Patrick Mahomes has a lot of workout routines. In Miami, it’s ‘all about the glutes.’
Wondering what it’s like to be an NFL player?
It involves skill, dedication and passion.
For Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, it meant incorporating more than 70 personalized workouts into his schedule during the off-season. And sleep, lots and lots of sleep.
Mahomes’ goal was to help his team make it to Super Bowl 54. They did — and are set to face off against the San Francisco 49ers at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Sunday.
And Google has noticed a trend in Super Bowl-related searches this week: people want to know about Mahomes’ workout routine.
Last year, fans were given a look at Mahomes’ training regime through a series of videos posted by APEC, an athlete training facility in Fort Worth, Texas, that has worked with the football player since he was in the fourth grade.
What were his favorite workouts?
The deadlift and bench press.
“I can’t bench press anymore because of my position. I can only dumbbell bench press, but I still love to do it,” Mahomes told Men’s Journal last year. “With the deadlift, I just love the explosion part of it. I guess I like it because I’m good at it, but I feel like it’s a great workout.”
Orlando Lopez and Jessie Rodriguez, certified fitness trainers in Miami, aren’t surprised by Mahomes’ answer.
Those are “football workouts,” Lopez said. Add in squats — a favorite in Miami, he said — and you have the “Big 3.”
“The Big 3 — your squats, your bench press and your deadlift,” said Rodriguez. “That should be a staple of any program, regardless of the goal, should have a variation of those three moves.”
It’s not just professional athletes that do the “Big 3.” Both trainers say they can be incorporated into a person’s everyday routine to help strengthen the entire body.
Lopez and Rodriguez work for 24-Hour Fitness, an official fitness sponsor of the U.S. Olympic team with gyms across the country, including in South Florida.
The Miami natives are based at 24-Hour Fitness’s gym at 1970 NW 117th Pl., in Doral. The gym opened in late December and is in the process of adding Team USA and Spartan SGX certified trainers to its roster.
Fitness manager Rodriguez’s background includes boxing. Lopez — called a “master trainer” at the gym — has a background in bodybuilding and the Rivals Professional Football League. Both are rooting for the Chiefs Sunday and think you can adapt your favorite player’s workouts to help motivate your own health journey.
How to do the “Big 3”
Rodriguez says the deadlift and bench press — two of Mahomes’ favorite static routines — are great for those who are looking to become leaner and drop some body fat or who want to “bulk up.”
You also can’t forget the squats.
“It’s all about the glutes here in Miami,” Rodriguez said. “Everyone wants the glutes so that’s the primary mover when you’re doing a squat or a deadlift. It works the glutes.”
It’s also one of the many exercises women and men can incorporate into their everyday workout after doing a warm-up.
Here are some tips the trainers gave during a demonstration to the Miami Herald on different deadlifts, squats and bench press techniques for beginners and those who are looking for more advanced training.
Deadlift
▪ A strength exercise that focuses on lifting dead weight off the ground to hip level.
▪ What does it work out? It’s a “complete compound exercise” that works out your whole body, including lower legs, hamstrings, glutes and lower back.
▪ What you need to remember: “It’s all about tempo,” said Lopez. “Go slower on the way down and go up with explosion to increase cardiomuscular efficiency.”
▪ If you’re doing a conventional deadlift, “keep the bar as close to your legs as possible. Think that you’re painting your thighs with it,” said Rodriguez.
Squat
▪ A strength exercise that requires you to lower your hips from a standing position and then stand back up.
▪ What does it work out? It strengthens all your leg muscles including glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves.
▪ What you need to remember: It’s better and safer for beginners to face the squat rack and walk forward to place the weight in the rack and then walk backwards to perform the exercise, according to Lopez.
▪ When you bend, do it at 90 degrees like the “height of a chair,” Lopez said.
Bench Press
▪ A strength exercise that focuses on lifting a weight up while lying on a weight training bench.
▪ What does it work out? Your upper body including the pectorals, arms, chest and shoulders.
▪ What you need to remember: If you’re doing a TRX bench press (it utilizes suspension straps and is recommended for beginners) don’t move the band you’re holding too far or too close to the body and do not put your hands together. You want to keep your hands apart to distribute the weight properly, according to Lopez.
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▪ The position of your feet makes the exercise easier or harder. The lower you go to the ground, the harder it is, said Rodriguez.
▪ For those who want to do a bench press on a weight training bench, make sure the bar is at eye level and that your pinkies are on the index line of the weight to evenly distribute your weight, said Lopez.
No matter which exercise you attempt, the trainers recommend you pace yourself and don’t attempt to do more weights than your body can handle.
“Exercising doesn’t get easier. You just get better,” said Lopez.
This story was originally published February 1, 2020 at 6:15 AM.
