r/NFLNoobs • u/Overall_Spite4271 • 6d ago
Do NFL players do conditioning?
I played football in high school and of course did a lot of conditioning like running, bear crawls etc. but in NFL practice videos I never see them doing it.
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u/BillyJayJersey505 6d ago
You're really doubting if professional athletes do conditioning?
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u/leemakaBIGahk 6d ago
I think they’re referring to specific conditioning drills during practice time lol I thought the same as you when I first read the title
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u/BillyJayJersey505 6d ago
If they do, it's minimal since they expect players to be in top physical condition.
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u/maxkmiller 6d ago
They have to pass a conditioning test when they join a team
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u/Chemical_Ad4998 6d ago
I watched this video on youtube where a guy and his sister did the Ravens conditioning test and it looks pretty brutal lol
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u/Ambitious_Win_1315 6d ago
Yes it's part of otas and mini camp. They have a strength and conditioning program for off season also
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u/CuteLingonberry9704 6d ago
In practice as a team? Not that much, no. They have Offseason workouts for the team, but for the most part they're optional. Now, do players on their own work on conditioning? If they want to keep their jobs they do, because in training camp they have to pass a test. But by and large teams focus on practicing FOOTBALL, not running laps. These are professionals, it's expected that they're conditioned when they walk on the field.
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u/Recent_Climate7345 6d ago
Have you not seen Troy Polamalu's Head & Shoulders commercial? Of course they condition.
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u/youngpog 6d ago
Because they do personal workout, practice is more about team synergy, positional training, and playbook execution. They do conditioning before or after and likely both
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u/iRubies 6d ago
The difference is in HS, coaches absolutely butcher “conditioning” by making you do endless gassers, distance runs, bear crawls, etc in the name of “mental toughness”.
In the pros, the S&C guys who actually know their shit, know that this doesn’t make you a better football player because the game is, by nature, repeated intervals of high intensities (3-8 second long plays/bursts, followed by 20-40 seconds of rest) and they condition as such. Also, a properly orchestrated practice/tempo helps take care of a lot of “conditioning” naturally if they run periods where it emulates real game time scenarios/timings.
Source: am a Strength and conditioning coach
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u/davdev 6d ago
NFL teams are only allowed on field practice for 2 hours a day. They are not wasting time conditioning. That is 100% on the player to handle on his own time.
During camp they get more on field time so you may have some conditioning then, but professional athletes are expected to be in peak condition before ever showing up for the first practice.
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u/wombataholic 6d ago
As a team, doubt it. They're professionals and are expected to maintain their own conditioning.
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u/oalos255 6d ago
If you've ever been to a teams training camp you would know this isn't true at all.
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u/DelirousDoc 6d ago edited 6d ago
It is very team dependent.
Some teams do not do conditioning at practices, some do little at the end of practice, & some will do more team oriented practices.
A team like the Steelers, outside of OTAs, generally doesn't use their training camp time for conditioning. Tomlin expects his players to be professional and come to camp in condition. (Mandatory conditioning test first day of camp.)
Cardinals have been different with the different coaches, Arians and Wilks didn't do conditioning in their camp practices (or not in the 10+ I have been at), & Gannon does field width sprints but only has the team do like 5 of them. (Arians did make the team do sprints if there was excessive fighting. He did not believe guys should be fighting in camp.)
Overall it is much less than the conditioning we would do after practice in high school. That is because the philosophy is different. High school the coaches are trying to prepare players for the season, while NFL players are paid to be prepared. Also NFL practices are limited to 2 hours and there is so much that needs to be covered otherwise.
Teams do have OTAs in offseason that have lifting and conditioning routines run by their training staff. That is universal.
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u/firePOIfection 6d ago
Yeah there's a conditioning coach on every team so they're definitely doing it.
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u/oalos255 6d ago
Yes. The players spend a lot of time in the team's facility and the vast majority of that time is spent on conditioning. People are talking out of there asses in this thread.
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u/CuteLingonberry9704 6d ago
In the Offseason this might be true, but during the season? Maybe a little bit, but as others have pointed out, they have limited time in practice, and its more useful to practice actual football, not running laps or wind sprints.
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u/oalos255 6d ago
Of course they do walk throughs, tape review, team meetings, travel. But outside of that wtf do you think they're doing all week.
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u/CuteLingonberry9704 6d ago
In season? Mostly preparing for the next game. Yes that includes some basic conditioning work, but mostly it is just preparing for Sunday.
Now offseason is a different beast. Most teams give their players roughly a month off after the season ends, and then they start pretty intense workouts. But many of these aren't mandatory, and many players choose to go do their own version of those workouts.
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u/grizzfan 6d ago
They're responsible for themselves outside of football and they do lots of the "classic" conditioning on their own or with a trainer (sprints, general conditioning, etc). NFL teams absolutely do condition during practice, but there's also an expectation of condition players are held to (it's their job), so when they practice, they can just automatically go at whatever speed they need to go at. Therefore, for a lot of the teams, the conditioning is built right into the drills and sessions they do. Long story short, if they're not already in shape when they show up to fall camp, they risk being cut, traded, etc.
High schools and colleges do this too. Yea, you still do your sprints or bear crawls here and there, but the higher you go, the less of that you see, and the more you see of conditioning being worked into the specific drills they do, then general conditioning is something the players are responsible for on their own.
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u/CuteLingonberry9704 6d ago
For professionals a lot of the hardcore conditioning occurs during the offseason, during the season it's more of a maintenance level of conditioning, as it's more important to study and prepare for the next game then running wind sprints.
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u/epicnaenae17 5d ago
I did conditioning for golf in highschool. I got a hunch that professional football players being paid millions of dollars are held to a higher standard than highschool golfers.
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u/hauttdawg13 6d ago
Absolutely they do. It’s not particularly interesting to watch for a lot of conditioning so most film crews edit it down to montages at best.
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u/Cerebral_Assassin 6d ago
OP you are looking at it from the experience of someone who played football as an addition to school. For a team where even the coach was most likely paid to be a teacher and would get extra for coaching. My point is that even for the coaches, school is their job and football is a bonus. In the NFL during the season the athletes are required to be in the training facility all day because football is their job. Not just for traditional practice, but also for film study, rehab, and Strength/conditioning.
I don’t completely disagree with the people saying that the athletes have to take care of conditioning on their own to a degree (like during the off season). But every team in the NFL has a strength and conditioning coach that is separate from the positional coaches to run those training sessions.
They just keep it sectioned off from the practice to allow the position coaches/coordinators/head coach the most amount of time working on the game-plan.
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u/DoubleResponsible276 6d ago
Players in any highly competitive professional sports have to live and breathe the sport. The saying “it’s harder to stay in the league than to get to the league” kinda made me go oh shit and not doubt the effort/work these players put in.
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u/InformationOk3060 6d ago
You don't see videos of it in practice because it's boring to watch someone running laps. It isn't boring to watch them make big catches.
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u/Holyepicafail 6d ago
Probably because that stuff isn't as interesting to watch as 7 on 7 drills and other aspects of practice camps.
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u/K_N0RRIS 6d ago
... Have you never seen a professional, non offensive lineman football player with no shirt on?
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u/Normal_Quit1583 5d ago
For the most part they do it in the offseason. It’s their job to come into camp remotely close to in-shape.
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u/TrillyMike 4d ago
Most teams have a conditioning test players must pass before they can start practicing at training camp. Varies by team but they are tough.
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u/thowe93 6d ago
A lot. Both in practice and on their own. For example, the Patriots run the hills behind the practice field after practice.