Patrick Mahomes' Trainer Says There Are Benefits to His 'Dad Bod': 'I Don't Need Him to Look Like a Model' (Exclusive)

• Bobby Stroupe has been Patrick Mahomes’ coach since the NFL running back was 9 years old
• He says he relies on unconventional training methods with the Kansas City Chiefs star, such as gymnastics and javelin-based drills.
• Coach explains why Mahomes’ ‘dad’ is useful, but ‘not from an unhealthy point of view’

Patrick Mahomes was only 9 years old when he started working with his trainer Bobby Stroupe. Now, 20 years later with three Super Bowl wins and two MVP awards under his belt, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback has a regimen tied to an athletic trainer.

Stroupe — founder and president of the Athlete Performance Enhancement Center (APEC) — recently shared his and Mahomes’ fitness methods and why, despite the jokes, the NFL star’s “dad” is actually a good thing to have.

“In terms of our approach, I call it the pie system because—I’m really corny—but basically this has eight layers,” he explains. “There are eight different things we focus on: movement literacy, force absorption, force transmission, pattern stability, tissue resistance, mobility, stability and flexibility.”

Stroupe and Mahomes try to work out four or five days a week in the offseason. But since the 29-year-old has a family and a busy schedule, they work with the time they have. Some days, Stroupe says, they train for more than four hours; other training sessions last 90 minutes.

“During the season, the situation is different because football is the priority. Big days for us are the day after the game,” he continues. “When most people rest the day after the game, we really work. There’s about three to three and a half hours worth of soft tissue work, mobility work, range of motion work and just general health. Trying to make sure that the 26 bones in your foot, the 640 muscles, the 12 fascial lines, everything has to be in the right state.”

Travis Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs win the first game of the NFL season in a Nail-Biter

In addition, Stroupe relied on unconventional training methods with Mahomes, such as gymnastics and javelin-based drills, as well as martial arts drills.

“There are some things you wouldn’t think an NFL quarterback would do, but we’ve found that Patrick responds really well to this system and this approach,” he says.

Stroupe says he knows there have been jokes on social media recently — even from Mahomes himself — about the Chiefs star’s “dad body,” but weight and body composition have long been on his radar.

In fact, he says, dad’s body can be healthy for some people.

“I’ll be the first to tell you that I think an NFL running back should be at least 14% body fat,” Stroupe says. “It’s not from an unhealthy point of view, but from a force absorption point of view. You have to be able to make contact.”

“We know there’s just not a lot of Hall of Fame running backs that have six packs and there’s a reason for that. We have to find that fine line between performance and health. And the aesthetic part is a different conversation,” he explains. “I don’t need him to look like a model because the way he chooses to play requires a certain type of physicality, and that physicality needs more body fat. That is the fundamental belief I have for him.”

Patrick Homes.

David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty

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In addition to fitness, Stroupe — who coaches several NFL and MLB players — stresses the importance of diet and nutrition with his athletes. Nutrition, he says, can act as an accelerator or a brake, depending on how high a priority it is.

“The quality and sources of our food, drinks and everything from the source of caffeine play a role in performance,” he notes.

Stroupe says they relied heavily on Throne SPORT COFFEE with Mahomes, which company owner Michael Fedele created in partnership with the quarterback.

“Patrick has always been someone who drinks coffee first thing in the morning. But one of the challenges he faced was that I also wanted him to take some shakes to add different amino acids and proteins and other things that I thought were important.”

Stroupe says turning to the product removed the “give and take” between him and Mahomes, allowing the NFL star to drink his coffee while getting the nutritional benefits the coach wanted him to receive. “It was simple for us,” he adds.

Patrick Mahomes jokes he threw a behind-the-back pass to Travis Kelce ‘out of spite’ during Chiefs’ preseason Game 2

Patrick Mahomes.

Tron SPORT COFFEE

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Now, as Mahomes plays in his eighth NFL season, Stroupe tells PEOPLE that the star’s mantra has been to “be the best” to achieve longevity in his football career.

“He’s one of the most unique athletes we’ve ever seen in any sport, and he has to focus on being Patrick,” Stroupe says. “If he tried to emulate Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, we wouldn’t benefit from seeing someone like him play this game at this level.”

“And no matter how many rings he wins, no matter how many MVPs, every game we can identify things he can do better,” he adds. “There is limitless room for improvement.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education