SWEATING THROUGH OUTDOOR workouts in the southern Florida heat and humidity may not sound like an ideal way to spend the summer. But for Cowboys’ wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, training out in the elements and getting used to working through fatigue was the key to building on his record-setting 2023 season. Last year, the 25-year-old totaled 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the league in targets receptions and yards after catch.
After proving himself as arguably the NFL’s top wideout for the season, Lamb wanted to elevate his game even more heading into 2024. He looked for ways to adjust and improve, including partnering with BodyArmor and fine-tuning his nutrition, recovery, and overall training program to ready himself for an even greater workload. Now that the season is underway—and after signing a four-year, $136 million deal with the Cowboys (followed by his QB Dak Prescott’s own four-year extension with Dallas) and adding 14 pounds of muscle to his 6’2″ frame—he’s ready. The three-time Pro Bowler is already showing off his versatility with plays like this jet sweep for a 12-yard gain in Dallas’s Week 1 win over Cleveland (Lamb finished the game with five receptions for 61 yards).
Men’s Health caught up with Lamb after that Week 1 win (and the reveal of his new limited edition BodyArmor bottle) to learn more about his offseason prep, his renewed focus on hydration, and his goals to follow up his All-Pro season in 2023 with peak performance in 2024 in the post-season.
MEN’S HEALTH: You’re coming off of a big new contract and a big year last year. Going into this season, how did you prepare this past off-season?
CEEDEE LAMB: It all started with me going from Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida—I went to train at Alkeme Sports with one of my widely-known trainers, Doctor Reef [Dr. Sharif Tabbah]. We put in hours of brutal workouts for five months. If you’ve been to Florida, you know how hot it is. We’d start workouts at 9 a.m. with 1.5 hours indoors, then we’d move to 1.5 hour outdoors. We go outdoors during the hottest times of the day, 12 to 2 p.m., on purpose. Maybe it rained at 10 or 11 a.m. and the humidity and all that good stuff is up. It was very brutal. And making sure I was just rehydrating and replenishing myself with BodyArmor. I probably would’ve definitely passed out a couple of times [without it]. So in that department, it’s been a whole lot of moving around, a lot of moving parts, training, working out, a lot of conversations. In the end, it worked out. I gained a lot of weight, and I’m happy for it.
MH: You said you put on muscle. Was that a specific goal you had?
CL: It kind of happened organically. I knew what parts of my body I wanted to focus on this off-season. And I really do feel like the hydration was playing a part because my muscles were getting the right nutrients and the right things to recover. I was obviously sleeping. I feel like those two things, post-workout, I’ll eat, but it’s just continuing to prepare my craft and stay on top of myself as far as make sure I drink BodyArmor, make sure I drink water, get my body with the right fluids, the right nutrients. I can’t stress it enough that they’ve definitely done a great job with me and my body and I feel phenomenal.
MH: How did you learn that right balance with hydration?
CL: It’s all on the field. It’s all on how much—everyone knows how much they can take. As for me, I don’t want to feel too heavy and I don’t want to be out there with my mouth dry. Finding the happy medium, I always bring more than I think I need so I have enough. If you limit how much you intake and you go under that standard, your body isn’t adjusting properly.
MH: What did you specifically want to work on this off-season from a training and performance perspective, and how did you do it?
CL: For starters, it’s a lot of resistance and stability, balance. Obviously the game is supposed to knock you over, but I want to stay on my feet and score touchdowns and celebrate with my guys.
So a lot of core stability, a lot of explosive jumps, and a lot of things that I feel like I hadn’t done enough of prior to this offseason, and I know I needed to hit those spots. Now I’m feeling more prepared than ever, while keeping my speed, while keeping the same endurance and confidence in myself and my body while I’m trying to maintain this crazy growth as far as muscle mass and this, I still want to feel limber, so transferring the weight to where it need to be and not coming back too hot.
MH: We all know you’re an elite pass catcher. Then we saw you run a jet sweep in the win against Cleveland this past Sunday. Did you specifically train to be a dual threat in the run game this year in that way?
CL: Absolutely, I train for the heavy load, I’ve trained for, at this point, to be tired and obviously still to function as if I wasn’t. It’s hard because fatigue is a real thing. I like to train while fatigued. So that’s where I say I don’t think you really understand how important it was for me to be hydrated throughout these processes. And to just accentuate my breathing, lungs, expanding, just continuing to be better in those departments.
MH: You mentioned fatigue—I’m sure by week 12, 13, you’re feeling it in all the ways. Looking at the season ahead, what are you expecting for yourself and hoping for yourself? And for Dallas?
CL: Obviously the end goal for Dallas is to be in New Orleans in February [for the Super Bowl]. As for myself, always to be better than last year, and whatever number you want to put on that, that’s perfect. I’m always competing with myself. I set the bar for myself and continue to try to raise it. I’ll continue to work and be the best teammate I possibly can in that process. Being there with my guys, putting out dubs, however it is, clean, dirty, whatever it may be. Obviously I want to come out victorious and then in the playoffs where it all matters, that’s where I want to ball out the most.
MH: More and more, we’re seeing elite athletes with a whole team working on nutrition, hydration, performance, even outside of the team facility. How do you keep that healthy balance in-season in addition to what you have with Dallas/the team?
CL: It’s all in your process. Every NFL player has a process of taking care of their body. I take it very seriously, because I love to be available and to be out there playing football and scoring TDs and celebrating with my guys when they score TDs. There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not texting about my hydration or figuring out what I need to do about my body, just making sure my off-days are in very good use and that’s to take care of myself and be available for my guys. With that, I feel like it’s been treating me well for the last five years now, and I want to continue to do it and if not, emphasize it a bit more.
MH: Who do you talk to for all of that?
CL: Really, everyone. I have a trainer out in Florida, I have a PT guy in Houston who I see maybe twice a week. The list can go on and on. My hydration is here in Dallas so that’s convenient and easy for me, so keep it restocked and there’s no question about that. Everything I need is one text message or one call away and I appreciate it and I use it.
MH: What does recovery look like for you?
CL: Sauna and cold plunge, I’ll get in the hot tub, different from the sauna, and then I’ll get in the steam room, get massages, back in the cold tub. Cryotherapy, acupuncture, the list can go on and on. And I’m still open to finding out new things to help regenerate my body. Whoever has answers for me, just let me know, and I’ll give it a try.
MH: You clearly had a great season last year. What’s one thing you learned that maybe you hadn’t in prior seasons that will impact how you play this season?
CL: Be consistent no matter what it is. The game is going to come to you. Don’t really force it. Obviously you may not like it in the beginning, but there’s always a better prize at the end, so stay true to yourself, your process, and trust what is going on around you. For me now, it’s more the mental aspect of the game that’s making more sense to me. Obviously physically I’ll be able to produce because I’m young and I still feel like taking care of my body. My legs are pretty fresh. And I’m willing to do literally whatever to win because I love winning and obviously I love what comes with it. It’s very exciting and it’s very fortunate for us because we have the team, we have the roster, we have the talent, and I know the things we can accomplish together—it’s unfathomable. And all we have to do is put these pieces together, stay consistent, keep believing, stay true to ourselves, and let everything work out.
MH: Now you know you’ve got your QB too for the long haul, so that probably feels good.
CL: It feels amazing. We’ve been grinding this thing out for the last five years. The first couple of years, we had hiccups—I didn’t have him, he got hurt, and then it kind of bled into the second season—but then everything after that has been history. I’m happy for us. And I can’t wait to do this again for five more years.
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