Cam Newton puts tremendous emphasis on his cardio training. Doing sprints is a great way to build the necessary speed and explosiveness to excel on the football field. You can really see how defined he is for such a big body.

Cam Newton, star quarterback for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, is a true beast on and off the football field. Newton immediately impressed NFL scouts with his impressive showing at the NFL Combine. Newton, with a height and weight of 6’5” and 248 lbs., ran a 4.59 40-yard dash with a 35-inch vertical leap. His 10 1/2-foot broad jump tied for tops among all quarterbacks.

Even Bo Jackson, one of the greatest athletes to ever grace this earth, admires the athletic prowess of Newton. “When you speak of Cam Newton,” Bo Jackson said on the Jim Rome Show, “I’ll put it to you just like this: He has the arm strength and power of Dan Marino and John Elway combined. He is quicker than Michael Vick, faster than Michael Vick. And he will run over you with the power of a Jerome Bettis, Bo Jackson, Earl Campbell. That’s the kind of guy he is.” Obviously NFL coaches agree because Cam Newton was selected #1 overall in the NFL draft in 2010 and has been one of the more dominating quarterbacks in pro football thus far.

According to STACK Magazine, Newton spent part of his off-season at IMG Academies to stay conditioned and on top of his game heading into the NFL season. “The problem was, we didn’t know when the end was going to be,” Jeff Dillman, head strength and conditioning coach at IMG, tells STACK. “We had to maintain their peaks.” One way Dillman was able to do that was by ensuring that Newton started his workout with a thorough dynamic warm-up, which lasted anywhere from 45 to 50 minutes. A specific max effort day was designated for heavy singles, and on dynamic days, the athletes would try and bench the bar as quickly as possible. “The biggest thing is keeping the explosive power,” says Dillman. No wonder Cam performs at the highest level; he’s got the body to back it up.

“The difference between the high school athlete and a pro athlete is the high school athlete will move [the bar] slow, and the pro athlete will want to move it as fast as possible,” says Dillman to STACK Magazine. Fast concentric lifts can cause more muscle activation since you need to produce more force to accelerate the weight. Research has shown that moving a heavy weight faster can recruit more muscle fibers.

Newton did a lot of different types of workouts with IMG, but the dynamic bench workout was one of his primary lifts. Newton also focuses on doing Olympic lifts. Doing explosive, Olympic-style lifts consist of a very coordinated motion, which transfers well to football, especially with being a quarterback. You have to coordinate every joint and muscle of the body together in a rapid explosion, which is necessary to run through a linebacker for that extra yard. Some examples of workouts that Newton may focus on are the power clean, hang clean, and push press. Newton also does a lot of squat work, which helps build up stronger hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors, in addition to building a strong core.

Newton uses the TRX, a total-body training system that allows you to do all sorts of exercises using your body weight. This is a great workout for your core, strength, balance, agility and power.

In addition to doing resistance training, Newton does a lot of footwork drills, demonstrating his explosive burst and quickness through the ladder and cone drills. To add explosiveness in his hips, Newton jumps on boxes and over hurdles to get powerful extensions.

Cam Newton has done it all. Besides being the #1 overall NFL Draft pick, Newton won the Heisman Trophy and the BCS National Championship with Auburn. Newton has done it all at the college level and is playing well with the big boys so far. His intense workout regimen is a reason why he is so durable.

NOTE: This is only part of Cam Newton’s workout routine, in which we offer some additional commentary to his regimen. To see the whole routine and to go more in-depth with athlete workouts, be sure to check out STACK Magazine

http://blog.stack.com/2011/07/27/develop-and-maintain-explosive-upper-body-power-with-the-bench-press/