Gronkowski, who played nine seasons with the New England Patriots at around 268 pounds, has dropped 25 pounds since retiring at the end of his injury-riddled 2018 season. While hes only been away from football for a year, he says he got the mental break he so desperately needed.
Though Gronkowski never actually stopped working out, his fitness routine in retirement took on a new look, with agility and stability exercises he learned from former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, with whom he will be reunited in Tampa. Gronkowski traded heavy weights for resistance bands. He dabbled with intermittent fasting, including mixing in a few 24-hour fasts. He replaced burgers and fries with plant-based protein shakes and organic veggies. He became addicted to Sudoku puzzles, and he made two cameos in the WWE, bringing his personality, power and general chutzpah to WrestleMania 36. And his year of leisure led him right back to the NFL.
I said it from the beginning that I wouldnt come back to the game unless Im feeling it, feeling healthy, and feeling ready to play, Gronkowski said in an Instagram post last week . Taking a year off was hands down the best decision I made, not just in my career, but also for my health and well-being, and I would do that all over again.
But now, its back to business. In Fridays workout, trainer Dave Parise, CPT, MES, FPTA, plans on taking Gronk through half an hour of minute-long bouts on an Inertia Wave, a training tool that looks like battle ropes but is made of a rubber-like material that feeds energy back into the body, rather than into the ground. Gronkowski has been working out with the core-crushing tubes on his own and says after just 60 seconds, he feels like he has run a marathon. Sound familiar? Lebron James posted video of himself working out with an Inertia Wave last week .
Parise will give Gronkowski 20 to 30 seconds of active recovery between each working set, during which hell do pushups, glute bridges, planks, and other bodyweight exercises. Gronkowski will also do a post-workout Q&A.
At just 30 years old, Gronkowski could conceivably play another five years in the NFLif he can stay healthy. The All-Pro tight end collected 7,861 receiving yards in New England. In Tampa, hell give Brady a third stellar pass-receiving option alongside wideouts Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, and with Super Bowl LV in Tampa next February, theyll all give the Bucs a chance to do what no NFL team has done before: win a Super Bowl in their own city.