Why women's American football classes are taking over London

An all-American workout craze has touched down in the capital. Frankie McCoy tries  to cut it as a quarterback 
Frankie McCoy trains with the NFL
Adrian Lourie
Frankie McCoy7 November 2016

Sprinting head first into a 250lb wall of muscle at logic-defying speeds, with nothing but a helmet to protect you... On the surface, American football sounds insane, the stuff of action or even superhero films. And yet here in London we’ve fallen helmet over heels for the game. A run of three sold-out NFL International games have just finished at Wembley Stadium, and last month Nike created a merchandise-packed “NFL House” in Bloomsbury Square, where fans could meet players from the New York Giants and LA Rams.

Now, rather than simply watching these superhumans clash while chowing down on an all-American hot dog, we’re realising the fitness benefits of training like an American football player. There are clubs all over the capital, from the London Olympians to the Wembley Stallions. Despite the fact that there’s no professional women’s league in the States, London girls are clamouring to join in with the Wembley Stallions recently setting up an all-female team.

While there’s no denying it’s a dangerous sport to play, there are incredible benefits to copying NFL training techniques. Nike trainer Jamie Reynolds points out that “NFL players are some of the fastest, strongest and most powerful athletes on the planet”, with someone such as the LA Rams’ Tavon Austin completing a 40-yard sprint in an inconceivable 4.2 seconds.

“If you want to train to get stronger, faster, leaner, bigger and more powerful, then you could do a lot worse than training like an NFL player,” says Reynolds. “These guys lift heavy and train explosively, so any workouts that tick these boxes are going to have you building lean muscle and using plenty of energy.”

I joined him for a Nike Training Club workout inspired by the NFL — a way for women in particular to get all the fitness without piling on Hulk-style muscle.

Frankie McCoy with Jamie Reynolds, Nike Master Trainer and Rock Gullickson, Coach of the LA Rams
Adrian Lourie

I’m initially worried about how much strength training is required. Rock Gullickson, the Rams’ strength coach, introduced power-lifting techniques to the NFL 17 years ago. Now, if you look at a player, they’ve got shoulders wider than I am tall.While I’m all for looking #fitnotthin, I’m not sure I’m quite ready to burst out of my shirt. Luckily Jamie insists that “training like a player won’t necessarily turn you into a human fridge. Having great footwork, agility and speed are important attributes to have and are great ways to train if you want to burn some calories and improve your fitness.”

Home fitness equipment - in pictures

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After a warm-up of lunges, high-knees and fast-feet sprinting on the spot he takes me through a brutal circuit: 1) burpees and explosive Plyo Box jumps; 2) press-ups and weighted rows; 3) a truly awful game where I have to run and touch one of two cones quite far apart on the floor, depending on Reynolds shouting left or right; 4) throwing a weighted ball to the floor, picking it up and jumping as high as I can; and 5) sprinting from one end of the room to the other clutching an American football. Then repeat.

I nearly crash into a wall because I can’t see through the sweat streaming into my eyes.

After the second round, there’s five minutes of press-ups, squats and burpees. It’s hellish — but then no one said it was easy being a superhuman. And annoyingly, I have no excuse not to continue my path to superstardom, thanks to an abundance of workouts such as “explosive agility” on the Nike Training Club app and the inspiration of London’s new love for the sport.

Guess you’ll see me on the pitch at Wembley next summer.

Follow Frankie McCoy on Twitter: @franklymccoy

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