By Ryan Zarnich (Rochester, Pa./Rochester Area)

I started training at PowerTrain Sports Institute at the beginning of January.  I have been really pleased with the training I have been receiving. I train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is more of a recovery day and I work on combine drills or have a quarterback come in and throw.  My day starts at 8 a.m. eating breakfast at a local deli in Bridgeville. After breakfast I have about an hour to rest before the morning workout starts.

Weight training begins around 9:45-10 a.m. I really enjoy the weight training because not only do I enjoy getting bigger but the most important part is the endurance my muscles receive. This is when I prepare for the 225 bench press drill. Yes it's important to be strong but at the same time the muscles need the proper endurance to be able to continue to rep out. After the morning lift I eat lunch around noon then I have an hour break until the afternoon workouts begin.

The afternoon workouts vary; Monday's are usually speed and agility (quick feet in the ladders, using cones for sharp turns, etc.). Tuesday's are considered to be the hard day because we do conditioning circuits. For example, there will be five stations set up. I would spend 30 seconds at one station and I would then have a 10 second rest before I began the next station.  I would go to each station twice and after I finished, it would count as one rep (usually I did up to 6 reps).  As I stated earlier Wednesday were my recovery day which I would do a lot of stretching and get massages. Also, Wednesday's were when we would practice drills for the combine/pro days (40 starts, three cone, shuttle, etc.), I would be able to run routes as well. Thursday and Friday are basically the same except that Thursday we would do speed drills and on Friday we go over combine drills.

Overall I am really happy with all of the gains I received. When I started my training I weighed around 254 pounds, but you could tell that I had a lot of body fat. I followed the diet and took the supplements I was given and now I weigh 266 (the right way). I am also really happy with my 40 and shuttle times; not to brag but it's not bad when a 266-pound tight end is running a 4.68 in the 40.

I am looking forward to be able to show it off all that I have been working towards when I have a private workout with the Washington Redskins on April 15. This is just a couple weeks before the draft and I am looking forward to representing Saint Francis University during this process.