Giants' Martellus Bennett: 'I'm not fat'
Giants tight end Martellus Bennett said his weight ballooned to 291 pounds because he’s bulked up during the offseason.
Martellus Bennett wants the world to know one thing: he’s not fat.
Last week, tight ends coach Mike Pope said the Giants’ offseason free-agent signing recently pulled his hamstring partly because, at 291 pounds, Bennett is too heavy.
Bennett did say he’s currently the heaviest he’s ever been – last season he was listed at 270 — and the extra weight could’ve played a role in the injury. But he also maintained that he’s up to 291 pounds because he’s bulked up during the offseason and he’s in the best shape of his career.
“There’s this perception about me that I don’t work hard,” said Bennett, who sat out of today’s organized team activity due to the hamstring injury. “If you ask any of the coaches, any of the guys on this team, the offseason program I haven’t missed a day. I haven’t stepped out of one workout or anything. I just pulled my hamstring because I overworked myself because I was squatting 450 (pounds) then went out there and ran routes.”
He added, “I’m looking like Atlas, not Professor Klump.”
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Bennett, who expects to participate in next week’s veterans minicamp, said he’s been working out intensely – “rocked up” as he put it — since January in an effort to add muscle in addition to eating healthy with his wife’s cooking. Despite the added bulk, he said he’s faster than he was last offseason. He plans to switch his workout routine after veterans minicamp next week to the one he usually follows, which includes a heavy dose of yoga and pilates, and anticipates a drop in weight as a result.
For Bennett, the important number is his body fat percentage, which he said is at 13 and should be at nine percent by the time the season starts. He said he usually plays at nine percent body fat.
And to make his point, he conducted his session with reporters shirtless in front of the cameras.
“I had to let the world see because the way it sounds it’s like, ‘Damn this guy’s fat? Like he let himself get fat?’ Bennett said. “I just wanted everybody to know that I’m not fat. I’m trying to get an eight pack. I got six and a half now. I’m trying to get eight.
“I’m not really tripping. It is what it is. There’s this perception about me that I don’t work hard and I’ve actually been busting my [butt] all my life. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.”
Jorge Castillo: jcastillo@starledger.com; twitter.com/jorgeccastillo
Article source: http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2012/06/giants_martellus_bennett_im_no.html
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Categories: Fat Loss Diary Tags: Giants Andre Brown, Jorge Castillo, Martellus Bennett, Professor Klump