Ahead of his 18th NFL season, Lewis told us how he keeps going—from nine-hour training days to recovering with jiu-jitsu.
In September, when Marcedes Lewis suits up for the Chicago Bears’ season opener (facing his former team, the Green Bay Packers), he’ll begin his 18th NFL season. In one sense, that makes the 39-year-old the last man standing—this year, Lewis will be the only active player from the 2006 NFL Draft. And he doesn’t appear to be slowing down. The tight end started every game for the Packers last season; he’s played in double-digit games every season but one since 2006.
So how has he found such longevity and stability while playing such a physical position? Marcedes Lewis says it’s a combination of the physical and mental–and a routine that the 6’6”, 267-lb. California native doesn’t deviate from. “I think my will and my growth mindset has me in the position I'm in now,” Lewis says.
We talked to Lewis in May, prior to his signing a one-year contract with the Bears, and again last week as he settled into his Chicago-area apartment, about how he trains in the off-season and how his mindset and durability has evolved over 18 (and counting) NFL seasons.
To start, what does an off-season workout day look like for you?
I'll give you a typical day because it's pretty much that on repeat. I wake up around 6 or 6:30AM. On Monday/Wednesday/Friday, I'm at the gym first. We'll normally do upper body and then lower body. Friday is total body. Saturday is an active recovery, which is getting rid of the lactic acid. We go to the track to do that: striders, jogging, I'll get just over 2,500 yards on a Saturday.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we're on the track at 6:45AM before lifting. I'll get about 2,000 yards in. Tuesday is more sprint-emphasis; Thursday is more distance, endurance–400 meter sprints, mile fartlek, more of that nature.
Wednesday is normally an active recovery day—that's my MMA day. My muay thai, jujitsu, to keep the blood flow and not bang on my joints.
Do you design your own workouts?
My trainer is Jamal Liggin—I've been working with him since the 2011 off-season. We know each other, he knows my body. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to do some of the stuff I do.
You’re 39 years old. You’ve managed to avoid any major surgeries over more than three decades of playing football. I imagine recovery is a big focus, as well.
As I talk to you [in May], I'm in the sauna. Literally. I put you on Bluetooth. I came to The Remedy Place. I'm an investor. Think of a recovery facility mixed with the Soho House—it’s a members-only, social health and wellness club.
Typically, when I come into recovery, I’ll do an infrared sauna for 45 minutes and then the cold tub for 15 minutes. That's non-negotiable. After that, depending on how my body feels, I will add on what I need: synthetic drainage boots, medical-grade—I'll be in there for an hour where I’ll read or nap or work. If I do that on Wednesday, then Thursday may be the hyperbaric chamber for an hour. Acupuncture, active release with muscles, massage. Every now and then I'll slip in cryotherapy.
If I do a lower body lift on Monday, then Tuesday it’s an upper body lift plus run. So by Tuesday, I'm already feeling it. These are the treatments I use every week. I have an NAD [Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, a coenzyme] IV infusion—about every two months, which I started doing last off-season. It’s more about rejuvenation.
The most important part is making sure I get sleep so my muscles have time to recover. During the season, I’m off my feet and in bed by 9pm; I fall asleep by 10 or 10:15pm. Before I go to sleep, I’m visualizing success and what I plan to do the next day. I try to focus on one thing that I want to get better at. I meditate on that as I’m closing my eyes. Especially before games–it’s the things I’ve thought about 10,000 times.
I get two massages a week in-season, and two a week during the off-season. I normally fly my physical therapist back and forth from L.A. to [where I’m playing], which I’ll do again, and I'll have my massage therapist come up maybe once a month. Jamal will come up, too.
Between workouts and recovery work, that sounds like…a lot. How much off-season time are you devoting to training every day?
When I'm training once a day, it’s about four and a half hours. When I'm training twice a day, I double it. Those twice-a-days start in mid-June. Those are the toughest days because I'm trying to compartmentalize things I have to do outside of training and the training will trump anything I have to do personally. That's what's helping me build my mental fortitude and routine to where this is my life now. So it’s nine hours a day starting in mid-June.
That continued literally right up until I got the phone call [from Chicago]. You can never cross too many t’s or dot too many i’s. If you don’t know if you’ll be in camp with a certain team, you don’t want to get there and not be prepared. That’s me and Jamal being hyper-focused on making sure I’m prepared for whatever is thrown at me. I’m not getting any younger, right?
And I got better this off-season. I got stronger, I felt like my reaction skills and my flexibility got better. It’s always trying to figure out, what is it that you want to focus on? We did a really good job of identifying those things.
You’re clearly determined. What—or who—do you attribute that to?
Who I am and why I work so hard? That’s my mom. My grit, my genetic code—I’m always trying to push through the wall. I got it all from her, watching her bust her butt to make ends meet after having me at 15. There’s a lot of choices she could’ve made, but I'm here today. That’s my dog.
Nine hours of workouts likely needs a lot of fuel. What does your nutrition look like?
I don't drink coffee—I’ve probably had five total cups of coffee in my life. And I don’t eat breakfast—my first meal is at 1PM or 2PM. I'll have a pressed green juice in the morning. My chef will come to my house and cook a mid-day meal. I can have a snack between 2 and 5PM and dinner will be ready by 7:30PM. I'll have a shake before bed. I don't overeat. Right now [in May], I'm 268, 269 lbs. I don't eat as much as people would think. I eat when I'm hungry. At the end of day your body has to burn all of that. I'm at 13.5% body fat right now.
On the weekend in the off-season, I'll have one cheat meal—not a cheat day, just a meal. If I want a waffle from my favorite spot in Burbank, I’ll take a few laps around the block after I eat. I'll drink alcohol socially. If it's a big thing, then I'll have a drink.
When I retire, I think I’ll walk around at 255 lbs. And my body fat will be down to 10%. It’s worth it to carry a little extra weight now for the football field.
This will be your 18th NFL season. Has this routine been the key to your longevity?
You know what? If I sat here and told you that I have it all mapped out, that wouldn’t be totally true. I don't have the blueprint. All I can say is that I stuck to it. Everybody's routine and what they do will be different. What do I know is that every day, you have to be intentional about your growth in every aspect of your life.
As it pertains to working out and your health, what are you willing to sacrifice? I've been adding and adding to that wheelbarrow. I've been able to add to my routine for the last 14, 15 years. I don't beat my knees up on the grass or do a lot of football drills until mid-June. I went from a lot of work on the field in the off-season to tailoring it down. Then I added in MMA and more pool workouts. On Saturdays, when we have active recovery and we're jogging, if I'm not doing that, I'm in the pool swimming laps and doing a dynamic warm-up to get off of my joints.
There's no right or wrong, but it's always about listening to your body and being at one with your body. What I need today can differ from tomorrow.
What about mental training? Is that part of your routine?
You know how they say it’s 90% mental, 10% physical? I think it's 100% mental. My mental fortitude is what got me here. And not just here as in 18 years going into the league. I've been playing football since I was seven. This is part of my purpose and calling. When you have the work added with your calling and your purpose, you can't be beat. I feel like my rhythm right now, I'm in alignment. I have my routine down to a science and my body knows when I'm even one day off.