Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey has mammoth arms, big enough that they have an existence of their own. Like, it's only a matter of time before one of McCaffrey’s biceps reaches out and catches a football. The 22-year-old 2017 first-round draft pick set a record last year for receptions by a running back (107), and this offseason, he’s clearly decided to further build out his physique, as is best exemplified in a recent viral photo (shown above) where his arms look like they’re CGI’d onto the rest of his body.
As Cam Newton’s backfield colleague, McCaffrey has a host of responsibilities that require him to go well beyond focusing on his already-stellar physique. For the sake of optimal performance, the Colorado native has perfected everything from his sleep strategy to what he eats. In fact, after McCaffrey was drafted, he discovered a bunch of food intolerances that needed to be cut out of his diet. On the heels of his new partnership with Ascent Protein, McCaffrey spoke to GQ about his finely-tuned diet, which also occasionally features Cool Ranch Doritos and Oreos.
GQ: When does your day start?
Christian McCaffrey: I wake up around 8 a.m., which isn’t too bad at all. I usually try to get to bed at 10 or 10:30. For a while I tried to see how my recovery was with just eight hours of sleep. And sometimes, that can be fine. But I like getting nine or more hours. I feel like I can wake up on my own if I’ve gotten nine hours. When I do, I feel great and I’m ready to go.
You recently discovered you have some food intolerances, right?
Yeah, I worked with a chef when I first got into the league. We did all my blood work and found out exactly what I’m sensitive to, what I’m deficient in, what my body needs. I had to cut out a lot of things—chicken, tuna, wheat, and soy. It was kind of like a mini cleanse for a while there. Now, everything that I eat is pertinent to what I need for my best performance.
So what’s for breakfast?
Two hours before I start training, I like to eat a good breakfast. So, on a Monday, which is a straight linear explosive training day, I’ll have just egg yolks—I can’t have egg whites—and then I’ll have something like a sweet potato hash with some oats and perhaps some fruit.
My chef makes that for me. He’s based in Colorado. He’ll do two meal dropoffs a week—one comes on Sunday afternoon for Monday and Tuesday, and it’s labeled with when I should eat certain meals and what’s in them. It takes the thinking out of things. And then 30 minutes before I play or workout, I take my supplements.
When is the next time you eat during the day?
After my first workout of the day, I’ll drink lots of water, have another scoop of pre-workout, and some aminos. Then, I’ll typically do some lifting. Can be anything from Olympic lifts to plyometrics, single-leg stuff.
And then lunch?
I eat immediately after the workout. Lunch could be something like a bison chili with potatoes mixed in. Maybe it has peppers and vegetables in some sort of a stew. I like soups because they’re so easy to eat. After lunch, I head to a recovery center near where I live. If I need any sort of soft tissue help, or if I’m feeling something on my ankle or hamstring, I’ll get that taken care of done when I’m there. And then I take a nap.
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