By Tim Graham
For those curious how Buffalo Bills defensive end Shawne Merriman looks these days or for those into the workout sciences, I present to you a fine way to kill off part of your afternoon.
The NOC, a YouTube channel that highlights what athletes do away from the field, produced a 34-minute video that provides an in-depth look into Merriman's offseason weightlifting regimen.
The feature goes through some grueling exercises with trainer Ryan Haines at the Fit Athletic Club in San Diego. Merriman explains the offseason is when he wants to bulk up. Weight training generally gives way to more conditioning and flexibility work once football resumes.
"My whole philosophy in working out and training," Merriman says, "is just push it to the limit, go as hard as you can, and when I'm done for the day I want to know that I did everything possible to get better."
Merriman also reiterated what he has been telling reporters the past few months, that his recovery from Achilles surgery is going well and that he feels better than he has in years.
"Just being able to get back to where I was, training with my team during the offseason and going through the OTAs and going through minicamp, this is the best I've felt in three years," Merriman says. "So I'm looking for a heck of a season coming up, and now that I feel back to where I was five and six years ago and being able to move out there on the field, a lot of people are looking to see the old Lights Out back."
Check out the video. It's an educational glimpse into what an NFL player -- one who's fighting for reps on a stacked defensive line, no less -- goes through to maintain himself.
Then again, if you have 34 minutes to watch Merriman work out, then my advice to you would be to push away from the computer and, you know, go work out.
