AUSTIN, Texas —
In a time when high school fields are closed, team activities are prohibited and a cloud of uncertainty hovers over the football season, Brendan Jones is still getting better.
Four times a week, the LBJ defensive specialist works out with his personal trainer, Eric Flores, in Pflugerville.
"If you want to go high, you got to soar high," Jones said. "You got to be an eagle; you got to be at the top of the food chain. It’s really eat or be eaten."
The exercises Jones does for his training are anything but conventional.
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“[Eric's] truck broke down one day and he called me up and was like, ‘I got a surprise for you,’” Jones said, in reference to the 22-inch rims and truck tires he power cleans and squats.
“Certain 22s, if they’re the cheap ones, they’re heavy, like tanks," said Flores, who is currently running Fitness-Flo from his garage and backyard.
“It’s beautiful to show what the world has, even if you don’t have a state-of-the-art weight room,” Jones added.
The workout for Jones doesn't stop there though. As someone with an offer to play football at an Ivy League school, his regimen trains both his muscles and his mind.
"I’m a big film watcher," he said. "Once I get on there and watch film, I can critique myself, even if my coaches aren’t available. I know what’s right from wrong on film. I know where I can get better at.
“This whole coronavirus, COVID-19 thing has really gotten me to realize that football can get taken away at any moment. I want to be able to know that without football, I can still go get it,” he said.
Once football does return, Jones said the feeling will be even sweeter, given all the hard work he's put in, as well as his teammates.
“I know when two-a-days come around, I’m going to smash that. I know when game one comes around, I’m going to smash that. I know that when playoffs come around, I’m going to be top dog,” he said.
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