Bombers get creative in training

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/05/2020 (2106 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If there’s no CFL season this year, Lucky Whitehead and Adam Bighill might have what it takes to make it in a different sport.

Judging by recent workout videos shared online, you’d think the pair of Winnipeg Blue Bombers are gearing up for a strongman competition (they’re not, by the way). Instead of using their recent downtime to sit on the couch and binge a popular Netflix series such as The Last Dance or Tiger King, Whitehead and Bighill have been active as ever and have gotten creative with their training.

It all started two weeks ago, when Whitehead shared a video of himself wearing a harness and pulling his pickup truck. Stavros Katsantonis, a safety chosen in the fourth round of this year’s CFL draft by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, wanted to let everyone know he could do one better, as he replied on Twitter with a video of him pulling a box truck.

Well, Katsantonis didn’t have the advantage for long, as Whitehead made a call and one day later he was pulling a semi-truck outside his gym in Manassas, Va. Not bad for a receiver who stands 5-9 and weighs 185 pounds.

The video went viral and was shared by House of Highlights, who has more than 17 million followers on Instagram.

Lucky pulling a �� @Luck2fastt ���� #HowICFL pic.twitter.com/Cc2RojEzTU

— CFL (@CFL) May 14, 2020

“If I couldn’t push it, I wasn’t even going to try to pull it,” said Whitehead, who made 52 catches for 521 receiving yards and two touchdowns last season.

“I came outside and I was like ‘Damn, this (truck) is bigger than I pictured.’ Once I pushed it and felt it roll, I was like ‘OK cool, we can do this.’”

The first few steps were the toughest, but once Whitehead got the truck moving, he was in business. That doesn’t mean it was easy, though.

“As soon as I was finished, my legs felt like noodles,” Whitehead said with a laugh.

But the story didn’t end there. Bighill took notice of his teammate’s impressive feat and decided he wanted to give it a try. Apparently, having noodle legs sounds like a good time.

“As soon as I was finished, my legs felt like noodles.”
– Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Lucky Whitehead

“Lucky’s body weight relative to that truck is just amazing. So, how could I push myself more and do something like that?” said Bighill, who is listed at 5-10, 223 pounds. “I have a couple good friends who live in a farming town, in Rosenort, and they asked if I wanted to pull some heavy stuff, so I said ‘I’ll give it a shot. Why not?’”

That’s exactly what Bighill did. The linebacker drove to Rosenort, about 60 kilometres south of Winnipeg, on the weekend and pulled a gravel truck with a trailer attached to it. The total weight was 32,000 pounds.

“My feet and my quads were definitely toast… When you’re pulling something like that, you’re just praying, pushing and pulling as hard as you can to get it started,” said Bighill, who shared the video online on Sunday.

“Once you get it started, you got a chance. If you can’t get it rolling, there’s no hope. You got it give it everything you got.”

Hey @CFL this is Southern Manitoba Style training!! Thanks to season @Wpg_BlueBombers ticket holder @harleysiemens and family for helping me put this together. �� pic.twitter.com/FzjdNGArah

— Adam Bighill (@Bighill44) May 24, 2020

That’s a tough act to follow, but Whitehead isn’t looking to attempt to one up Bighill any time soon, and the teammates quickly downplay the idea there’s a competition going on. Instead, both are just trying to make the most out of life without football and want to be in the best possible shape when they get the call to return to the field.

Whitehead, a 27-year-old who played a pair of seasons for the Dallas Cowboys before he joined the Bombers last year, has been able to squeeze everything he can out of quarantine, as he owns a gym called United Sportsplex. But it goes beyond pushing and pulling big weight, as Whitehead has put a bigger emphasis on healthy eating this off-season. He’s also gone 115 days without consuming alcohol.

“I wanted to eat cleaner and do this healthy lifestyle while I’m trying to see if I could really see a difference, and I do. I feel a lot better and my energy is a lot better,” Whitehead said.

“My feet and my quads were definitely toast… When you’re pulling something like that, you’re just praying, pushing and pulling as hard as you can to get it started.”
– Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Adam Bighill

“It’s exciting for me to see the growth that I’ve had in these last three months of treating my body right. I’m not getting any younger, so whatever I gotta do to take those next steps so it can transfer onto the field, I want to do that.”

It remains to be seen when Bighill and Whitehead will get to strap on the pads and defend their Grey Cup title. With each passing day, it seems less likely there will even be a 2020 CFL season. One would think all the uncertainty would make it challenging to stay motivated, but not for these two.

“For myself, it’s a great time to continue to learn and grow as a receiver. Just to constantly work on my craft and my routes. For me, I’m just staying ready,” said Whitehead, who played college ball at Florida Atlantic.

Bighill, a 31-year-old who has been playing professionally since 2011, shared a similar sentiment.

“You can only control what you can control… I’m just going to take advantage of all this time to better myself and that’s the best thing I can do. At the end of the day, that’s the only way you should look at it.”

 

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31