How Marcus Mariota Got Ready for the NFL Draft
Former University of Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is not sitting idle in anticipation for the 2015 NFL Draft. He’s been relentlessly training for the next level with Ryan Flaherty of Prolific Athletes in Carlsbad, California. As part of its “Inner Strength” documentary series, Nike recently released a video of Mariota training and discussing his work ethic.
“My purpose is personal,” Mariota says in the video. “I do it for my family, where I come from, and my friends. And if I can represent that every single day, whether it’s training, watching film, doing all the little things, that’s going to allow me to be motivated and do the best that I can for them.”
Watch the video above to see Mariota performing a workout that includes Resistance Band Push-Ups, Towel Pulls, Core Twist Holds and Shoulder Rotations With Plates. The workout uses functional strength training to increase Mariota’s “power to weight” ratio, which maximizes the amount of power he can produce while minimizing his body weight.
Mariota’s training also has a lot of lateral, explosive movement to improve his ability to move out of the pocket. Finally, Flaherty emphasizes reaction time to improve Mariota’s ability to process information and make good decisions.
“A key focus is developing a quicker first step,” Mariota says. “I do a lot of bungee work to develop my fast twitch muscles and be quicker to take a drop under center. Training hard with resistance develops my reactions and the way my body responds instinctually to what I’m seeing on the field.
“We have a mantra of ‘win the day’ [at Oregon]. The foundation of that is finding ways to improve your standard and improve yourself daily.”
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How Marcus Mariota Got Ready for the NFL Draft
Former University of Oregon quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota is not sitting idle in anticipation for the 2015 NFL Draft. He’s been relentlessly training for the next level with Ryan Flaherty of Prolific Athletes in Carlsbad, California. As part of its “Inner Strength” documentary series, Nike recently released a video of Mariota training and discussing his work ethic.
“My purpose is personal,” Mariota says in the video. “I do it for my family, where I come from, and my friends. And if I can represent that every single day, whether it’s training, watching film, doing all the little things, that’s going to allow me to be motivated and do the best that I can for them.”
Watch the video above to see Mariota performing a workout that includes Resistance Band Push-Ups, Towel Pulls, Core Twist Holds and Shoulder Rotations With Plates. The workout uses functional strength training to increase Mariota’s “power to weight” ratio, which maximizes the amount of power he can produce while minimizing his body weight.
Mariota’s training also has a lot of lateral, explosive movement to improve his ability to move out of the pocket. Finally, Flaherty emphasizes reaction time to improve Mariota’s ability to process information and make good decisions.
“A key focus is developing a quicker first step,” Mariota says. “I do a lot of bungee work to develop my fast twitch muscles and be quicker to take a drop under center. Training hard with resistance develops my reactions and the way my body responds instinctually to what I’m seeing on the field.
“We have a mantra of ‘win the day’ [at Oregon]. The foundation of that is finding ways to improve your standard and improve yourself daily.”