{"id":14909,"date":"2023-08-27T21:20:46","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T02:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=14909"},"modified":"2023-08-27T21:20:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T02:20:46","slug":"fulfilling-need-jordan-van-den-berg-takes-strides-at-dt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/fulfilling-need-jordan-van-den-berg-takes-strides-at-dt\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulfilling need, Jordan van den Berg takes strides at DT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before Penn State returned for preseason practices this month, Jordan van den Berg<\/a><\/strong> was turning heads. At a position of necessity for the Nittany Lions going into the 2023 campaign, the fourth-year defensive tackle had taken notable strides.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s a guy who it\u2019s starting to click with,\u201d strength coach Chuck Losey said in June. \u201cHe\u2019s been good in all areas since he\u2019s been here. But now, he\u2019s starting to put all the different pieces of performance together at the same time. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s weighing around 302 pounds right now. He\u2019s strong as a bull. And he\u2019s another guy that just kind of jumps out that I\u2019m really happy with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making a move<\/h2>\n

More than two months later, van den Berg\u2019s ascendancy hasn\u2019t diminished.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frequently praised by head coach James Franklin<\/a><\/strong> this month for steady improvement, the mindset that van den Berg brought into the offseason has carried over into on-field performance. Appearing as a second-line option at defensive tackle at varying points during camp, van den Berg is expected to contribute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor that the work is being noticed. And it\u2019s just because the room that I\u2019m in is highly competitive,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I\u2019m competing every day in the weight room, on the field, off the field. So just to be in that type of environment, really just pushes me as a person and as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

A big part of that process has centered on van den Berg\u2019s size gains this offseason.<\/p>\n

Arriving at Penn State in 2021 after a season at Iowa Western, he\u2019s grown from 275 pounds to now checking in at 309 this month. A number he\u2019d hit before, mentioning that he\u2019d topped out at 310 pounds ahead of the Outback Bowl on Jan. 1, 2022, van den Berg worked to shed bad weight and transform it into muscle, relying on Losey and team dietitian Leanne Louden.<\/p>\n

The result has been a lower body fat percentage while improving on his quick twitch movements needed in the trenches. They\u2019re improvements teammates have noticed, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis toughness. He\u2019s physical, he\u2019s strong,\u201d said Zane Durant. \u201cEverybody knows he\u2019s strong, but he\u2019s very tough mentally and physically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next steps for Jordan van den Berg<\/h2>\n

Now determined to parlay that progress into production as the Nittany Lions gear up for the start of the 2023 season, van den Berg believes he can help fulfill a needed role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe room is full of talent. We got a whole bunch of talented guys,\u201d he said. \u201cI definitely see that my role is, of course I\u2019m a little bigger, so I feel like I\u2019m gonna help a lot more in the run game. Because, with us losing PJ Mustipher, I felt like I wanted to try to take that step and gain as much muscle as I could so I could help with those situations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I try to keep as much as my fast twitch to be able to play like the pass and everything. But I\u2019d say with all the talent, we can play anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

I came in at probably about 280, 275. And now I\u2019m up to 309 pounds. The main thing for me was just sticking in the weight room and really committing myself to our nutrition plan, Ms. Leanne. She really helped me a lot with that, figuring out ways to get snacks in the day, and that just really helped me get to where I\u2019m at right now.<\/p>\n

I always wanted to make sure I wasn\u2019t gonna gain fat because when I was in the Outback Bowl, I got up to like 310 pounds. But I was like fat, so I felt slower. So I made sure this time to keep my body fat percentage a certain size because I knew that if I just stayed under that percentage, I\u2019d be good. So just really emphasize gaining just muscles.<\/p>\n

The post Fulfilling need, Jordan van den Berg takes strides at DT<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even before Penn State returned for preseason practices this month, Jordan van den Berg was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14909\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}