Okay so full disclosure – I kinda fell into this whole NFL combine training rabbit hole after binge-watching the draft last year. Those crazy athletic dudes sprinting, jumping, lifting… it got me thinking, could an average gym guy like me even try to train like that just to see what it’s about? Spoiler: it’s brutal, but kinda awesome. Here’s exactly how my month-long experiment went down.
The Setup Phase: Turning My Garage Into a Mini Combine
First off, I needed the basic stuff. I measured out a 40-yard dash on my driveway using cheap painter’s tape – felt a bit ridiculous pacing it out at 7 AM hoping the neighbors weren’t watching. Dug out my old dusty plyo box from the back of the garage. Scrounged some old dumbbells and resistance bands. The big missing piece? The vertical jump setup. Ended up hanging a piece of chalk on a string taped to the garage door frame. Real high-tech. Total cost: practically nothing but my dignity.
Week 1: Welcome to Sore City
Holy moly, I was not ready. Tried doing the standard combine drills back-to-back like the pros do:
- Started with the 40-yard dash. Ran it once, almost tripped over my own feet. Ran it again immediately after? Pure jelly legs. Zero explosiveness.
- Vertical jump off two feet? Slapped my measly chalk mark maybe… a foot above my reach? Pathetic.
- The 3-cone drill… that was just pure humiliation. Cut left, slammed my hip into the box (ouch). Cut right, nearly twisted my ankle. Coordination level: toddler.
The reality check hit hard: These combine movements require a different kind of fitness. I could lift weights all day, but this explosive, change-direction stuff? Needed dedicated practice, not just general “exercise”. Major Pro: Instant motivation booster – seeing how awful I was made me wanna figure it out.
Week 2 & 3: Tweaking & Tuning (and Learning)
Shifted gears. Couldn’t just keep hammering drills poorly every day. Did some digging online (no links, just basic info!). Focused on specific techniques:
- 40-yard dash start form. Tinkered with stance width, hand position relative to the “line”. Small changes made a HUGE difference in the first step.
- Vertical jump technique. Realized I wasn’t using my arms AT ALL. Started swinging arms deep and jumping through my toes? Instantly added a few inches!
- Added VERY specific strength. Instead of heavy squats, did explosive exercises like box jumps (onto my plyo box), medicine ball slams, and lots of band-resisted sprints. Felt way more relevant.
Big Pro Discovered: The specificity forces you to really understand how your body moves explosively. Glaring Con: Constant tweaking! You nail one aspect, and another feels weak (e.g., form improves but conditioning lags). And the soreness? Constant background noise.
The Final Test & Draft Implications Takeaway
After a full month, I retested everything using my janky setups. Results? Better! 40-yard dash time dropped by half a second (still slow by NFL standards, obvs!). Vertical jump improved noticeably. 3-cone drill… less likely to cause injury now.
But here’s the draft lightbulb moment: It’s not about the raw numbers.
Testing myself relentlessly made it crystal clear why scouts care. How does the athlete move? Does their effort drop when tired? How quickly do they learn and apply technique adjustments? Watching film became way more valuable after struggling through the combine-style drills myself.
The Huge Con for Players? It’s such a specific, unnatural performance environment. Training FOR it means sacrificing time that could be spent refining actual football skills. Saw that firsthand. Scouting Pro? Seeing someone excel in an unfamiliar, high-pressure physical test truly highlights work ethic and athletic adaptability, which IS critical for the pros.
Final thoughts? Training like I was prepping for the combine was exhausting, sometimes frustrating, but incredibly eye-opening. For anyone thinking about the draft, watch HOW players attack the drills, not just the numbers on the screen. You’ll see what really matters.
