Ray Lewis is back in the Super Bowl where he was the game MVP the first time around.  This time his Baltimore Ravens are taking on the San Francisco 49ers and after a torn triceps in the middle of the regular season, Lewis has recovered to lead the charge.

Earlier this week, there was a report that Lewis’s name was mentioned in a Sports Illustrated article about taking a banned substance.  It was said that he took this substance to help speed up his healing process.  Before we talk about Ray Lewis’s workout program, let’s just explain what exactly Ray Lewis is accused to have done.

Deer Antler Spray can make you stronger?

Supposedly, Ray Lewis was given Deer Antler Spray from a company called S.W.A.T.S. (Sports with Alternatives to Steroids) located in Birmingham, Alabama.  They say that deer antlers (specifically ones they harvest in New Zealand) are the fastest growing substance on planet Earth.

They grow so fast because they have a high concentration of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor).  Your body takes HGH (human growth hormone which we have naturally in our body) and the liver converts it to IGF-1.  This in turn is an anabolic hormone used to stimulate muscle growth.

Pretty cool right?  The problem is that IGF-1 is banned by the NCAA and every professional sports league out there.  S.W.A.T.S. has this in the form of a spray and a pill and says it will do wonders for athletes performance.

Ray says he hasn’t tested positive for this or any type of banned substance.

When asked about this, basically his response was that he’s been tested according to the NFL’s drug policy and has not failed any drug test.  Which he is absolutely correct about.  Unfortunately, the NFL’s test is a urine test that doesn’t reveal whether you have taken IGF-1 or not.

The only way to properly test for IGF-1 is to do a blood test, but at this time the NFL does not do blood tests.  So, he really didn’t address the question and probably won’t until after the Super Bowl, but yes he did not fail any drug testing by the NFL the way it is currently administered.

Now there is debate that this stuff even works, but that is a whole other can of worms.  Hope this clears up why Ray Lewis’s name was mentioned with the banned substances.  Let’s get to his workout.

Lewis has an “old-school” approach towards working out.

To be honest, I couldn’t find a whole lot about Ray Lewis’s workout program.  He doesn’t like to work on machines at all.  He says football isn’t played on machines so you need to train your body accordingly.  He has a home in South Florida on the beach and loves to run sprints in the sand.  He’ll even add a weighted vest to increase the intensity.

He also has never been allergic to hard work.  So, getting him in the gym is fairly easy.  He might take a week or two off where he’ll focus on some stretching and staying loose, but then he is back at it attacking the weights.

One of his favorite things to do is take a deck of cards and flip them over one at a time.  Whatever is on the card, he then does that number in push-ups and situps.  He is now up to three decks of cards.

I did see some type of workout material for something called Celebrity Sweat.  There was a video of him working out with Nelly.  They were doing seated military press, arm curls, planks to a push-up position, and a few other items that I bet Lewis doesn’t do in his normal workout routine.  This looked like a promotional video for some workout program, so I would discount that.

The last thing I read about him was that he is pretty careful about what he eats.  He realizes that what you put into your body is going to affect how you use your body.  The only meat he eats is fish.  This is a great example of a professional athlete using the knowledge that is out there about nutrition and making it a weapon for him rather than a liability.

Ray Lewis is an intense individual and I’m sure that is how he treats his workouts.  Whatever he did for his workouts, it is working because he lasted this long in the NFL and still continued to play at a high level for each and every year.  Let’s see how he does in this Super Bowl and let’s hope it is an enjoyable one.