With football season in full swing, we decided to take a shot at training like football players to see how we stack up. We attempted to complete the NFL Combine, aka the fitness test that NFL hopefuls take. We had never seen it attempted by a woman before, but we were ready for the challenge:
We enlisted Steve Smith, former New York Giants wide receiver and Super Bowl champion, to teach us how to achieve our potential in a sport we had never tried before.
After a comprehensive warm up, we started the test off with the bench press. Steve said the bench press tests a player's ability to push off defenders.
Things quickly got competitive...
And Jordan came out on top.
Next up was the vertical jump, which was important for seeing how high we could reach to catch or defend a pass.
We had to jump up and hit as many tickers as possible on this neat contraption.
We thought we did pretty well... until we learned that most players jump about 37 inches high.
Then, we had the broad jump.
It looked really easy at first...
...but we were surprised by how much technical knowledge we needed in order to do this simple action effectively!
Next up was the 60-yard shuttle, which tested a combination of speed and agility.
Again, this looked super easy at first, but the technical skill required to make the fast turns efficiently was insane! We were surprised by how one little mistake could completely ruin your result.
Again, there was a healthy dose of competition...
And Michelle just barely edged out Jordan by 0.2 seconds.
Last was the most competitive and high-stakes event of all — the 40-yard dash.
Our coaches, Steve and Mariel, told us that to them a good time is "in the 4.3 second range."
In an unbelievable turn of events, Michelle and Jordan TIED!
At the end of the day, we had an awesome time, and have so much more respect for football players and the hard work they do!
