Minnesota Vikings safety Camryn Bynum learned at a young age that because he wasn’t the biggest on the field, he would have to be the best, so he honed his craft and trained smart in order to become one of the most exciting players on the gridiron. Here, “Cambeezy” shares his workout plan for safety success.

Bynum understands that his position as a Defensive Back requires him to have 360-degree movement around the field, so while he loves to lift heavy offseason, his on-season work is more focussed on the type of balance, flexibility, and strength that is functional for the game. “Trying to just build my natural strength, under my under my own body weight,” explains the baller. “I feel like that’s helped me feel a lot more-healthy, and also to be more mobile in my body.”

For aspiring safety’s, or anyone who want to improve their own speed and functionality, this full-body workout is yours to tackle.

Workout Breakdown

“My warmups are a little different,” explains Bynum. “I like to foam roll for sure, that always just makes my body feel prepared. But then, I warmup with a lot of foam balance pad and feet stuff, like squats and lunges to get my foundation correct. So, during my whole warmup, I’ll do it with no shoes on. Then, I just work my way up the chain while doing balance.”

During the workout portion, Bynum is able to condition and strengthen his legs, while throwing in some balance work by undertaking single limb exercises such as Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts. “I do like Single Leg RDLs for my hamstrings, and I’m still balancing and having to use the little small muscles in my feet to stabilize,” he explains. “There’s a lot of glute activation with football,” he notes, pointing out that Single Leg RDL’s will definitely have you feeling the burn in your behind.

While box jumps are a great plyometric exercise for building agility and explosive power, Bynum points out that depth jumps (also known as death drops), where you jump from the box to the floor, are also essential. “So, I do those equally because I need to make sure that my landing mechanics are there. It is almost more important than the explosion and jumping up to the box,” he says. “Most important is really getting down, because that’s where your body needs to stay healthy and be able to absorb into the ground.”

The Minnesota Viking shares that he uses a wide grip to improve grip strength on the hangs. “So, I do a minute, and then I do a minute hang, and on a dip bar holding there, for lats.” Bynum finishes with “bear crawling back and forth, going forward and backwards.” The player says that this taxes him to the max. “And, it’s all things that you can do pretty much anywhere. When you go to a park, you can find something to hang on, or even if you’re just in your kitchen, you can go on the counter and do dip holds for a minute. Hold those lats.”