Invincible, Eh?

With hard work and harder workouts, Cory Greenwood’s doing what few Canadians dream of…making it in the NFL.

Steve Mazzucchi

Thirty-five years ago, a little-known 30-year-old schoolteacher scored a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles. One huge special-teams play, one inspirational NFL career and one blockbuster based on his life later, it worked out pretty well.

Funny enough, a story parallel to that of Invincible’s Vince Papale is bubbling up in the league right now. This time, the setting is Kansas City, Mo., where a little-known 25-year-old Canadian is climbing the Chiefs’ depth chart. His name is Cory Greenwood, he hails from Kingston, Ontario, and thanks to focus, commitment and an unbeatable fitness regimen, he may just be writing the sequel to the 2006 Disney flick. Hey, it’s cheaper to shoot in Canada anyway, right?

Of course, like most Great White Northerners, Greenwood hardly dreamed of gridiron glory as a kid. "I grew up playing triple-A hockey,” he recalls. "But it was one or the other in high school, and I wanted to play football, so I hung up the skates. Looking back, I’m glad I did.” And why wouldn’t he be? He grew into a 6-foot-2-inch, 235-pound linebacker who idolized Baltimore Raven Ray Lewis — and dominated Canadian college football at Concordia University, averaging nearly eight tackles a game and winning the President’s Trophy as the top defensive player in 2009. (Fun fact: The U.S. equivalent, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, is named for the Chicago Bears legend, himself an Ontario native.)

Despite the accolades, the NFL wasn’t exactly licking its chops. According to nflcanada.com, there are fewer than a dozen NFLers from up north — the most famous being Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Austin Collie — and most went to U.S. universities. Basically, you are better off attending, say, South Dakota State than you are playing your college ball in Canada. So the NFL Draft came and went with no mention of Greenwood, and in May, the Toronto Argonauts made him the Canadian Football League’s No. 3 overall draft pick.

Before he signed, though, Greenwood heard the Chiefs were in the market for a hungry young linebacker. He sent them a video of himself doing a bunch of combine-style drills. They flew him in for a workout, and within weeks, he was a pro football player. In America! "I was real excited — who’d have thought a linebacker from Canada could make it to NFL camp?” he says. "Hopefully, I can crack the door for some other guys.” More than halfway through the season, the Chiefs are a surprising 5-4, and Greenwood is a special-teams stud.

He’s also surprisingly candid about his intro to the NFL: "My first game was on Monday Night Football against the [San Diego] Chargers — that was pretty cool. I was nervous, but it’s a good nervous. If you’re not nervous, there’s something wrong.”

Just don’t call him lucky. Because there’s one aspect of this underdog’s tale we have yet to mention. Knowing he needed an edge, Greenwood boosted his already impressive fitness level by spending last winter at the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, N.J. Founded by former track All-American Bill Parisi in 1992, the outfit has helped some 130 NFL hopefuls get drafted over the past 10 years with a comprehensive workout and nutrition and supplement program.

"We train two times a day, six times a week,” says Martin Rooney, Parisi’s chief operating officer. "You wake up, you train, you eat, you rest, you train, you eat, you rest. Cory made a huge physical transformation.” Along with the program’s progressive techniques — for example, many drills and exercises are done with bare feet — other hallmarks include a protein-packed diet supplied by In Motion Meals and performance-fueling supplements supplied by Inner Armour. "I got leaner, stronger and more powerful,” Greenwood raves. "It was perfect for me.

Even with a dialed-in physique, Greenwood faced a unique challenge because, frankly, Canadian football has some weird freakin’ rules. In addition to 12 men per side and a 110-yard field, defenders have to be a yard off the line of scrimmage, the offense is allowed almost unlimited backfield motion, and on kicks, would-be tacklers have to give the returner a 5-yard cushion. Also, get this, if your team misses a field goal but the ball goes through the end zone, you get one point. Like we said, weird. But Greenwood looks on the bright side, pointing out that because these rules tend to favor the offense, he has an advantage. "It’s easier with only one guy in motion,” he explains. "You kind of know what you’re getting before the snap, so it’s easier to dissect plays.”

With that in mind, Greenwood aims to be a three-down linebacker one day. Till then, he’s enjoying his role as a Renaissance man. "I can be the gunner, I can be on the line, I can long snap — I can pretty much do everything but punt the ball,” he says. "It gives my special-teams coach some freedom — I’m wherever they need me that week.”

He’s handling his adjustment to a country he had visited a handful of times with similar aplomb. Greenwood loves the passion and volume of the Kansas City fans. He says only the stores are different and laughs when teammates call him "Canuck.” "During training camp, I did a slide show on Canada, making fun of Canadians and Americans,” he says. "It doesn’t matter where you’re from, as long as you can produce.”

Early in Invincible, one of Papale’s friends tries to convince him to try out for the Eagles. "Even if you’re down there for one hour,” he says, "you’re down there.” Well, Greenwood’s been down here for a lot more than an hour. And if his Papale-like humility, heart and hustle have anything to do with it, we should be seeing him — on our TV screens at least — for a long time to come.

SIDEBAR: Star System

The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t pick up Cory Greenwood because he’s a really nice guy. Martin Rooney explains how Parisi Speed School and Inner Armour prep players to impress NFL scouts.

TEACH TO THE TEST

No matter how much they’ve seen you play, teams won’t sign you till they’ve seen how you perform on arbitrary NFL Combine metrics: "Ultimately, you’re measured for things like vertical jump and 40-yard dash, so we prepare these guys to be incredible testers and to pass the look test,” Rooney says. "We got Cory tanning. It’s the dead of winter — when you’re ghost white, you just don’t look as good. These are things you gotta do.”

DITCH THE SHOES

"We train everybody in their bare feet,” Rooney says. "They sprint barefoot, do lunges and deadlifts barefoot. You want that contact with the ground. It takes athletes a long time to get used to it, but it strengthens the feet, increases speed and improves proprioception. We’ve had a lot of success with it.”

SWEAT THE TECHNIQUE

"A lot of getting faster is technical work,” he says. "We work on the technique of every joint — the knee, the ankle. We do high-speed video analysis. They immediately see, ‘Oh, that one felt good, let me see what that looks like. That’s why it was my best one.’ Also, guys are often carrying too much body fat. Ten pounds of body fat is going to slow you down. We manipulate the diet over a three-month span to lose that weight.”

EAT RIGHT

The Parisi nutritional principles are straightforward — high protein-to-carb ratio, healthy fats, and consuming six meals a day. "Each week, all the guys’ food comes from In Motion Meals, designed by a bodybuilding chef,” Rooney says. "The Meals always include lots of dark-green leafy veggies and fibers. Chicken and fish are staples of most of the meals without a ton of red meat. Breakfast usually includes some eggs in the morning, cottage cheese, and turkey breast. In Motion Meals simply takes out the guesswork.”

SUPP UP

Inner Armour designed an entire line around Parisi’s needs — it was beta-tested with its NFL hopefuls, features creatine and beta-alanine, and is, of course, banned-substance free. "In the morning, the guys take Nitro-Peak protein plus Training-Peak and a pack of multivitamins,” Rooney says. "Preworkout, they drink Power-Peak. After the workout, it’s a shake called Mass-Peak. Throughout the day, they take different shots of protein. And before they go to bed, it’s casein protein. It’s all designed to increase strength and muscle mass, decrease body fat and increase performance.” Note: Once the games start, players focus more on keeping what they’ve built in the offseason. "I have such a fast metabolism, I need supplements to keep weight on, keep from breaking down and keep my muscles going strong,” Greenwood says. "Inner Armour’s helping a lot, that’s for sure.”

BEAT THE BENCH

Yes, you can improve your 225-pound bench press — a crucial NFL test — by benching, but it’s better to trick your muscles. "We do a lot of triceps work, floor presses, different grips, different arm positions, add 80-pound chains or bands to the bar, just to confuse the body to make it stronger,” Rooney says. "Cory in particular went from 15 or 16 reps to 26. He did close to 30 in training. That’s impressive no matter who you are.”

ADD SPECIAL SKILLS

Lesser-known players can boost their stock by rounding out their game. Greenwood learned how to long snap. "That made him more attractive,” Rooney says. "He could play special teams and be a backup long snapper. When a guy comes here, we do everything we can to get him in there. He worked his tail off on a skill he had never learned.”

Ben: Charlie thanks for joining us today.   I know you are super busy with your training and preparations for your upcoming fight against TJ Grant at UFC on Versus Live, so it means a lot to us that you would take a break and spend some time with In Motion Meals.   So let's get right down to business…

Charlie: Training has been great. I'm the type of fighter who's always training and preparing for a fight, whether I have a fight scheduled or not. I traded my career for a job as a professional fighter.  If I'm not training on a daily basis, then why did I quit my job, ya know? This is a relatively short term fight, but since I've been training and always eating right with the help of In Motion Meals, I feel its perfect timing - plus now I'll have the remainder of the summer without a scheduled fight...so I may just take a much needed vacation!

Ben:  Now I know you train with Mike Constantino and the gang over at AMA Academy (including fellow UFC Fighters Danny & Jimmy Miller and Andy Main) located here in the great state of New Jersey.  But you are originally from Pennsylvania right?  How does it feel to know that you are going to have the opportunity to fight in front of your home town fans withthis fight being held at the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburg, PA? 

Charlie: To be honest, it's the greatest opportunity I've had in my fighting career. I'm a hometown boy, a momma's boy, so for me to leave home and head to Jersey was a big deal; I left everything I knew. I was able to reach my goal, the UFC, and now I get to bring that to my hometown fans. It's come full circle. There couldn't be a greater situation, so now it's my job as a professional to perform.

Ben:  Well I for one am super excited for you Charlie.  I know how much your family, friends, and all your supporters mean to you.  Now, this is the third fight In Motion Meals has helped you prepare for.  Can you give our customers and our fans some better insight into how In Motion Meals has become a necessary tool for your professional fighting career?

Charlie: Well, ever since I started working w/ my strength coach Don Messing (2 years), I've become a lot more aware of what I take into my body. That being said, I wasn't fueling this machine w/ the correct foods. My schedule is hectic, I can't cook, so I either wasn't eating, or I was eating the wrong stuff. Then I came across In Motion Meals (through Martin Rooney), and it kind of took off from there. The simplicity, the nutrition, and equally important, the personal relationship I've formed w/ you and Carlo has made you guys a mainstay in Spaniard Nation. Even out of "camp" I use the meals at least once a day. It's just an easy way to keep myself on the right track diet-wise.

Ben:  While we are on the subject of nutrition, what is your perspective on where proper nutrition ranks on the priority list for most professional fighters you have come in contact with throughout your career?  Are many of your peers taking ownership and responsibility to fuel their bodies' right the way you do?

Charlie: To be honest, for me particularly, and I've wrestled for 20+ years, I knew nothing about nutrition until recently. I would say the MMA community is split in half, w/ some knowledgeable and others not. A great deal of guys put a lot of emphasis on supplements (pre/post/recovery) and not so much on nutrition. I personally use basic supplements and try to get my nutrients from food, which makes working w/ In Motion Meals so much more valuable. Plus, I currently live separately from my fiance, and my mom is four hours away, so I don't get much home cooking!

Ben:  Kudos to you for being a true professional and leaving no stone unturned.  I know if I had to do what you do for a living I certainly would want every single advantage I could get.  But you didn't always fight for a living right?  I understand that you were a school teacher before you were a professional Mixed Martial Artist.  Can you tell our readers a little bit about your story and how it is you became known as "The Spaniard?” 

Charlie: Prior to fighting, I was a Spanish teacher in my hometown, Hollidaysburg, PA. At that time, I still really felt a need to compete.  Because I had a wrestling background I decided to give MMA a try.  I had a few amateur fights and got hooked instantly. One thing led to another, and I moved over to eastern PA to coach wrestling and train MMA in NJ more regularly.   Eventually, I made the move over to Jersey to be even closer to my training so I could train every day with my team. The "Spaniard" moniker came from my wrestling coach at Lock Haven University, Rocky Bonomo. We traveled around all summer doing camps around the northeast and he would assign us all nicknames. At first, I was Antonio Banderas because I was studying my Spanish all the time.  Perhaps due to the non-toughness of that nickname, he eventually started calling me "Spaniard". Many people think it came from the movie "Gladiator" (he goes by Spaniard), but that is not so.

Ben:  You have some story Charlie.  Reminds me a lot of the story of Vince Papale, the bartender from Philadelphia who became a Philadelphia Eagle!  His story was made into a movie entitled "Invincible,” with Mark Wahlberg playing Vince.  Have you become used to the reality you are a UFC Fighter or are there still times when it seems like all of this is just a dream?

Charlie: At least a few times per week, I am shocked at the realization. I'll actually look at the fighter database on MMA.tv just to see "UFC" beside my name. I often wonder what my legacy will be, how many more "UFC"'s will be beside my name. I've learned to concentrate on the controllables, to work on the things w/in my grasp.

Ben:  Well I must say Charlie…you are one of the most humble professional athletes's I have ever had the pleasure to spend time with.  Now some of our clients here at In Motion Meals are also professional athletes, but the overwhelming majority is just people who value their health and fitness levels and are not competing in sport.  Do you have any advice that comes from your experience as a professional athlete to help them accomplish their fitness and health related goals? 

Charlie: First and foremost, MAKE THE DECISION. Period. Make goals, big or small. Surround yourself w/ people who can help you get to where you want to get. If I had it my way, I'd be living in my hometown in PA, but I knew that to do what I wanted, I had to make the move. Think small; one small cheat meal doesn't matter, right? Well, what if those "one little cheat meals" turn into five or ten, then they start to matter. If I miss one workout, no problem right? Well what if I miss another, then another. It's easiest to just not miss, just don't cheat!

Ben:  Awesome Charlie….thank you.  Well I know you have to get back to training.  I can't tell you enough how working with you and sponsoring you has been our pleasure.  You are a class act all the way and all of us here at In Motion Meals look forward to watching you and supporting you throughout your career.  It looks like you are more prepared for this upcoming fight than ever before and victory is inevitable.  Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us.  Kick some butt on June 26^th Charlie! 

March 10th 2011 Fairview NJ - It is generally accepted that Healthy Choice is a “healthier” alternative to other pre-packed meal options.  But is Healthy Choice really healthy?  To truly determine the health benefit of a pre-packaged food item or meal, most Americans will look at two indicators when reading food labels: Total Calories & Total Fat.  Unfortunately, using only these two indicators to determine the “healthiness” of a particular food item, does not tell the whole story.  Let's break down the Healthy Choice Chicken Parmigiana and see if the item is truly “healthy”….

September 18^th 2010 Ledyard, CT - What could be sweeter than seeing a life time of dedication to a single purpose come to fruition on one life changing Friday night.  For Jimmie Rivera Mixed Martial Arts has been his passion for more than half his life, always with his eye on one goal.  He has sacrificed the typical life of a man in his young twenties to instead concentrate on a shot at MMA greatness.  That shot came on Friday Sept. 17^th 2010 at the MGM Grand Foxwoods.  Rivera was offered a shot at the 135 pound King of the Cage title held by Abel Cullum.  The King of the Cage has been the second longest running MMA event in this country, right behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship.  Rivera came into the fight as a huge underdog as Cullum’s huge amount of experience dwarfed Jimmie’s 7 professional career fights.  Rivera's years of sacrifice and hard training paid off as he wrestled away a split decision victory from the supremely talented Cullum.  That decision added a second major championship belt, this one the King of The Cage Bantamweight Title, to the Tiger Schulmann's Fight Team display case.

 Cullum was noted for his ground acumen and wrestling ability, but also for incredible cardio, an even bigger issue in a five round title fight.  For Rivera this was a daunting challenge as he has struggled at times to cut weigh to 135 pounds.  That cut can drain a fighter, but not this time. Thanks to excellent nutritional guidance throughout his training camp, from Team Tiger Schulmann Nutritionist Ben Hoffman of IN MOTION Meals, he stayed in the fight mentally and physically from beginning to end, often winning the always draining clinch battles against Cullum.  Rivera's ability to match Cullum's strong cardio and dictate the location of the fight led to a resounding victory on two of the judges’ scorecards.  

"This is the greatest feeling of my life.  I have to thank Tiger Schulmann for always being there for me and guiding me to this victory," said an elated Rivera. "I also want to thank the guys at IN MOTION Meals.  They literally took care of everything I ate for the last four weeks.  IN MOTION Meals made the cut down easy and I was able to not only cut the weight, but I felt real strong throughout my training camp and throughout all five rounds of the fight.  It's hard to cut down to 135 especially when I have a full time job, train full time and then have to make my own food.  Their preparation of meals really took a lot of pressure off of me and made it possible to concentrate on the fight."

"I can't thank our TSMMA fans enough, they have followed me from the beginning and give me a huge push in every fight, but even more every day when I go to train,"  said Rivera.  With more stellar performances like the one he put on on September 17th that crowd will only continue to grow. 

November 16th 2009 Fairview, NJ – With a mission to provide the perfect solution to improve your eating habits and quality of life regardless of goals, lifestyle, or budget, IN MOTION Meals of Fairview New Jersey is waging war on this country’s obesity epidemic and poor state of health. The Center for Disease Control has classified obesity in America a national epidemic as the percentage of obese Americans increases over 25%. Over the last 30 years there have been many attempts to help Americans become healthier and fit, but to date nothing has seemed to reverse the obesity trend. Local football legend Phil Simms believes a few local guys have created the solution and has become one of their biggest supporters. Phil says, “IN MOTION Meals has made it so easy to eat properly, I try to eat at least two IN MOTION Meals every day. Not only do the meals help me stay healthy and in excellent physical shape, they taste amazing too! I would recommend IN MOTION Meals to anybody.”

IN MOTION Meals believes they are the first company to effectively bridge the gap between great taste and proper nutrition all while providing the convenience most people require nowadays. One of the owners of IN MOTION Meals, Ben Hoffman, states, “Here at IN MOTION Meals we have determined two reasons why Americans have such poor eating habits: Traditional “health food” never tastes great and the American lifestyle thrives on convenience and convenience foods available today are really bad for you. Obesity is a nation-wide epidemic that nothing yet has seemed to vaccinate and is only getting worse. We feel we provide food products that taste great, couldn’t be more convenient, and especially when combined with a good exercise program, can finally change the state of health in this country permanently. We have eliminated all the guess work and excuses that prevent our friends, family, and neighbors from improving their quality of their life.”

A Professional Bodybuilder with an extensive culinary resume, Carlo Filippone, leads the company as both President and Head Chef, so customers can be assured the best nutrition expertise will always be combined with the best culinary efforts to deliver “health food” that never tasted so good. Mr. Filippone says, “Imagine being able to eat Pasta and Meatballs, Lasagna, Shrimp, Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Marsala, Salmon, etc without any guilt and with the confidence of knowing you are eating properly? In the past, anyone looking to take control of their health and their waistlines would be told to eliminate these types of food choices. We specialize in making these types of choices not the exception to a successful weight loss program, but the prescription!”