Forever Faster Training Series: Aaron Rodgers credits hot yoga

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is fully healthy again after missing seven games last season with a broken collarbone, and he credits hot yoga for being in, what head coach Mike McCarthy describes as, incredible shape.

Rodgers is in "the best shape I've ever seen," McCarthy told Peter King of The MMQB. "He has always come back in great shape, but this year it’s a little different. He did different things, and he’s in the best shape, ready to go, that I’ve ever seen him in.”

So what did the former NFL MVP and Super Bowl champion do to get there? Rodgers explains:

In the first three months of the offseason, I did a ton of yoga. I hadn’t done that much of that before. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. The stretching, the atmosphere, the group setting, a teacher helping you get the maximum flexibility. Hot yoga. Very hot. Lots of sweating. Tell you what: I felt so great after those sessions. My sleep improved – my sleep patterns, every night. My energy improved. I didn’t have to drink coffee as much the next day. I like to drink coffee. On some days, it’s a necessity for me, to get going, to get a little jolt. Here, it wasn’t necessary, doing yoga three days a week. I love it. I mixed up my training in Westlake. It helped me. I feel a lot better right now.

The 30-year-old says his offseason regimen included more than just yoga, and that others in the league are also realizing the benefits:

I worked with a group in Westlake [Calif.], with a lot of NFL guys. It was fun. Different types of training. Uptempo stuff. Some yoga mixed in. Some boxing. Running the sand dunes there at Malibu Canyon. I paired that with my attention to nutrition.

This isn't the first time Rodgers has expressed his interest in yoga. Back in May, he revealed that he had begun incorporating it into his routine. Now, he's seeing the results nearly three months later.