Even as he ages, Brett Favre continually takes his training extremely seriously. He even practices with high school players because he is so competitive that he is always looking for a way to play.

Throughout his amazing football career, Brett Favre did a workout training routine as hard as anyone. After his 297 consecutive game streak ended, Favre showed everyone how durable he truly was on the football field as a pro quarterback. His off-the-field workouts prepared the Iron Man for the hard hits and rough beatings of the National Football League that he took every Sunday. Favre and personal trainer Ken Croner designed each off-season training program to sharpen Favre’s skills that he needed the most to play under the quarterback position. Croner said that it’s all about Favre’s commitment to work hard that made the program work and got him in absolute great shape to get ready for the season. Croner said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “He’s made the commitment to do everything he possibly could to get himself ready for the season. There’s nothing that I do. It’s Brett Favre. His work ethic makes this program work.”

During the three weeks before training camp, Croner and Favre focused on exercises that were quarterback-specific. Five days a week, they got up at 7 AM and went through a hellish 60 to 75 minute workout that simulated what Favre might go through in a typical game (i.e- sprinting and scrambling out of the pocket, launching bombs, and getting knocked to the ground dozens of times). Favre gave himself two days of rest from this to keep his body fresh. It’s important that any athlete gives himself some days off for proper recovery.

Favre’s workouts simulated movements that he was forced to make in a game, working specifically on maintaining his fundamentals under physical duress. That included using bungee ropes tied to Favre’s waist so the quarterback had to drop back to pass under resistance. They would do three, five, and seven-step drops and often rollouts with the added resistance. This would prepare Favre’s lower body to withstand punishments from the defensive lines. Each repetition was timed precisely to simulate real game-time rest periods (i.e.- the play clock).

Croner would have Favre run the drill three times, five times, or seven times to simulate a three, five, or seven-play drive. By the time they were through the workout, they had gone through an entire game. Additionally, sometimes Croner would have Favre pick up an 8 pound-medicine ball and throw it while the bungee was attached in a five step drop. Then he’d have to get back to the line of scrimmage and throw the football. Croner wanted to make sure he was simulating Favre throwing a football when he was tired.

Moreover, Croner would attach the bungee rope to himself so that he can provide added unpredictable resistance in multiple directions. This would make sure that Favre used his body properly to rotate under duress. Croner said in an interview with JSOnline.com, “With a regular bungee he’s dropping straight back. With this apparatus he’s rolling out with me. He takes a three-step drop, looks, coverage is tight. He rolls right, coverage is still tight. He’s got to backpedal and go to the left. All this time he has resistance.” This resistance forced him to focus on form and technique while moving at a fast and efficient pace.

Favre’s trainer is putting extra resistance on his body to make his abs work harder. This helps develop a stronger core, a core that is needed to take big hits on the football field.

During each of their workouts, Favre wore a heart monitor so he could see his gains in cardiovascular conditioning and how he progressed throughout the program. Favre wanted to make sure that his heart rate was recovering faster during his downtime by indicating a lower heart rate during rest periods than the prior workout.

To mimic a real game, Croner made sure Favre never ran farther than 10 yards. Croner said, “We’re working more on timing as far as his feet, being able to move efficiently. I want him to be powerful from the bottom up. It’s getting Brett in a situation where he has control of his body.”

They would then run another practice at night where Favre would work specifically on throwing. Favre didn’t think that was enough so three times a week he would go over to nearby Oak Grove High School and practice with the football team. There he would throw passes to their receivers and run sprints and stadium stairs with the entire team.

Brett Favre was truly an ironman throughout his career. He was a Superbowl champion, 3X NFL MVP, and 11X Pro-Bowler, all while playing nearly every single game throughout his 20 year legendary career.

Source

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/29262134.html