Get Ready for the NFL with TD Ayo-Durojaiye

TD Ayo-Durojaiye, former running back from Villanova University and a 2024 NFL Draft prospect, shared insights into his life as he has been training with PER4ORM located in Davie, Florida, in preparation for the NFL Draft.

“I decided to work out with them because I saw the head trainer on Instagram two years ago, and one of the running backs on the Ravens trained with them,” shared Ayo-Durojaiye. “I looked over his page and at the people he trained with, and I wanted to experience it myself. I fell in love with the way they do things there, so I decided to do my pre-draft training with them.”

He grinds daily, hitting the field, track, and gym, all gearing up for his big moment.

“Most days we start around 8:30 a.m., with the exception of a few days when we begin at 10:00 a.m. It’s about six days a week for the most part. Usually, we are on the field four times a week and in the pool on another day. We also spend time on the track. We go to American Heritage, a private school in Plantation, Florida, and a park in the Davie area with multiple fields similar to a recreation center. We split our time between these locations, PER4ORM facility, and the gym. Our regimen includes running and lifting, typically four lifts a week—two upper body and two lower body—along with two days dedicated to football-related activities. These activities range from position-specific drills to small nuances of the game in preparation for our pro day.”

Training for the draft is an entirely different experience compared to training to play for college.

“Someone said you turn into a track star for eight weeks,” he expressed. “The way you run, the way you think about running, the way the 40 is… you have to run it a certain way. Understanding those things, you could be a fast person but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re running a good 40. I think everybody kind of gets humbled by how fast they think they are and learning the technique. I think that is the most fun part, learning about how to train your body this specific way. With all of this, you learn to trust the process.”

Obstacles, whether physical or mental, can make or break an athlete. This is what he has experienced so far in his training.

“Physically dealing with my shoulder where they were just achy all the time, my body was just getting used to being trained and getting extra mobility that I wasn’t used to having, I had to deal with that for a little bit. I had tweaked my lower back early on; it was minor, and also a hamstring issue but it is not too crazy so I’ll be fine come pro day. Staying patient. Staying confident. Not getting inside my head too much is the most important thing.”

Following this, he has prioritized maintaining a balanced recovery. He described that there is always something once a day from a recovery standpoint.

“Doing extra work and having a couple of extra days off over the weekend, being able to get off my feet and sleep in, doing light work on the field, you can’t do absolutely nothing as you’re resting but getting the right amount of attention on my body to get it to where it needs to be. Working out six days a week is a lot for your body. When you are running and lifting, most of those days, that’s a strain your body is not used to, you have to recover at a high level. We go to the chiropractor once a week and get adjusted. We have a stretch company come in twice a week, and we all get personalized full body stretches or whatever we need to get taken care of. We have yoga once a week as well, which is super important.”

Additionally, his nutrition habits had to be altered for training. His main focus was eating enough to reach his goals.

“We get meals every week and we get to pick what we want to eat, it’s good that we have options. For me it’s just eating on a consistent basis is something that I struggle with. Even in college making sure I am eating enough or remembering to eat and not let the day get you too busy, having a schedule of eating at the same time and having the schedule that we have for workouts kind of allows me to have a consistent diet and I have been able to put on a couple pounds, which I needed to do. My nutrition has been good, it’s just been about consistency.”

The food’s he has frequented so far during training have helped him so far.

“For breakfast I have a protein bar or granola bar, something before I workout. Usually right before the lift or right after the lift we will have another meal, usually it’s pasta or rice with shrimp or chicken. They have a lot of different things like sweet potato fries, barbeque chicken, turkey, all that stuff, just a lot of protein.”

Supplements also are common among athletes training for the draft.

He described his specific supplements, “We are all taking creatine, which is helping us build muscle density. We all take amino acids before the workout.”

Around the four to five week mark was a great time seeing how far he and other athletes came.

“There was just a day where everybody was dropping PRs and everything was good. The energy and vibe were up. You see the camaraderie that people were starting to gain. Even though we may never see each other again after this process or maybe some of us may be on the same team. Being happy for each other and being excited about other people’s success, it’s special to see.”