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Dining on Chick-fil-A, Subway was the key to bulking up for one Penn State OL
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Surviving in the B1G has an undersized lineman is a difficult task, especially when you call the East Division home. So one Penn State offensive lineman decided to put on a little extra weight, as to not get pushed around every week.
Bryce Effner arrived in State College in 2018 and was a three-star prospect, coming in a 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds. His weight wasn’t quite where it needed to be, so he started to pack on the pounds before the 2019 season.
Effner will be a redshirt freshman this fall and is almost at 300 pounds entering the year. So, what changed? How did the offensive lineman add almost 35 pounds since getting to Penn State?
“Mostly Chick-fil-A and some late-night Subway orders,” Effner told StateCollege.com. “Mostly those two places. You just have to eat and eat, work out and drink a lot of water.”
Eating Chick-fil-A and Subway isn’t necessarily the healthiest plan, but Effner said that his body fat percentage increased by only two percent during the process. He says most of the weight gained came in the form of muscle.
“I gained mostly muscle. Mostly muscle. Make sure you get that down,” Effner said.
The decision to put on more weight comes from having to block such big-bodied defensive lineman in the B1G. Attempting to do that at 265 pounds is an extremely tough chore. Now, it should be a little easier for Effner as he’s a little closer to their weight.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB