It's hard to believe a man like Jim Steel, Penn football's strength and conditioning coach, would ever consider bulking up unhealthy.
But after years of pumping iron for himself, Steel has traded in muscles for clipboards and is back to doing what he loves - coaching others to be bigger and stronger.
Many of Steel's recommendations come from a wealth of experience. A former All-American defensive lineman at Gardner-Webb University, Steel also competed as a powerlifter - even holding state records to his name.
As Steel enters his seventh season with the Quakers, the DP sat down with him to get the scoop.
The Daily Pennsylvanian: Hear you were involved in powerlifting; tell the readers about that.
Jim Steel: Last time I competed was in 2002, so it's been a while. Basically I'm retired from powerlifting.
When I did compete, basically I set some goals for myself. I always wanted to squat 800 pounds, and I did 820. I wanted to bench 500, I did 505. I always wanted to deadlift 700, I did 740.
Then I did some fighting. I did some tough-man contests and moi-ty kick boxing.
DP: And you're a state-record holder as well?
JS: Oh, yeah, still have the records [in the squat, deadlift and total weight].
DP: Has anyone come close?
JS: Not in the totals, no. So I totaled, what, 2,065 pounds.
DP: Would you come out of retirement to defend that title?
JS: Sure. You know, I just go through stages, where right now I don't want to be that heavy. And in order to lift that much weight I have to be about 25 pounds heavier. And I want to live a little longer, I don't want to be that heavy.
DP: So to be a powerlifter what kind of diet and exercise routine do you need?
JS: I was eating probably eight times a day, probably 5-6,000 calories a day. Probably 400 grams of protein a day. Not the healthiest thing in the world, but anything at the elite levels is not healthy, usually.
DP: Here at Penn are you the strength and conditioning coach just for football or all the sports?
JS: We do all the sports, myself and John Keller. We have 28 teams that are training right now and we train all of them.
DP: What's involved day-to-day with that?
JS: We usually start at about 7 a.m. and go until, well tonight my last team ends around 7:30. It's weight training, it's plyometric training and running. It's every aspect of their training, not just lifting weights.
We design all the programs for all the different teams, and it goes in a cycle. We have to cycle in the off-season. Take football, for instance. I train them four times a week in their offseason, which is the winter months. We run them twice a week at 7 a.m. I kickbox with them twice a week at night, so I'm actually around them more than their coaches. They get to know me really well and I get to know them pretty well.
And the good thing is that I have them for four years. I get to know them when they're 18 years old then when they graduate, so that's the rewarding part about the job.
DP: Having worked here for a few years, who's one of the hardest working players that have come through here?
JS: Sean Estrada, who was with the 49ers and just got cut, is the poster boy. He came in and probably gained 30 or 40 pounds. His squat probably went up 150-200 pounds.
I could say run through the wall and he would say, "no problem."
He was a guy who really personified the program as far as a hard worker.
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