How Raheem Mostert Hit His NFL Stride After 30 | Men's Health digital
The Dolphins star made his first Pro Bowl and broke a franchise record after most other running backs retire. Here's how.
OST PRO ATHLETES hit their peak at age 27 or 28. Apparently, no one told Raheem Mostert. The 32-year-old Miami Dolphins running back is coming off his best NFL season yet. He rushed for 1,187 scrimmage yards, 21 touchdowns in 2023—the latter of which is a franchise record–which led to his first Pro Bowl nod and a contract extension with Miami.
Mostert signed a two-year deal in March that will keep him in Miami through 2025. That's even more impressive when you consider his road to the Dolphins. Mostert wasn't selected in the 2015 NFL Draft, and at one point, his path to a starting spot included stints with seven different teams over a two-year stretch (most of that time was spent playing on special teams or practice squads). He finally caught on with the San Francisco 49ers, but battled injuries during his tenure. Mostert landed with the Dolphins in 2022 and made an immediate impact. Now entering his third season in Miami, he's hit his NFL stride after many of his contemporaries from the 2015 running back class (like Todd Gurley and David Johnson) have already retired.
The 5’10,” 210-pound former Division I track standout is ready for another elite season amidst a roster of some of the league’s speediest skill players. MH caught up with Mostert during training camp about how he’s kept himself healthy and strong for so long–and what he hopes to accomplish this season (alongside some unique TD celebrations).
MEN’S HEALTH: You’re heading into your 10th NFL season, and you are coming off of your best season yet at age 32. How have you kept your body going and staying strong?
RAHEEM MOSTERT: It’s a great question. Being my tenth season, going into it, one thing I’ve been consistent with is working with a group of specific trainers. Dr. Stefan Valdes over at Movement Lab Training and Chad Teague in Cleveland, these guys do all kinds of stuff from chiro work to dry needling.
I was introduced to this world by my wife. She noticed [Dr.] Chad Teague at Code Chiro in Cleveland on Instagram, and she said, "we should check this guy out." We were living in Cleveland at the time. I met him, and I started learning so much about the small movements of everything in your body—how your body truly works and how it’s supposed to operate. For these three-plus years, I’ve implemented that work in the off-season.
MH: What does the off-season training look like for you?
RM: If it’s early off-season, I take my time with family and friends and travel. When I get back into the nitty gritty, I try to work out three times a week, usually Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. As it gets closer to OTAs and minicamp, I start implementing more workouts, more pool exercises. Pool exercises help with unloading in so many different aspects.
In the pool, I do everything—high knees, running—all in the shallow end first. I have foam/pool weights and dumbbells at my house, and I implement as many different exercises as I can with those. Also, hanging off the edge and just kicking for a few seconds on and off. There are so many beneficial things that you can do in the pool that I feel help in your pursuit and also with longevity.
As we get into training camp, [the workouts are] more driven toward the condition base. I could easily go under a bar and lift, I’m kind of built like that in a sense. It’s easier for me to put weight on and go under a rack and lift crazy amounts. But when it comes to on the field, I want to be as conditioned as I can.
MH: You’ve always been fast, as we saw during your record-setting track and field days at Purdue. But you’ve also, well, aged. What do you do in the offseason to specifically train for speed?
RM: I still train like I’m a track runner. I try to hit the track as much as I can. I do hurdle work—that’s one of the big essentials. With hurdles, you have to have your hip flexors on-point. Also getting into different increments of sprints, whether 60 meters, three sets of 40 meters, and two sets of 60 meters, etc.
MH: Early in your NFL career, you played for seven different teams in two years. How did you keep up your fitness/workouts through so many transitions?
RM: Yeah, my transitions. Though there’s guys in the league that have probably had it worse in regard to getting cut and sitting at home. Fortunately, I was blessed that once I was cut, I was picked right back up. So I didn’t really sit at the house that much to contemplate, "where do I have to go and work out?" All in all, it’s a mindset. When you are going through team by team, cut by cut, my mindset has always been consistent. If I want to do what I want to do, and get to where I want to get to, I can't let someone stop me and deviate from the course.
MH: The average age of an NFL running back is 27.5. You’re a starter at 32. Most RBs enter the league at the age of 22 and are out of the league by 28 or 29. What do you attribute your longevity to?
RM: I started to implement what I was taught years back in terms of small movements, like taking care of your feet and ankles. You have to be able to work these small muscles to help prevent injuries. But you also have to get with the trainers. I’m fortunate enough, the Miami Dolphins trainers have all been in there and they’ve been exceptional.
And recovery. I’m about to be home here soon and the first thing I think about is kissing my wife and kids, and then, getting in the cold plunge. I’ve got it at 43 degrees, I’ll sit in there for a good five minutes. During the season, I try to get into the cold tub first thing when I wake up at 5:30 a.m., sit in there for two minutes, relax the body and wake it up. Once I’m done with work, before I go to bed, I use it to ease my mind and my muscles.
MH: You’re on a speedy team–if it’s an all-out race amongst the skill position guys, who’s winning? Who’s second and third?
RM: Right now, I don’t know—it’s a lot of guys. A lot of guys can run. Ethan Bonner, he can run. There’s so much speed on our team. I’m not going to put myself up there at the top. I might be second, third, I’ll give a good fight. But I don’t know if I’m gonna win. Especially right now, I’m a little heavier, I’ve gained some pounds. It’s more muscle, though.
MH: Speaking of muscle, you mentioned it’s easy for you to lift heavy weight. Do you have a favorite weight room exercise/workout?
RM: Yeah, my favorite, I call it Rule 21. You do 7 low curls, 7 medium curls, and then 7 full curls. I’m usually at 45s on each side.
MH: You had your first Pro Bowl season last year, totaling over 1,187 scrimmage yards and 21 TDs. What did you learn about your body?
RM: Treat it more. I feel like I did a good job last year of treating my body well. I only missed two games with a high ankle sprain, but there’s always room for improvement. I try to work more and do more preventive work so those [injuries] won’t pop up.
MH: Let’s talk nutrition: what does your nutrition look like in-season?
RM: I have such a fast metabolism that I can eat anything and not gain crazy weight. I try to stay away from fries, burgers–that’s my weakness. I try to do alternatives, I love salmon, any type of fish, especially being in south Florida. Fish is something I truly go to as much as I can. I don’t have a chef, it’s me and my wife. We try to mix it up. And during the off-season, it’s all about barbeque. I like Texas style BBQ.
MH: What about sleep–you have three young kids, so is sleep a challenge?
RM: In regard to sleep and me dealing with my little three-headed munchkins, me and my wife did an excellent job. When each kid was born, we started a sleep routine. Our kids go to bed at 7:30/8 p.m. every night. We wanted some adult time where we'd hang out, have a glass of wine or just talk about our day, that was important for us. In a relationship, that’s the biggest thing you can do and just communicate. So I’m up at 5:30 a.m., lights out at 9:30/10 p.m.
MH: Last season, you had a goal of being a 1,000-yard rusher. What’s your goal for this year?
RM: It would have to be the one-up. The one-up is, how can I one-up from what I did the previous year? I didn’t know that I’d possess the most TDs in franchise history, I didn't know I’d do that. So my mindset is always one-up on something. This year, I want to be more impactful in the pass game. 500 yards for me this year in the pass game is definitely a goal. Obviously I want to break my record in TDs, and who knows if that’ll happen, but it’ll be nice.
MH: Speaking of TDs, the Dolphins are known for your creative TD celebrations. Which group celebration requires the most athleticism?
RM: It’d have to be the stomp the yard celebration with Tyreek when he went on his elbow, because if you see the Stomp the Yard movie, and you see what he did–that is hard. And it is impressive he did that, but it wasn’t a group thing.
Also the barrel racing, that was the one that took a lot of athleticism. Just as many guys who are fast on our team can do backflips (see Tyreek’s backflip celebration). I used to do those backflips and running off the wall. But I landed on my neck one time, I said that’s it.