Terrell Suggs' training is an uphill battle

Not only is Baltimore linebacker Terrell Suggs planning to sit out of training camp, but he also has an enormous spare tire.

The good news for the Ravens? The spare tire isn't around Suggs' waistline but instead came from a tractor.

Suggs, the team's franchise player for the second consecutive season, has yet to sign his tender. He isn't allowing himself to get out of shape, though. Each weekday, he and other NFL defensive stars represented by agent Gary Wichard -- Tennessee's Keith Bulluck, San Diego's Antonio Cromartie and Indianapolis' Dwight Freeney -- meet for workouts as creative as they are grueling.

The tires come into play on "Strongman Hill," a dirt slope tucked into the Santa Monica Mountains, where there's always a shovel on hand in case of a chance rattlesnake encounter. Rather than simply running up the path, the players might have the waist-high, 75-pound tires tethered behind them, or strapped to their bodies, or flop them up the hill end over end. When they aren't pushing or pulling the waist-high wheels, they're pounding them with sledgehammers.

In March, the first time he got a look at a tire workout, Suggs didn't even try one. He spun on his heels, checked out of his hotel and returned to his home in Arizona. But Wichard eventually coaxed him back, and Suggs has warmed to them. Well, sort of.

"It's only fun when you've got a lot of people doing it," he said. "And Antonio has somehow mastered it. It's almost like a waste of his time now."

The tires are only a small part of the weekly routine, devised by Ryan Capretta, a former assistant strength coach with the Ravens and Arizona Cardinals who now works with individual NFL clients.

Part of the week is spent at Proactive Sports in Westlake Village, where the players do specialized weightlifting, and exercises such as push-ups with 90 pounds of chains draped across their backs.

They've also started spending part of their week at Bas Rutten's Elite MMA Gym, also in Westlake Village, where they receive mixed martial arts training from 12-time world kickboxing champion Hector Pena.

The players stay in hotels or with friends during the week, and usually return home on weekends. They begin each weekday by meeting with Wichard at his favorite breakfast spot, skipping the heavy meals in favor of bowls of oatmeal and egg-white omelets.

The goal for each, Capretta said, is continuing to develop their already freakish speed, explosion and endurance.