For Redskins' Archuleta, An Imposing Body of Work

"Adam has a tremendous desire to achieve. That's what sets him apart from everyone else," Schroeder said. "Lot's of people talk about it, but he actually has it. He's an intelligent, freethinking human being who doesn't know any boundaries or limits; he doesn't realize there might be limits on what he can do, and that's pretty cool."

Schroeder made Archuleta work six to seven hours a day on both upper and lower body. A routine session would include Archuleta doing a bench press, but allowing the weight to fall near his chest and then catching it before hoisting it back up. He would extend one arm and hold a heavy bar in a set position for as long as possible, then do it again.

Today, they still drop and catch barbells and dumbbells, with a precise series of techniques required for each motion. Archuleta does bench presses while trainers and spotters provide strong resistance, keeping the bar pressed against his chest, before immediately hitting the ground to do "rebound push-ups." That entails thrusting his body in the air, maintaining a straight back, and landing on the fingertips before springing back up for another push-up.

There is no stretching in Schroeder's program; it is built into the exercises. The entire body is trained in every session with no days devoted to particular muscle groups.

"The exercises look pretty eccentric," said Dave Shapiro, the athletic director at Chandler High School, who hired Schroeder three years ago to train the school's athletic teams. "But there's no doubt in my mind that what Jay is doing now everybody will be doing in 10 years."

Everything Schroeder devised for Archuleta in high school was for long-term gain, so he could begin peaking physically in four to five years. Their focus was on the 2001 NFL draft.

"Jay told me right away that he's not trying to make me Superman in my senior year of high school," Archuleta said. "He said, 'This is my goal, this is my vision for you, and it's all going to really start happening when you're 23, 24 years old.' "

Archuleta was a walk-on at Arizona State, redshirting as a freshman, playing as a reserve as a sophomore, then starting for three years and earning Pac-10 defensive player of the year honors as a senior. He became friends with Pat Tillman, another undersized linebacker and fitness fanatic who became an NFL star, then quit to join the U.S. Army. Tillman, who became a Ranger, was killed two years ago in Afghanistan.

It was a few months after his senior season, during the 2001 NFL draft combine, that the mythology of "Adam Archuleta -- Workout Warrior" was born. He arrived at the combine a lean 6 feet, 210 pounds, and bench-pressed 225 pounds 31 times, a record for a defensive back. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds. He's listed today at 6 feet, 223 pounds.

"A lot of guys who pressure from the defensive secondary figure out a way not to get to the quarterback," said Redskins associate head coach Al Saunders. "But Adam will get there. He can also be a deep defender, and it gives you some problems. You've got to account for a guy like him, because he'll make himself accountable to the players when he hits them, and he makes himself accountable to his coaches with the way he disguises his coverages."

Archuleta was named to several all-rookie teams in 2001 as St. Louis lost to New England in the Super Bowl. In 2002, he posted a 14-tackle game, and in 2003 registered five sacks, an interception, one forced fumble and again topped the 100-tackle mark.

The following season brought the first significant setback of his career, however. He suffered a herniated disk, but still played in every game, including two in the postseason. Team doctors recommended surgery and Archuleta began to hear the whispers that his intense training with Schroeder had caught up with him.

He chose to spend the offseason recovering on his own, assembling what he refers to as "my team," a group of experts in rehabilitation, Pilates, holistic medicine and body purification. Four months after the herniated disc was discovered, Archuleta was back with the Rams for spring workouts. He played all 16 games in 2005.

"When I was hurt I heard a lot of detractors who said my injury was the result of what I had been doing to my body with Jay," Archuleta said. "But that couldn't be more wrong. Sticking with my team was the best decision I ever made."

Schroeder said: "Adam knows what got him to where he was, and he understood the real source of his injury and how it occurred."

Archuleta has spent much of this offseason in Arizona, as Williams excused him from the opening weeks of Washington's training program to stay with Schroeder. "We have an understanding that as long as I show up in shape and work hard and play hard, everything is fine," Archuleta said.

When the Redskins complete their minicamp, Archuleta will resume training with Schroeder in Arizona.

"Adam is a very special individual because he has used all the tools that God gave him," Schroeder said. "His spirit, emotion, intellect, psychology -- he uses every aspect of what makes him human to his advantage, and that's what other teams should fear."