, are known for having splendid, chiseled physiques. I cannot count the number of times I have been asked by painters and sculptors to sit for them. We do not come by these bodies accidentally. They are forged in the fires of arduous off-season training regimens over years and years in conjunction with a near religious adherence to perfect nutrition.
So perfect are our bodies, the only thing that stands in the way of an average CFL player and a slew of Olympic medals and Mr. Olympia titles is the football season itself. In each game we must push ourselves to our physical limits and in the process sustain a tremendous level of strain on our muscles and joints. In between games, we must put in quite a bit of work to make sure that we are ready for game day, spending long hours in meetings, on the field, and doing extra film study.
All of this combines to break down those ideal bodies of ours. It is a great challenge to maintain and sustain our pecs, delts, quads, bis, tris, calves, abs, hammies, lats, and glutes in-season. To keep these muscles toned, swole, and healthy, extra in-season weight-lifting is a necessity. It can be very difficult, both physically and mentally, to get into the weight-room when one is tired and sore the day after a game or in the morning before practice, but we all do it.
Different players have different solutions to conquering the difficulty of getting into the gym and getting their work-outs done. Let’s have a look how some of my team-mates stay fit:
Ray Mariuz: Dons ankle and wrist weights and jogs home every day from practice at Ivor Wynne to his home in suburban Burlington.
Demonte Bolden: D-Bo wears a loose-fitting, rubberized shirt (because he doesn’t sweat enough as it is) and puts on the harness for the weight sled we have out on the field. He loads it with 450 lbs. and drags it behind him while he works on his patented bull rush head slap move.
Adam Tafralis and Dylan Barker: They each spend about an hour and a half getting dressed and doing their hair before heading off to the GoodLife Fitness center on Upper James Street. Adam spends a bit more time on his hair while Dylan usually tries on more outfits before he settles on one. In between chatting up older women, they get a few sets of bench in.
George Hudson: Every morning before meetings George gets in the weight room where he focuses mainly on his ankle and calf muscles. He also throws in the odd set of squats or dead-lifts. His upper body lifting consists primarily of curls, where he holds the team record in both the 12 oz and 16 oz categories.
Jordan Matechuk: Our long snapper does very little lifting. He says that, at his position, he doesn’t need to work out. Jordan also frowns upon nutritional supplements, saying that they are a waste of money. He will occasionally practice his snapping with a weighted ball but that is about it. Jordan says being skinny and wiry helps his snapping more than having big muscles would.
Marwan Hage: Marwan keeps such surprisingly light feet for a man of his size with three ballroom dance classes a week. He will also occasionally make appearances in the weight room, but it seems more for the purpose of playing Phil Collins on the stereo than to lift.
Jykine Bradley: Jykine, one of the longest tenured Tiger-Cats, stays fit in-season with brisk walks after dinner each night and a weekly water aerobics class.
Agustin Barrenechea: Auggie, a professional personal trainer, holds his workout secrets close to his chest, which is adorned with a stunning pair of pecs. But I have heard that he has now won the Señor Argentina professional body building title for a 7th year running.
