49ers linebacker George Kittle had a rough offseason, with a chronic muscle injury that required surgery and an acromioclavicular joint injury in his shoulder sustained during the Super Bowl. But after losing 30 pounds because he couldn’t lift weights, Kittle says he’s now back in shape.
Kittle said his weight is down to 214 pounds, about 30 pounds below his playing weight, but he’s now where he wants to be as camp opens.
“I got back in shape,” Kittle said. “I usually play around 242-245 pounds all season, and I got back in shape last week to 243, so I was excited about that, all my weights were back. It’s been a bit of a weird season because I haven’t been able to train the way I normally do, and a lot of that has been recovery. I’ve been able to, through regulation workouts, in June and July, get back into the rhythm that I want to get back into. I feel like I’m ready to start training camp.”
Kittle said he was unable to do his usual off-season workouts and lost a lot of muscle as a result, but he regained his strength once he was given the full green light to train.
“If I don’t exercise, I lose weight really quickly,” says Kittle. “I tore my shoulder after the Super Bowl. Then after surgery I couldn’t lift any weights. So basically, I didn’t do a lot of exercise for a few weeks, so I lost a lot of weight. But after I got back in the gym and was able to get back into the gym, I got back to 230 pounds pretty decently, and then I gained 10 pounds over the last four to six weeks. So I feel good about that.”
The 49ers are happy with where Kittle is headed in his eighth NFL season.