Saquon Barkley is the 23-year-old running back for the New York Giants. He was the second overall draft pick in 2018 after playing three seasons at Penn State where he set multiple records, including career rushing touchdowns (43), most rushing yards by a freshman (1,076), and most rushing yards by a sophomore (1,496).
At the NFL combine, Barkley ran a 4.4 second 40-yard dash and was able to bench press 102kg/225lb 29 times — tied for the most of any running back that year. In his rookie season, he was a Pro Bowler and earned the honor of NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Suffice to say, the 6 foot, 233lb Barkley is a premiere athlete.
With all the success Barkley has had so early in his career, it can be easy to overlook the work he puts in at the gym. Judging from how he trains in the off-season, Barkley knows what it takes to be one of the top running backs in the NFL.
The New York Giants recently shared a video of Barkley box squatting an insane 265kg/585lb for a set of four on their Twitter page. Check it out below:
𝗕 𝗘 𝗔 𝗦 𝗧 😤
(via @saquon) pic.twitter.com/n82saxoEVb
— New York Giants (@Giants) May 28, 2020
[Related: Box squat vs. regular squat — which is best for your goals?]
That’s six 20kg/45lb plates on each side plus the 20kg/45lb bar amounting to 2.5 times Barkley’s bodyweight. It is also notable that he lifted that weight without a belt.
Those squats seem to be giving him the power boost he needs on the field because his professional stats in just two seasons are already stellar. Across 29 total games played, Barkley has scored 23 touchdowns — 17 of which were rushing — and ran for a total of 2,310 yards.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B95Wa-JAtQk/
The 2020 NFL season is scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 10th. The NY Giants first game is set to take place on September 14th against the Pittsburgh Steelers. We’ll have our eyes on Barkley to see how much his off-season training improved his in-game performance.
Feature image from Saquon Barkley’s Instagram page: @saquon