When you stand at 6’5” and you’re built with 288 pounds of muscle, you’re going to need a diet to match of course. But Texan’s defensive end, JJ Watt, has a diet that – well is simply crazy. The 26 year old NFL professional consumes close to 9,000 calories every day!
With his speed, size, and strength Watt’s body needs the right amount of fuel to tackle a workout and get through a game. Trainer Brad Arnett, noticed back in February that Watt’s performance was slacking, and Watt picked up on it.
Watt said, “My body was grabbing for something that wasn’t there. It was trying to fuel itself with no fuel.” The solution: cheat days and more calories. Arnett explained to Watt that if he were going to down several chicken breasts in one meal he had to wrap them in bacon, daily. Upping the fat also meant doubling the portion sizes of mashed sweet potatoes, pasta, fish, and avocados. Watt was eating avocados like they were going out of fashion!
Since that day back in February, Watt’s calorie count has drastically increased from 6,000 to 9,000 calories a day.
His daily diet consists of:
50 x slices of bacon
20 x chicken breasts
13 x whole avocados
Totalling up to 9,000 calories.
Soon enough, cheat days came back into the picture, and brunch became a weekly food regimen.
“Brunch is my favourite meal. I love a massive potato pancake omelette. Then I have stuffed French toast with berries and stuff. The omelette is still pretty darn healthy. The stuffed French toast was the cheat meal, but that was delicious,” says Watt.
Watt is not the only athlete to have a crazy diet plan. Roll back 5 years, when Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps was eating up to 12,000 calories a day while preparing for the Beijing Olympic Summer Games. But eating 9,000 calories for Watt isn’t easy, “If I’m not working out, I eat the whole time I’m not working out. It’s exhausting. You have to force-feed.”
Watt only saw food as fuel when he started with the NFL, following a lean, low-carb diet. That diet, at the time, was a success as he became a two-time defensive player of the year and league MVP candidate, but now that diet just simply doesn’t cut it.
Watt now has more fuel and energy, and the extra fat content is aiding his body to absorb nutrients from other meals — allowing him to now crush workouts and training camp.
Only time will tell, this season, if it has an affect on his game.
