Mario Williams: Week by Week Training Routine

Many of us believed at the start of the 2006 NFL Draft that the Houston Texans were making a huge mistake by drafting Mario Williams instead of Heisman winner Reggie Bush or Texan Vince Young, whom both won championships in college. Williams had to deal with a whole year of criticism as his peers out performed expectations, but hey who would have known that all Houston needed was a replacement at quarterback and everything would be fixed. Meanwhile, Williams was bullying guys on the line and recording sack after sack. Here is his week by week pre draft training routine (Click the link for Phase 3 of his workout program):

"Mario Williams used this intense workout to improve his chest strength almost overnight, but the techniques you'll find here can be applied to any muscle group to boost strength — fast.

Phase 1

Build a foundation for a bigger bench by stabilizing your shoulders. Perform the workouts at right twice a week, with 2 days between. After your bench-press workout, do yielding isometric pushup holds: From the standard pushup position, bend your elbows until your chest is just off the floor, keeping your body straight. Hold for 20 seconds, rest for 60 seconds, return to the pushup position, and lower yourself halfway down. Hold for 20 seconds, rest, then hold the top position of a pushup — but with your elbows slightly bent — for another 20 seconds.

Week 1

Workout 1	Workout 2
Perform five sets of six reps of the dumb— bell bench press with an overhand grip and more weight than in week 2. Do 40-second isometric pushup holds.	Do two sets of 20 reps of the dumbbell bench press with a neutral grip, with the same weight as in week 1. Finish with 40-second isometric pushup holds.

Week 2

Workout 1	Workout 2
Do four sets of seven reps of the dumbbell bench press with an overhand grip and heavy weight. Hold the isometric pushups for 30 seconds this time.	Do three sets of 15 reps of the dumbbell bench press with a neutral grip. Use the same weight as in week 1. Finish with 30-second isometric pushup hol

Week 3

Workout 1	Workout 2
Perform five sets of six reps of the dumb— bell bench press with an overhand grip and more weight than in week 2. Do 40-second isometric pushup holds.	Do two sets of 20 reps of the dumbbell bench press with a neutral grip, with the same weight as in week 1. Finish with 40-second isometric pushup holds.

Phase 2

Here, you'll boost your max reps. In workout 1, simply perform the barbell bench press using the heaviest weight you can handle with perfect form, and rest for 31/2 minutes between sets. In workout 2, load a bar with a weight that allows you to do about 20 reps of the bench press. Perform a set to exhaustion, rest for 7 minutes, then drop 20 pounds and try to complete the same number of reps.

Week 4

Workout 1	Workout 2
Do four sets of six reps of the barbell bench press.	This time, perform isometric pushups first, holding each step for 30 seconds. Then do the bench-press routine as described at left. Repeat your isometric pushup hold

Week 5

Workout 1	Workout 2
Do five sets of five reps of the barbell bench press.	Perform the isometric pushup holds, holding each position for 40 seconds. Add 5 pounds to last week's bench weight and aim for the same number of reps. Repeat the holds

Week 6

Workout 1	Workout 2
Do three sets of four reps of the bar- bell bench press.	Hold each isometric pushup position for 20 seconds. Add another 5 pounds to the bench weight; aim for the same number of reps. Repeat the isometric holds.

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[ via Yahoo ]