A LEVEL OF fearlessness is required to pulverize another human over and over again willfully or, in other words, be a football player. Throughout his Hall of Fame NFL career, Good Morning America host Michael Strahan kept his body in gladiatorial shape by pushing it to the limit. In the latest Gym & Fridge video, he welcomed Men’s Health into his fridge, gym, and thought process behind his disdain for the one exercise he did during his playing days that he never wants to do again.
“The exercise I hate the most reminds me so much of football that I have PTSD—burpees,” Strahan says. “Full uniform, hot, humid, sweaty, and the coach is blowing the whistle. The second I was done with the NFL, I was done with burpees for life.”
Burpees excluded, his NFL career still motivates the Super Bowl champion even 16 years after his retirement. He says part of the reason why he still works out as hard as he does is the fear of running into his ex-teammates and getting the dreaded “looks like you gave up” review from them.
This content is imported from youTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Strahan’s typical workout routine consists of mobility exercises for 30 minutes to an hour (this includes stretching on his Pilates machine), cardio on his workout bike for 30 minutes, and lifting weights. He also loves working out his quads on the ReACT Functional Eccentric Trainer, which somewhat simulates the gliding motion of skiing without the frigid temperatures and snow traps.
You’ll always see strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, coconut water, and Gorgie energy drinks in Strahan’s fridge. You’ll never see his fridge without grapes, but he’s very serious about proper hygiene before indulging in his favorite snack. “Never straight off the street to the grapes. Always wash your hands.”
Strahan maintains a pretty healthy diet, but “being healthy” isn’t the only prerequisite for food to be included in his diet. His focus on nutritional food intake started during his playing years when he switched his pregame meal from fast food to lighter foods like egg whites and toast. Even though liver is an excellent source of iron, Strahan is vehemently against ever consuming it.
Like most of us, Strahan will gladly ingest cookies and ice cream as cheat meals. While he didn’t claim these specifically as his cheat day options, the Houston, Texas, native still has fond memories of the southern delicacies from his hometown. Most days, though, the baked beans and potato salad of Texas barbeque are nothing more than a memory, like the burpees he’ll gladly never do again.
Senior Editor
Keith Nelson is a writer by fate and journalist by passion, who has connected dots to form the bigger picture for Men’s Health, Vibe Magazine, LEVEL MAG, REVOLT TV, Complex, Grammys.com, Red Bull, Okayplayer, and Mic, to name a few.
