Aaron Donald has emerged as a phenomenal NFL athlete. This 31-year-old is often regarded as one of the best defensive players of all time.
And there is a reason for it as well. Whenever Aaron is on the field, his on-field skills mesmerize his fans and also win points for his team. Not only is he big and strong, but his speed and endurance are also unparalleled.
Aaron’s training journey started when he was just 12 years old. He used to train with his father after getting up early.
As the years passed, his discipline and dedication towards training remained intact. And that’s what gets exhibited in his game performance.
Here in this post, we will give you a detailed overview of Aaron Donald’s workout routine and diet plan.
Aaron Donald’s Workout Routine
Aaron stands tall at 6 feet 1 inch and weighs somewhere around 127 kg. His monstrous frame and size make him an unstoppable force in the field.
But in order to work on improving his skills and on-field performance, he trains like a freak. He also ensures to train different aspects of his body such as speed, agility, power, strength, and endurance.
To work on building up his overall physical strength and explosiveness, Aaron relies on basic strength-building compound exercises. His strength training regime primarily revolves around exercises like squats, deadlifts, and bench presses.
He performs those exercises in the 6-8 rep range lifting up to 85-90% of his 1RM. He also ensures to perform his lifts with strict technique and form.
On game days, Aaron prefers to train with moderate weights. He ups his training volume during that period, and targets to complete 8-12 reps.
Core strength and stability contribute significantly towards improving one’s overall athleticism. Aaron is well aware of this fact and hence he ensures to train his core muscles adequately.
To train his core, he prefers performing high repetitions (somewhere between 20-25).
Being quite serious about keeping his fitness levels at peak, Aaron trains 6 days a week. Now, let’s have a look at the exercises that are present in Aaron Donald’s workout routine:-
Monday- Abdominals
- Bicycle crunches- 4 sets of 20-25 reps
- Toe touches- 4 sets of 20-25 reps
- Medicine ball crunches- 5 sets of 20-25 reps
- Heel taps- 4 sets of 20-25 reps
- Plank- 3 sets of 60 seconds
- Side planks- 4 sets of 45-60 seconds (on each side)
Tuesday- Lower Body Workout
- Squats- 4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Deadlifts- 4 sets of 8-10 reps
- Lunges- 4 sets of 20 reps (on each leg)
- Calf raises- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Burpees- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Wednesday- Speed and Agility
Sprint work:-
- 10-meter sprints- 3 sets
- 25-meter sprints- 3 sets
Agility work:-
- Suicide sprints- 3 sets
- Agility ladder- 3 sets
- Burpees- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Thursday- Cardio
- Exercise bike Or
- Running on the treadmill Or
- Elliptical trainer
Friday- Upper Body Strength
- Barbell bench press- 4 sets of 6-10 reps
- Cable Row- 4 sets of 12-15 reps
- Overhead press- 4 sets of 6-10 reps
- Parallel bar dips- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Incline bench press- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Dumbbell flys- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Dumbbell curls- 3 sets of 15-20 reps
- Lying tricep extensions- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Tricep pushdowns- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
Saturday- Full Body Strength Training
- Box squats- 4 sets of 6-10 reps
- Bulgarian split squats- 4 sets of 8-12 reps
- Reverse lunges- 4 sets of 10-12 reps
- Bent-over dumbbell rows- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Lateral raises- 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Zottman curls- 3 sets of 12-15 reps
- Weighted sit-ups- 3 sets of 15-20 reps
- Dumbbell side bends- 3 sets of 15 reps
- Plank- 3 sets of 60 seconds
Sunday- Rest
On his rest days, Aaron either stretches his muscles or goes for outdoor walks. Both of them are great activities to facilitate relaxation to the body.
Knife Training
Yes, you read that right. Aaron’s exercise routine also has some elements of knife training. Now, before you start anticipating that Aaron must be prepping for a role in an action movie, let us tell you that’s absolutely not the case.
Aaron performs knife training to primarily up his reaction timing. It also works on improving his hand-fighting skills. Thus, knife training has a prominent role to play in Aaron’s off-season workout routine.
Don’t miss:
Derrick Henry’s Workout and Diet Plan
Gabe Kapler’s Workout Routine and Diet
Cody Simpson’s Workout and Diet
Odell Beckham Jr’s Workout Plan and Diet
Aaron Donald’s Diet Plan
Aaron Donald’s diet plan also plays a crucial role in keeping him insanely fit and active 24x7x365. His phenomenal on-field skills are an outcome of his intense training program and strict nutrition plan.
Aaron’s diet plan has a higher proportion of carbs (about 50%), a moderate proportion of fats (about 30%), and the least proportion of proteins (20%). You might find his diet plan a bit different from that of other NFL players, but that’s what serves him in the best way.
To feed his monstrous body adequately, he eats like a horse. He consumes 5000 calories in a day.
Aaron Donald’s meal plan consists of 6 meals. So, let’s find out what all food items are included in each of them:-
Meal 1- Breakfast
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies with greens
Meal 2- Mid-Morning Snack
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies
Meal 3- Lunch
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies
- 25 oz. lean fish (like salmon)
- 8 cups of rice
- 5 cups of popcorn
Meal 4- Afternoon Snack
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies
- 5 cups of popcorn
Meal 5- Dinner
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies
- 30 oz. fish
- 7 cups of rice
- 5 cups of popcorn
Meal 6- Late Night Snack
- 5 cups of milk
- 2 protein smoothies
- 5 cups of popcorn
Expert Supervision
View this post on Instagram
Aaron has a personal chef whose prime job is to ensure that Aaron’s daily nutritional requirements are met. His diet is also monitored by the dietician of the Los Angeles Rams named Joey Blake.
So if any changes are required to be made in Aaron Donald’s diet plan, they are first approved by Joey Blake.
Aaron Donald’s Supplements
To maintain his top-notch athletic performance, Aaron always has to ensure that all his nutritional requirements are properly met. For that reason, he incorporates the use of supplements in his nutrition plan.
Aaron Donald’s supplements stack includes the following:-
- Whey protein
- Vitamin B12
- Vitamin D
- Multivitamin
Aaron consumes 2-3 protein shakes throughout the day. It assists in fulfilling his daily protein requirements. He also consumes a vitamin B12 supplement to nourish his body.
Having a Vitamin D supplement assists in keeping the bones healthy and strengthening the immune system. Aaron also consumes a multivitamin supplement to fetch his body certain micronutrients which are otherwise quite difficult to be derived from whole food items.
Don’t miss:
Usain Bolt’s Workout and Diet Plan
Paul Sklar’s Workout Plan and Diet
Aaron Rodgers’ Workout and Diet
6 Day Workout Split Routine
Final Thoughts
So this was all about the workout routine and diet plan of a champion athlete. Even though Aaron has been gifted with amazing talent and abilities, he has also worked tremendously hard to be where he is today.
He is still working immensely hard to set new world records and break the previous ones. And we must say that his dedication is indeed paying him great returns.
We all hope to see the best of Aaron Donald in the coming times as well.
Leave a Reply
We would love to hear your thoughts. Please remember that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy. Join us for a meaningful discussion.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *