How former EWU standout Kendrick Bourne added 15 pounds of muscle, transformed his game

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Kendrick Bourne was at a crossroads.

The 2022 New England Patriots season ended on Jan. 8 with another loss to the Buffalo Bills. For a positive person with an upbeat personality, Bourne was unhappy.

After packing his belongings and flying back to his Oregon-area home, he knew something needed to change.

In 2021, his first with the Patriots, he had the best season of his NFL career. The former Eastern Washington standout finished with a career-high 800 yards and five touchdowns, which led to increased expectations. He couldn’t wait to get back to the football field, but he came off that high to an all-time low.

Bourne was demoted on the depth chart and his playing time dwindled. There were built-in excuses, too.

He could’ve argued that the offensive direction under Matt Patricia hurt him and the other players on offense, but his body didn’t feel good. He wasn’t recovering like he used to. His sleep was off. His eating habits weren’t healthy.

That’s why he took accountability.

“It happened pretty fast after having a down year,” Bourne said. “Like, ‘I gotta change something.’ It wasn’t fun. I wasn’t having fun. I was fighting through the year and my body wasn’t feeling strong. I knew that I couldn’t repeat that.”

Bourne didn’t blame the offensive coordinator or the Patriots coaches. He searched within and looked for guidance from his trainer, Aaron Woods. The owner of Grind Time Fit, in Beaverton, Oregon, created a road map to get Bourne’s NFL career back on track.

“He had a little down year. Let’s call it what it is,” Woods said. “I said, ‘If you feel like you didn’t perform as well, let’s attack that. Let’s not blame nobody or anything. Let’s attack the areas that you can control. You can control training a little bit better, eating better, knowing your plays better, being more efficient on the field.’

“When you don’t accomplish your goals, you gotta look yourself in the mirror. He took that on the chin. It was like, ‘Hey, it’s on me.’ ”

When Bourne wasn’t in Foxborough, he was working with Woods and a group of NFL veterans at Grind Time Fit. The process started in January. By the time training camp started, Bourne gained 15 pounds of muscle and was in the best shape of his life.

“I didn’t point a finger at anybody else, just looked within. Like, ‘What can I control?’ ” Bourne said. “And I think that’s what I did well.”

Here’s how it happened:

Part 1: Mobility

As he entered his late 20s, Bourne’s body wasn’t recovering like it used to.

Last season, he landed on the Patriots practice report once with a toe injury but felt his body breaking down as the year went on.

After finishing with 55 receptions, 800 yards, and five touchdowns in 2021, Bourne ended last year with 35 catches for 434 yards and a touchdown. Step one was to become more mobile.

Every session with Woods started with an intricate warmup focused on stretching his lower body.

“Majority of the professionals, they’re physically gifted enough. They’re all strong. They’re all explosive. One of the main things that’s missing is mobility,” Woods said. “Mobility helps you get better joint integrity which leads to the muscles. Now you don’t have as tight as muscles and now you’re not at risk for injury. The main thing is just consistency.”

This active and dynamic warm-up lasted 20 minutes. A barefoot Bourne focused on foot, toe and ankle flexion while walking up and down a turfed area in the gym. He took time to stretch his hamstrings, groin, and quad muscles. The goal was to get and keep the body loose.

This is something Bourne kept up throughout the offseason and into the season. He’s noticed a direct impact when he’s on the football field.

“Really stretching every day, taking the time, not just rushing through a warmup but really warming up, being diligent and stretching helped me a lot,” Bourne said. “I do (feel a difference). I’m able to open up when I’m running. I’m able to run longer and have a lot more endurance in my muscles.”

Part 2: Strength

Bourne never liked weightlifting.

Early in his career, he thought adding muscle would slow him down. He looked at it like bodybuilding and for a receiver who relies on his speed and athleticism, he didn’t think it would help him.

At training camp, every time Bourne emerged on the practice field, he had his Patriots practice jersey rolled up to show off his new set of ab muscles. This offseason, he discovered a newfound love for the weight room.

“My few years early in my career, no, I didn’t like working out. As I got older, I realized I need to lift to maintain speed, to maintain strength,” Bourne said. “I grew a lot in this. I really enjoyed it. Seeing the result like showing my abs and on Instagram. Just showing people that hard work pays off.”

Woods took Bourne through various lifts from Olympic style, such as cleans, to the bench press. Bourne used to dread the bench press. He struggled to lift heavier weights like his NFL counterparts and wanted no part of the exercise. Coming into this offseason, his personal five rep best was 225 pounds.

This offseason, he pushed up 275 pounds.

“It was changing his mindset and perspective of performance training or string training,” Woods said. “Building that lean muscle, obviously trying to be more explosive. Essentially being more durable.”

Part 3: Nutrition

Bourne likes fast food. It’s his guilty pleasure. In past seasons, he would eat Dairy Queen, McDonald’s and Taco Bell up to three times a week. When he was younger, he could get by eating like that, but that didn’t last.

Bourne, who turned 28 this summer, felt sluggish last season. A big change in his offseason was revamping his diet. It wasn’t food-specific, but Woods had him focused on three healthy meals a day.

“It’s more of eliminating the (bad) foods,” Woods said. “Just him being on a consistent eating plan. Sometimes he might wake up, eat a bowl of cereal, train, and not eat till later. It was more of the consistency of fueling his body. I think that’s what really changed.”

Bourne’s wife, Vanessa, took charge. When he wakes up, she usually has an omelet, two pieces of bacon, and fruit prepared in their kitchen. For lunch, he eats inside the players’ cafeteria at Gillette Stadium. He rotates proteins such as chicken, steak and fish. He typically pairs that with rice, salad or a vegetable.

At home, Vanessa cooks a similar meal for dinner, preparing a different protein than what he had for lunch.

“I used to eat (fast food) three times out of the week in the past. Now, it’s like not at all. I’m eating meals she cooks,” Bourne said. “I’m eating a consistent meal, a healthy meal that is helping build my muscle. It’s been good.”

Part 4: Rest and recovery

It’s easy to get distracted at night. Woods has seen his athletes lose sleep playing video games, watching television, or getting lost in their phones. That’s why another big piece of this puzzle was changing Bourne’s sleeping habits.

This offseason, Bourne worked out twice with Woods. To keep that pace up, he needed to allow his body to heal. That’s why it’s imperative he gets at least eight hours of sleep.

“Some of the guys detach from the real world with video games and stuff, but that leads to staying up later,” Woods said. “Our bodies are getting beat up all week. It’s a short amount of time so we’re on double days the majority of the time.”

Bourne changed his sleep schedule. Now he gets into bed at 9 every night and is fast asleep by 10:30 at the latest. When his alarm goes off at 6 a.m., he feels a huge difference from where he was a year ago.

“I’m not struggling,” Bourne said. “Now my energy is better. I’m ready to be up and it just feels better. So, getting that full eight hours is helping me. And not being on my phone all night or watching TV all night. Just having discipline to say, ‘Well, I need to go to sleep,’ and that’s helped a lot.”

To aid his recovery, Bourne drinks gallons of water a day, focuses on preventive rehabilitation, and schedules weekly massages. Any time he feels sore, he works with the Patriots training staff to get ahead of any potential lingering issues.

Looks, plays better

The conditions weren’t ideal, and every mistake literally cost Bourne.

After struggling last season, he needed to improve more than just his physical fitness. To help him mentally, Woods put Bourne and other NFL pass catchers through pass-catching drills with the aid of a JUGGS machine or a quarterback. They weren’t allowed to wear gloves and every time they dropped a pass, they owed Woods $10.

“It was just like a psyche thing,” Bourne said.” He wouldn’t let us wear gloves. Kind of had that Bill Belichick mindset of making it harder in practice and training than in the game. I think it helped a lot.”

When he returned to Gillette Stadium this summer, Bourne was a different person. Physically, he looked different, and that gave him confidence. That helped increase his mental toughness. Bourne feels faster and stronger. He calls this offseason the best of his career. That evident training camp and now into the regular season.

This season, Mac Jones called Bourne his “go-to guy.” After catching one touchdown last season, Bourne caught two in Week 1. He’s on pace to finish with over 80 receptions this year. He’s also on track to again hit that 800-yard mark.

“The first game started off good. Not to toot my own horn, but hard work pays off,” Bourne said. “I’ve never worked harder. I probably said it before, but I wasn’t really being honest. Now, I’m trying to do everything right. Put every piece together. And then now the puzzle’s come together.”

It would’ve been easy for Bourne to blame last year’s circumstance for his down season. The Patriots’ offense was a mess after offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left for Las Vegas. After finishing second on the Patriots in receiving, Bourne dropped to fourth. He could’ve requested a trade. He could’ve sulked or blamed others.

Instead, he turned his worst season into his best offseason.

“That goes to show his mental strength. And that goes to show just who he is as a person,” Woods said. “He went from his best season to his damn near worst season. Where do you go from there? … Do you say, ‘I’m going to put more effort and work into it?’ That’s the path he took.”

No longer at a crossroads, Bourne is happy again.

“I’m proud of myself,” he said. “I don’t say that a lot.”