Bill Romanowski | Romo

Twenty one years ago this week, I was a senior coming out of Boston College and getting ready for the NFL draft.  What a nerve racking weekend that was!  Not knowing where my future was headed . . . What city? What team would I end up with?  Where would I go?  Would I play inside linebacker or outside linebacker?  I got three calls the day of the draft.  One from the Dallas Cowboys who were making a decision between me and Ken Norton Jr.  The next were the Indianapolis Colts who were getting ready to pick and they thought the Raiders were going to pick a QB . . . they didn’t so the Colts grabbed Chris Chandler for QB.  And soon after, I got a call from San Francisco 49ers and they drafted me in the third round. 

Wow.  I didn’t know much about them.  I was pretty blown away because I knew I would have a chance to win a Super Bowl.  I came out to San Francisco, and what a culture shock!  I couldn’t believe how every single day was sunny, and nice, and beautiful.  But it was a hard time for me because I still had college exams, but the last thing I wanted to was to miss coming out to San Francisco for my post draft experience, press conference, and my first mini-camp.  So I headed out to San Francisco, and when I got back to BC to take my exam, I knew none of the material.  I wrote my professor a long letter of apology, stating something along the lines of “My mind was absolutely on my future and I’m very sorry for not being prepared for this exam, but I never missed one of my classes, and I did well in everything until the final exam.  I went from a B+ to a B-.”  Thanks Professor McLellan!

Boston College was over, and I was on my way to my new career: Professional Football!

I look back on this experience and remember what an exciting and tumultuous time it was for me.  Best of luck for everyone who is in the same boat this week.  Life is a climb and there are a lot of views.  Enjoy each and every one of them.

Last Friday I received an unexpected but great phone call.  It was my birthday, and a surprise, a friend had arranged for a phone call to me from the owners of Café Gratitude.  Café Gratitude is a small string of cafés through the bay area.  I love going there and I love the grateful and positive philosophy of Café Gratitude.  The owners of the café ask their employees and guests an insightful question every day.  For my birthday, they had a special question: “In 43 years of life, what have you learned?”  I pondered for 5 seconds.  The answer was clear to me.  In my 43 years, I’ve learned just how important it is to surround myself by great people: great family, great friends, and great people at work.

At Nutrition53, I have the ability to surround myself with great people at work because I am part of the hiring process.  Although you can’t pick most of your family members, I was fortunate enough to grow up with supportive parents and siblings, who I love.  My wife takes very great care of me, is always there for me and is very loving.  For that I am very thankful.  She has given me the two biggest blessings in my life, Dalton and Alexandra.  Dalton turned 15 last month and things can be a day to day challenge at that age.  But it’s a challenge that I love and am open to each and every day. Alexandra turns 12 this month, she and I worked out together for the first time yesterday.  I was blown away by her strength, work ethic, and determination.  When I told her the workout was finished, she said “Daddy, can we do more?”  I thought “Yes!”  I love it.  Love the passion, love the determination.  She is a great gymnast. 

Now I want to ask you to share with people, whether you are a 15 years old or 75 years old, what you have learned in your life? What can you share with someone to make a difference in their life? What are you grateful for?

Recently I received this comment full of questions from a young player:

“Hello Mr. Romanowski,

I was wondering if you could help me improve my workout and answer a few questions. Firstly, I try to get to the gym at least 3 times a week but was wondering if you could help me or give me some guidance. Mainly I have been wondering if I move up to 6 times a week would there be any problems in my body being able to cope or should I take it slowly. I was also wondering if it’s fine to work out when you still feel a bit tight or sore from the previous day’s work out?

I was also wondering about whenever you say power is more important than the number of reps, normally I try to do the highest weight I can complete 3 sets of 12 reps at, does that sound like a decent way to train? I was also wondering about people like James Casey who completed 28 reps of 100kg in the drafts so was wondering if I was training wrong (less reps) or whether this is not a training method and purely to try and impress coaches and in which case what is the best way to train if 30 reps of 100kg is a goal?

Just for clarification I’m a 16 year old guy. I was wondering what you mean when you say stretch out after a run? Do you mean stretch out your hamstrings ect? And I was also wandering if you knew any good stretches for your calves?  Mine seem to pull quite a bit on long runs or sprints over 40m.

Finally I was just wandering if you have any idea of what sort of weight I should be able to bench/ curl/ squat etc if I wanted to be at NFL standard in a few years time and what I should aim for over the next few years? I’m 85kg for reference.

I would like to finish saying that you have been a great inspiration to me and most of the guys I hang about with and I have found a lot of your tips so far invaluable.

Thanks a lot,

Andi”

Dear Andi,

Thanks for your questions.  It’s great to hear from aspiring athletes like yourself! 

Let me try to answer a few of your questions about training here.  I strongly suggest “periodized training,” especially in the weight room.  That means that you follow a schedule of rigorous training, followed by a period of rest so your body can actually repair from your hard work in the gym.  I suggest a period of circuit weights (low weight/high reps with minimal recovery), hypertrophy (lower reps/moderate weights with full recovery), and power (low reps/high weight, full recovery).   

I recommend continuing your pattern of lifting 3 days per week, alternating your workouts between weight training and another activity each day (6 days/week).  I did my weight training 6 days a week, with three of those being explosive days, and three of those being hypertrophy.  But that takes full recovery and access to massage and therapists.  You are young and still in high school, so you have some limitations in your recovery.  It is ok to train if you are sore from your previous day’s workout, but understand that you are truly making your strength gains in your recovery from your hard training.  If you cannot recover from a workout, then you are not making any gains by doing it.  With that said, you need to understand your body and your energy levels.  If you have trouble sleeping at night, are overly fatigued on a regular basis, or excessively cranky, you may need to add another recovery day to your training schedule.  Please be sure to maximize your recovery, and decrease soreness, injury, and over-training by getting in a good recovery meal or shake immediately after your workout!  This should include at least 200 hundred calories of high-glycemic carbohydrates and protein!  And don’t forget about sleep either, at least 7 hours but closer to 9 is the best.

I’m also glad you asked about stretching.  Maximizing your flexibility can help you maximize your athleticism and reduce injuries.  Always warm up your muscles with a bit of activity before you stretch.  To stretch your calves, press your hands against a wall, walk your feet 5-6 feet away from the wall and gently try to push your heels towards the ground.  If you need more stretch, walk your feet further away from the wall.  Try to stretch every muscle in your body on a regular basis, but if you are crunched for time (as I know most high-school athletes are) then stretch the major muscles you are using, such as your quads, ham strings, calves, glutes, and shoulders/arms. 

In regards to how much weight you should be benching/curling/squatting, it not necessarily about the weight.  The weight means squat, no pun intended.  However, you will have bench press in your combine test.  They test how many times you can bench 225 lbs.  Another thing, squatting I think is an absolute necessity for power in your legs, speed, and explosive start, especially for your 40m.  Curls are more an exercise in muscle balance.  You want everything to be strong, your legs, shoulders, chest, and core.  You want your entire body to be strong. 

I hope that helps.  All the best to you Andi, I hope you reach your goals!

Peace,

Romo

Today I was in Phoenix Arizona to launch with our new retail partners, Hi Health.  I went in not knowing exactly what I was I for.  I had heard good things about Hi Health and had discussions with them over the past couple years but the relationship didn’t materialize until today.  I gave a motivational talk in front of all their store managers.  Wow.  It was enlightening for me to see how professional this organization is run.  My main contact, Jay, was amazing. 

I’m very encouraged and excited about the people in Phoenix being able to have access to all the Nutrition53 products.  Hi Health really serves the people of Phoenix with over 60 locations.  I went into one store to see the lay of the land and I was so impressed with the professionalism and knowledge of their employees, the layout and look and feel of the store.  It is truly the perfect location for Nutrition53 products.  Get ready Phoenix to live like you mean it!  Thank you Hi Health, Team53 looks forward to a long lasting, great relationship with a phenomal partner like you.

Also, I wanted to thank you guys for some really inspirational comments on here lately.  I’m sorry if my response has been less than timely, I look forward to answering some questions here on the blog.  Until then, keep training hard!

Peace

This weekend Julie and I went to a great event with a few friends of mine, Roger and Diana Jenkins.  It was the launch of Diana’s new coffee table book, Room 23, as well as an informal pre-launch to NeuroBrands, a beverage company which I partnered with Diana to help formulate some really incredible functional beverages.  They will be hitting the market in the next couple weeks. 

The who’s who of Hollywood and entertainment were at the party, but there was someone in partucular that I was excited to meet.  For any of you who have read my book, you may realize that Elton John’s song “Tiny Dancer” played a big impact in my career.  When I was a freshman at BC and my coach knocked on my door to tell me I made the starting team, I was filled with emotion and I jumped up to turn on some music from the radio.  The song playing at that moment was Tiny Dancer.  From then on, I listened to Tiny Dancer before every game I ever played.  It always transported me back to my first big break in college and continues to inspired me to accomplish more. 

Having said all that, with Elton John being at the party, I walked up and introducd myself.  I told him how his music had made a really big impact in my life and in my profession.  I told him the relevance of his song, Tiny Dancer, in my football career and he actually reached out to shake and kiss my hand as a gesture.  He was clearly honored and inspired and I felt fortunate to be able to share my experiences with him. 

Elton, thank you for the great music that inspired me and thank you for being so cool when we met this weekend.

My beautiful wife, Julie, and me at Jessica Biel’s event for the Children’s Miracle Network and Oakland Children’s Hospital.  We are both looking forward to continued community outreach throughtout 2009.

Super Bowl XXXII, I was with Denver playing the Packers and we went in as the underdog.  Actually we went in as wild cards. Reminds me of the Cardinals going into the Super Bowl this Sunday.  The Cardinals are going up against the mighty Stealers, the number one defense in the league.  This is a team that came from no where.  No one thought they could win.  No one thought they could beat Carolina, no one thought they could beat the Eagles and now they are playing in the Super Bowl.

The key to this team right now is is Curt Warner.  From grocery boy to arena football to the best show on earth with the Rams, Super Bowl MVP, winning one super Bowl, losing one Super Bowl.  He brings a belief to the Arizona cardinals that if they play together as a team they can win.  That belief got stronger and stronger towards the end of the season. 

It’s why they say you gotta play the game, because no one would have thought the Cardinals would even had a chance at making it to the Super Bowl.  Now they not only made it, but I think they have a a great chance at winning the Super Bowl. 

Great players play great in big games.  Curt Warner is going to have the Stealers defense attacking him from every direction.  Look for him to have an outstanding game utilizing the quick passing game, and running the football with Edgerrin James.  I’m really looking forward to this game, I always love rooting for the underdog.  Look for a huge upset with the Cardinals winning on the last second field goal to win by 1 point.

I’ll end my story with congratulations to the Cardinals for making believers out of your team, teammates, organization, city, the league, the country, and the world. Go get yourself a Super Bowl ring.

Recently a reporter in an interview asked me this question: “In what ways did winning the Super Bowl improve your life?”

I wanted to share my answer with you. Here is how winning a Super Bowl changed my life:

As a child I spent many hours dreaming of becoming a professional football player and playing in the Super Bowl some day. I am living proof that dreams do come true to those who believe and work hard. It gives me the confidence and drive every day to continue dreaming and believing that I can change the world with a great team of people around me. That’s what I was able to do 4 times as NFL star with great coaches and teammates. Now as the CEO of Nutrition53 I am leading a great group people and guiding them and helping them believe they can become World Champions in the nutrition industry. So it starts with a dream and takes a lot of hard work, dedication, love, passion and believing in your team to change the world. That is not just my dream but my promise!

AFC and NFC Championship Games . . . Wow!  Does football get any better than that?  How exciting to see a team like Phoenix, who has never been to the Super Bowl, or even two-rounds in to the Playoffs, beat the Eagles the way they did.  Hats off to Curt Warner and the team!  Curt Warner raised the level of talent around him to have the guys finally believe that they can win a Super Bowl.  And now they get to play the mighty Stealers in two weeks for the Super Bowl Champs. 

Congratulations Cardinals!  Good luck, and most importantly, don’t forget to believe in yourself and your teammates and you need realize it’s going to take every one of you to give it up for one another to get the job done.

How about the Stealers vs. Raven game?  Like I said in my interviews, I thought it would be one of the hardest hitting football games every played and I think that’s exactly what it was!  Low scoring game . . . defense wins Championships.  Hats off to the Stealers for getting the job done, Ben Roethlisberger for leading his team to Victory and to Mike Tomlin as a second year Head Coach.  Getting his players to believe that they could do something special.  The Stealers are an inspiration, they do it the way football is supposed to be played: hard-hitting, intensity, action packed, leave it all on the field, knock the crap out of people, win in the trenches, dominate the line of scrimmage, kicking ass and taking names . . . the Stealer way.

Look for a Cardinal-Stealer Super Bowl to be an outstanding game.  The key to the game is for the Cardinals to avoid being awed by the Stealer team.  They need to go out there and execute.  The Stealers just have to go out there and do what they’ve done all year long.  At the end of the day, both teams have to realize this is just an Away Game at Tampa Bay . . . not the Super Bowl.  When you focus on the Super Bowl, you focus on something different, something grander, than just an old fashioned football game.  They need to focus on what got them there and that was playing great football.

Good luck to both teams, I look forward to an outstanding football game.

Want my prediction? Cardinals beat the Stealers on the last drive by three points. 

As many of you know, recently there has been a turn over of Head Coach at the Denver Broncos. 

I have a deep appreciation for the Denver Broncos Organization, and after talking with my good friend Pat Bowlen, the owner of the Organization, my mind became overwhelmed with a new game plan to help the Denver Broncos build a new football dynasty.

I have to admit that I really enjoyed the excitement, mental exercise, and possibilities involved in this project.  Just thinking about the way I used to train and approach recovery, and also about the innovations I would like to see in the NFL.  Just dreaming about the perfect performance center in an NFL team, the function, and the possibilities of being the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos was exciting.

With a great support and the right Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, there is no doubt in my mind I could motivate and empower the staff and team.  I just feel in my heart that the energy in Denver would be electric and I could help make the Denver Broncos unstoppable. 

It’s quite a fantasy, on one level, because I really love what I do at Nutrition53.  I love being in the health and fitness industry, I love my employees, and I love the challenge each and every day of working to become a top CEO.  But being the dreamer that I have always been, I guess I will have to settle with the fact that I have two passions in business.  Those being how I made a living in football for 16 years, and nutrition/performance.  I get to live a blessed life and I am very thankful every day.  And I couldn’t do it without my great family; my wife that supports me, and our two gifts from God, our kids Dalton and Alexandra.  I know I may drive them crazy at times. 

After all the hype, being on the AP wire, and having a long talk with Mr. Bowlen, I have presented him with 30 pages outlining my visions of building a football dynasty.  You never know.  Realistically, I’m probably not the typical head coach candidate for him, but maybe a strong candidate as a performance coordinator.  With someone as innovative and as ”out-of-the-box” type of a thinker as Mr. Bowlen, I won’t rule out the possibilities.  He’s the type of guy who did Ironmans in the 80’s, before Triathlon was popular.  He’s the kind of guy that would potentially implement a type of program such as the one I suggested.

As it sits, it would just be icing on the cake because I am so happy here at Nutrition53 with my family and employees out in California.  But I would welcome the opportunity and feel great excitement at the possibilities of dreams becoming realities while coaching in the NFL.