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9/14/2006, 12:32 PM
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He’s one of the most dynamic players in the history of college football and one of the most in-demand personalities in America today. In a special to SoonerSports.com, University of Oklahoma junior running back Adrian Peterson speaks his mind with his own weekly feature.
Given the nickname "All Day" as a youth for his uncanny endurance on the football field, A.D. will share his unique look on fame, football and life in general in All Day: All-Access.
Every collegiate football player has talent, but the elite set themselves apart in the weight room. Oklahoma is known for its stringent strength and conditioning program and, this week, A.D. gives us a little insider info on pumping iron.
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Week No. 2 of All Day: All-Access -- Pumping Iron
Posted: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2006
Adrian Peterson
• Through two games in 2006, Peterson has 56 rushes for 304 yards (3 TD) -- the best start to a season for A.D. In 2004 he had 217 yards and last season he had 283.
SoonerSports.com: When did you start lifting weights?
Adrian Peterson: Probably around when I was nine. I used to go to the YMCA. My dad would hoop all the time but I would just go in there and mess around. Sometimes I would go in there and try to lift the bars, stuff like that.
SS: Do you remember being stronger than other kids at a young age?
AD: Yeah. I was raised with a lot of cousins, boy cousins. We would wrestle all the time, even the girl cousins would wrestle. I found that I was stronger than average.
SS: What types of weightlifting did you do in high school that set you apart, put you ahead of other players.
AD: To be honest, I really never did squats in high school. I would squat about 560 or 580 in high school but I never really did them. I basically just did bench press, single leg squats, stuff like that. I really never did hit the weights that much in high school like I do now, but I was always a hard worker in everything I did.
SS: Do you enjoy the conditioning regimen that Coach Jerry Schmidt puts the team through?
AD: Yeah, I love it. That’s definitely one of the things that got me to how I am looking now. Some people like to complain about it. Sometimes I sit here and say, ‘hey’ [sighs], but you know when it comes down to it you’re getting better, helping your team and helping yourself become a better player. You’ve got to go out there and keep that mind focused, stay after it and go get it.
SS: What is the hardest part of his workout?
AD: There are a lot of parts. Around that last 20 or 30 minutes basically is when that mental toughness has got to kick in. When you’re tired and you don’t think you can go anymore you’ve just got to be mentally tough and work through it. It’s like your body is saying it’s about to give out, but it’s like they say your mind can make your body do a lot of things. It’s all mental. Probably the last 20 minutes of conditioning, doing six triples, stadiums and ramps.
SS: Who is your strongest teammate?
AD: A lot of guys would probably be surprised he’s the strongest but I think Jacob Gutierrez. He’s does about 450, 470 or something like that.
SS: Do you have a partner during lifting, someone that pushes you to work harder?
AD: Yeah, Allen Patrick, my roommate and one of my close friends. He’s a running back, a running back behind me, but I feel like he’s got the ability to be starting, too. We are in there working together, pushing each other and making each other better.
SS: How much stronger do you feel as a junior compared to your freshman season?
AD: I feel a lot stronger. I’ve put on about 15 pounds since my freshman year, so I am able to lift more weight and put more up. Coming in I was probably benching about 295 and now I am up to about 375, so it’s a pretty good jump.
SS: After having shoulder surgery, it was said that you would jump onto plyometrics boxes with an 80 pound weight in each hand. Are there any other crazy things that you do while lifting?
AD: I don’t know, from time to time. We do sets of pull-ups. Sometimes we do two sets of 25, you can break them up into halves because it’s hard to do 25 in a row, but sometimes I’ll be able to smash through and be able to do all 25 on both sets. It’s doing stuff like that. Really I find that challenging myself.
SS: How much weight did you do on the leg press machine with one leg?
AD: I can’t remember. You’d probably have to ask my strength and conditioning coach for that, if you want to get that answer. He can tell you on the dot.
SS: Where do you feel you rank among teammates in terms of strength?
AD: Probably top 10, I would say.
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A.D. Answers Your Questions
Jared Carpenter from Oklahoma City asks: Do you think people underestimate your ability to provide suitable pass-blocking and how do you feel when you do deliver a smashing block?
Yeah, I think people do. In my freshman year, not being out there for third down and fourth down situations, that will make people lean that way a lot. I work really hard on programming my game. It gives you a rush; it’s kind of like running someone over without the ball in your hands. Just making a killer block, especially to stuff the hole before a big pass or making a block for the quarterback or a receiver. It makes you feel good, it makes you feel real good.
Jack Y. Garrard from Fort Worth, Texas, asks: As a freshman running back you enjoyed all the senior lineman who helped to instill confidence in your running abilities. Now, as a junior, how do you instill that same confidence in the new lineman blocking for you?
Yeah, I do. I learned a lot from the guys like Jamal Brown, Big Davin, Sims and all them boys. I try to motivate the younger guys and say, ‘hey this is what it takes.’ You have got to go out there every play full speed, 100 percent like those guys did. It’s just getting it through their heads and letting them know, hey that’s why those guys play on Sundays.
Rob Colwell from Greer, S.C., asks: Which is more satisfying to you on a touchdown or a long run: running right over the would-be tackler or leaving him in the dust with your speed?
Leaving him in the dust. Some people question my speed a little bit. They forget that I ran track in high school. I finished second in state in Texas with a 10.26, but sometimes when I out run people, it’s a good feeling. Like last year when we played Oklahoma State and I broke that big one. I kind of glanced up at the jumbo-tron and saw one of their players. They said he ran a 4.2 or 4.3 or something, and I burned up on him. That gave me a big rush.
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Have a question you would like to ask Adrian?
Click here and we'll select the best for him to respond.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Missed an entry of All Day: All-Access?
No. 1 (Aug. 30) - The Heisman Trophy
No. 2 (Sept. 7) - The Music of A.D.
No. 3 (Sept. 14) - Pumping Iron
He’s one of the most dynamic players in the history of college football and one of the most in-demand personalities in America today. In a special to SoonerSports.com, University of Oklahoma junior running back Adrian Peterson speaks his mind with his own weekly feature.
Given the nickname "All Day" as a youth for his uncanny endurance on the football field, A.D. will share his unique look on fame, football and life in general in All Day: All-Access.
Every collegiate football player has talent, but the elite set themselves apart in the weight room. Oklahoma is known for its stringent strength and conditioning program and, this week, A.D. gives us a little insider info on pumping iron.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Week No. 2 of All Day: All-Access -- Pumping Iron
Posted: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2006
Adrian Peterson
• Through two games in 2006, Peterson has 56 rushes for 304 yards (3 TD) -- the best start to a season for A.D. In 2004 he had 217 yards and last season he had 283.
SoonerSports.com: When did you start lifting weights?
Adrian Peterson: Probably around when I was nine. I used to go to the YMCA. My dad would hoop all the time but I would just go in there and mess around. Sometimes I would go in there and try to lift the bars, stuff like that.
SS: Do you remember being stronger than other kids at a young age?
AD: Yeah. I was raised with a lot of cousins, boy cousins. We would wrestle all the time, even the girl cousins would wrestle. I found that I was stronger than average.
SS: What types of weightlifting did you do in high school that set you apart, put you ahead of other players.
AD: To be honest, I really never did squats in high school. I would squat about 560 or 580 in high school but I never really did them. I basically just did bench press, single leg squats, stuff like that. I really never did hit the weights that much in high school like I do now, but I was always a hard worker in everything I did.
SS: Do you enjoy the conditioning regimen that Coach Jerry Schmidt puts the team through?
AD: Yeah, I love it. That’s definitely one of the things that got me to how I am looking now. Some people like to complain about it. Sometimes I sit here and say, ‘hey’ [sighs], but you know when it comes down to it you’re getting better, helping your team and helping yourself become a better player. You’ve got to go out there and keep that mind focused, stay after it and go get it.
SS: What is the hardest part of his workout?
AD: There are a lot of parts. Around that last 20 or 30 minutes basically is when that mental toughness has got to kick in. When you’re tired and you don’t think you can go anymore you’ve just got to be mentally tough and work through it. It’s like your body is saying it’s about to give out, but it’s like they say your mind can make your body do a lot of things. It’s all mental. Probably the last 20 minutes of conditioning, doing six triples, stadiums and ramps.
SS: Who is your strongest teammate?
AD: A lot of guys would probably be surprised he’s the strongest but I think Jacob Gutierrez. He’s does about 450, 470 or something like that.
SS: Do you have a partner during lifting, someone that pushes you to work harder?
AD: Yeah, Allen Patrick, my roommate and one of my close friends. He’s a running back, a running back behind me, but I feel like he’s got the ability to be starting, too. We are in there working together, pushing each other and making each other better.
SS: How much stronger do you feel as a junior compared to your freshman season?
AD: I feel a lot stronger. I’ve put on about 15 pounds since my freshman year, so I am able to lift more weight and put more up. Coming in I was probably benching about 295 and now I am up to about 375, so it’s a pretty good jump.
SS: After having shoulder surgery, it was said that you would jump onto plyometrics boxes with an 80 pound weight in each hand. Are there any other crazy things that you do while lifting?
AD: I don’t know, from time to time. We do sets of pull-ups. Sometimes we do two sets of 25, you can break them up into halves because it’s hard to do 25 in a row, but sometimes I’ll be able to smash through and be able to do all 25 on both sets. It’s doing stuff like that. Really I find that challenging myself.
SS: How much weight did you do on the leg press machine with one leg?
AD: I can’t remember. You’d probably have to ask my strength and conditioning coach for that, if you want to get that answer. He can tell you on the dot.
SS: Where do you feel you rank among teammates in terms of strength?
AD: Probably top 10, I would say.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A.D. Answers Your Questions
Jared Carpenter from Oklahoma City asks: Do you think people underestimate your ability to provide suitable pass-blocking and how do you feel when you do deliver a smashing block?
Yeah, I think people do. In my freshman year, not being out there for third down and fourth down situations, that will make people lean that way a lot. I work really hard on programming my game. It gives you a rush; it’s kind of like running someone over without the ball in your hands. Just making a killer block, especially to stuff the hole before a big pass or making a block for the quarterback or a receiver. It makes you feel good, it makes you feel real good.
Jack Y. Garrard from Fort Worth, Texas, asks: As a freshman running back you enjoyed all the senior lineman who helped to instill confidence in your running abilities. Now, as a junior, how do you instill that same confidence in the new lineman blocking for you?
Yeah, I do. I learned a lot from the guys like Jamal Brown, Big Davin, Sims and all them boys. I try to motivate the younger guys and say, ‘hey this is what it takes.’ You have got to go out there every play full speed, 100 percent like those guys did. It’s just getting it through their heads and letting them know, hey that’s why those guys play on Sundays.
Rob Colwell from Greer, S.C., asks: Which is more satisfying to you on a touchdown or a long run: running right over the would-be tackler or leaving him in the dust with your speed?
Leaving him in the dust. Some people question my speed a little bit. They forget that I ran track in high school. I finished second in state in Texas with a 10.26, but sometimes when I out run people, it’s a good feeling. Like last year when we played Oklahoma State and I broke that big one. I kind of glanced up at the jumbo-tron and saw one of their players. They said he ran a 4.2 or 4.3 or something, and I burned up on him. That gave me a big rush.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Have a question you would like to ask Adrian?
Click here and we'll select the best for him to respond.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Missed an entry of All Day: All-Access?
No. 1 (Aug. 30) - The Heisman Trophy
No. 2 (Sept. 7) - The Music of A.D.
No. 3 (Sept. 14) - Pumping Iron