At the beginning of his career Russell Wilson was a game manager while his defense did all the heavy lifting. After back to back Superbowl appearances, the Seattle Seahawks began to change their identity. Wilson has evolved into a superstar and one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL.
He didn’t get there by just going through the motions and hoping someone else would pick up the slack. Wilson took over the role that his defense had taken earlier in his career by introducing a physical fitness regime that changed his career path. He must a good leader too because DK Metcalf is a workout fiend as well. Here is the workout routine that Russell Wilson follows.
Russell Wilson Workout
Russell Wilson is one of the most elusive quarterbacks in the league, which is a big reason why he is one of the best in the NFL. The reason he has tons of variety in his workout is because brings so much versatility to the way he plays the quarterback position.
This is why Wilson’s workout regime consists of mixing things up and focusing on speed and strength, similar to Christian McCaffrey’s workout routine. Unlike a lot of quarterbacks in the league, Russell has to worry about explosiveness and power. Consistently escaping and taking on defensive lineman in open field and in the pocket is something he plans to do, not just worries about.
Wilson spends four days per week in the weight room, with each day dedicated to different things. The one thing that I’ve noticed is that he spends time each day on his core.
Upper Body Routine
For back day, Wilson will hit his traps and lats with exercises like trap raises, lat pulldowns, and suspended cable rows, both within the range of 4-6 reps to build for strength. Resistance band exercises like pull-aparts will complement these strength exercises.
For shoulder and chest day, Russell dials up the incline barbell bench press, dumbbell flys, and dumbbell hang cleans. All of these exercises are performed again in the 4-6 rep range. He will then complement these with weighted pushups in a higher range of 8-12 for a few sets and finish up with banded tricep pushdowns for a good pump.
Wilson has a couple days focused on legs. Here, he will utilize the power of the front squat and Romanian deadlift, which Saquon Barkley claims is the most effective lower body power exercise out there. Again, he’ll work in the lower rep range of 4-6. Complementary exercises include step ups, single leg squats, and single leg Romanian deadlifts.
Core Work
As previously mentioned, Wilson hits his core every day in some way or another. He likes to incorporate medicine ball work with exercises such as wood chops and sit ups (like Aaron Donald does). Unlike his strength work, he tries to work his core at a high tempo pace.
This is where he adds in single-arm ab rollouts, physioball planks, and medicine ball slams.
Speed and Agility Drills
Russell Wilson needs to keep his footwork and agility intact as he is dancing around in the pocket. This is where he tosses in things like ladder work or side to side shuffle, both while holding a football.
Another popular drill in Russell Wilson’s speed and agility routine is the point and move drill. This drill is as simple as it sounds but so effective for any athlete. Basically, Wilson will be holding a football to mimic game action and then sprint towards his training coach. His coach will then point to the left or right as his approaches him, forcing Wilson to quickly make the move towards the signaled spot.
Daily Routine during the season
Along with the intense workout, Russell Wilson also leans heavily on his diet and strict schedule. Just to show you, here is an example of a typical day during the NFL season. The day starts with him waking up at 5 am and jumping in the hot and cold tubs. He’ll then jump to stretching and yoga work and do a light lift before the clock hits 7.
After meetings run from about 8 am to the early afternoon, Wilson does shoulder activation work before practice which runs from 1-330 pm. He’ll either do some lifting, watch some film, or a combination of both until he leaves about 7 pm. After some much needed family time, Russell gets a deep tissue massage for stress relief and calls it a night.
Russell Wilson Diet
Like a lot of athletes, Wilson makes sure to drink a ton of water throughout the day and find an adequate balance of protein and carbs. His breakfast consists of oatmeal and almond butter with a side of fruit. Lunch will just be chicken and rice with some vegetables. Then, dinner he will spice it up with either salmon or steak along with vegetables again.
Related: Tom Brady Nutrition and Workout
Wilson avoids sugar as much as he can and tries not to cheat when he can help himself. But if he does end up cheating, it’s usually with some comfort food like mac and cheese, which is his favorite meal since he was growing up as his mom used to make it for him.
