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Ever wondered how a 6 ft 5, 245 lb quarterback trained his way to an NFL MVP award? Cam Newton won it in 2015, and his trainers have shared a surprising amount about how he got there.
In this article, we’re covering what his trainers actually said, one full off-season session his trainer published, and a 4 day plan built from it for the rest of us. No NFL contract required!
Everything we attribute to Newton or his trainers links straight to where it was said, so you can check it for yourself.
Cam Newton at a glance
| Position | Quarterback |
| Listed size | 6 ft 5 in, 245 lb (196 cm, 111 kg) |
| Born | 11 May 1989 |
| College | Florida, Blinn College, Auburn |
| Drafted | 1st overall, 2011, Carolina Panthers |
| Teams | Carolina Panthers 2011 to 2019 and 2021, New England Patriots 2020 |
| Awards | 2015 MVP, 2015 Offensive Player of the Year, 2011 Offensive Rookie of the Year, 3 Pro Bowls |
Source: Pro Football Reference.
What his trainers have said
Training around injuries
Here’s the first thing to know: a lot of Newton’s training happened around injuries. His trainer Nate Costa said in 2018: “What most people don’t know is that football players are rarely at 100 percent week-to-week… We’ve spent four of the seven off-seasons either dealing with an injury or dealing with a surgery.”
So his off-seasons weren’t about lifting as heavy as possible. They were about getting healthy first, then getting fast.
A rehab-era session: Jason Benguche’s total body workout
After shoulder surgery, his trainer Jason Benguche published the total body workout they used in Muscle & Fitness.
In Benguche’s words, the goal was “a regimen that includes a core circuit, light conditioning, flexibility training, and movements that enhance mobility.”
Here’s that session, exactly as published. Rest 60 seconds between sets.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Neck rotations | 2 | 10 |
| Physio ball leg curl | 3 | 10 |
| Shoulders-elevated hip lift, with bands | 5 | 10 |
| Bulgarian split squat | 5 | 5 each leg |
| Single-arm cable row, half kneeling | 3 | 10 each arm |
| One-arm kettlebell press, kneeling | 3 | 8 each arm |
| Rotator cuff band circuit | 3 | 10-15 |
| Seated medicine ball rotation | 3 | 15 |
| Combo lunge (forward + reverse = 1 rep), with bands | 3 | 4 each side |
Notice what’s missing? There’s no bench press and no heavy barbell squat. Almost everything is done one arm or one leg at a time.
It’s a session built to work around an injury, rather than push through it.
The 2018 off-season: hills and getting lighter
Costa described the 2018 off-season as all about conditioning and getting lighter, so Newton could recover faster. They “trained every day, five days a week with a soft rest day.”
A big part of it was hill running at Sagamore Farm, just outside Baltimore. And here’s a detail we love: Costa dedicated each run up the hill to one of the previous season’s losses. “Okay, this one’s for Tampa Bay. This one’s for New England.”
According to the same article, Newton went into the 2018 season weighing just over 240 lb, at a reported 4% body fat. A chef planned his food.
One note on that body fat number: it’s the training team’s own figure, not an independent measurement, so treat it as a ballpark.
A plan built from his training
This is Exercise With Style’s plan, built from those two off-seasons: the single-leg and single-arm strength work from Benguche, and the hill conditioning from Costa.
We’ve added the heavy barbell lifts for anyone who’s healthy, and the sets and reps are ours.
| Level | Intermediate |
| Days | 4 a week |
| Session length | 50 to 60 minutes |
| Rest | 2 min on the first lift, 60 sec on the rest |
| Equipment | Gym, plus a hill or a treadmill with incline |
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Monday | Lower strength |
| Tuesday | Upper strength |
| Wednesday | Rest or easy walk |
| Thursday | Hills and core |
| Friday | Total body, single side (the Benguche-style day) |
| Weekend | Rest, one easy walk |
Monday: lower strength
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Trap bar deadlift | 4 | 5 |
| Bulgarian split squat | 3 | 6 each leg |
| Shoulders-elevated hip thrust | 3 | 10 |
| Physio ball or lying leg curl | 3 | 10 |
| Seated medicine ball rotation | 3 | 15 |
Tuesday: upper strength
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| Dumbbell bench press | 4 | 6-8 |
| Chin-up or lat pulldown | 4 | 6-8 |
| Half kneeling one-arm kettlebell press | 3 | 8 each arm |
| Single-arm cable row | 3 | 10 each arm |
| Rotator cuff band circuit (external rotation, face pull) | 2 | 15 |
Thursday: hills and core
Find a hill that takes about 15 to 30 seconds to run up. No hill nearby? A treadmill on a steep incline works too.
| Warm-up | 10 minutes easy jog, then 3 build-up runs |
| Hill sprints | 6 to 10 runs. Hard up, walk down slowly to recover |
| Core | Plank 3 x 45 sec, side plank 3 x 30 sec each side |
Start with 6 runs in week 1, then add one a week until you reach 10.
Friday: total body, single side
This is Benguche’s session from above, exactly as published. It makes a great lighter fourth day for healthy people, and it’s good practice for balance and control.
How to progress: on Monday and Tuesday, once every set of the first lift feels solid, add the smallest weight step next session. On Thursday, add one hill run a week. And every sixth week, halve your sets to give your body a breather.
Questions people ask
Did Cam Newton do an hour of cardio every day?
We couldn’t find a source for that, so we’ve left it out. What his trainer has described is hill sprints and conditioning work, not long cardio sessions.
Is this his exact routine?
Not quite. The Friday session is his trainer’s published workout, exactly as written. The other three days are ours, built around what his trainers have described.
Can I do it if I have a shoulder injury?
The Friday session was designed around a shoulder surgery recovery, but that was with a trainer supervising. Please get your injury checked and cleared before you load it.
What did he eat?
His trainer said a chef planned everything, but didn’t share the details. So rather than make up a meal plan, we’ve left it there.
Other athlete workouts like this?
Check out Tom Brady, Aaron Donald and Herschel Walker.
Happy training, and good luck on those hills!
This article is for general information and is not medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting sprint training or heavy lifting, especially after an injury.
