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T R A I N
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By James “JR” Rosenthal
JAMES HARRISON
At 6' and 242 pounds, Harrison was deemed too short by NFL scouts and went undrafted in 2002.
How Pittsburgh Steelers bruiser JAMES HARRISON trains to be a powerhouse. ou’d be hard-pressed to find a harder worker in the NFL than James Harrison. The 39-year-old linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers hasn’t played fewer than
reps on the bench press with 405, and an 1,800-pound sled push. (That’s the equivalent of about five hulking NFL linemen.) “No one works harder than James,” says Garrett Giemont, the Steelers’ conditioning coordinator.
LINEBACKER STRONG
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MUSCLE & FITNESS /
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I C O N S P O RT S W I R E /G E T T Y I M AG E S
“Football is an explosive sport that requires you to be stronger and better conditioned than the player opposite you,” Harrison says. “I have never followed the same program as the other players on my team. I do my thing my way to be able to make tackles, explode off the line, and keep retirement as far away as possible.” To accomplish this, Harrison focuses on the following: He preaches that being able to generate power is based on barbelldriven multijoint exercises that stabilize the core, like the squat and deadlift. According to Giemont, who is incredibly close to Harrison, “James has always respected the discipline of a bodybuilding workout that focuses on powerlifts.” Harrison performs an