Allen Barbre has worked hard to make an impact in 2014. Photo by Pete Lerro/contrastphotography.com

Allen Barbre likes to keep things simple and to himself.

You won’t see the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Eagles offensive lineman posting training photos of himself on Facebook or Twitter.

In fact, you don’t see much of Barbre at all except when he is playing football for the Birds.

Barbre came out of nowhere last season to establish himself as an important piece of the offense that was among the NFL’s elite.

Barbre’s consistent, versatile play fit perfectly into what head coach Chip Kelly looks for in a player.

Not only was Barbre’s play a pleasant surprise, but his ability to handle both the guard and tackle positions was impressive to both Kelly and General Manager Howie Roseman.

“I think having his ability to be both a swing guard and tackle for us, and really our first guy off the bench for us, was a huge plus,” Kelly said.

Barbre’s use of his natural strength was also just as impressive.

“He’s a really, really strong football player,” Kelly said. “You know, he’s got pop. He’s got really heavy hands, as [offensive line coach Jeff] Stoutland likes to say. He’s really good at technique.”

That strength was in full view against the Green Bay Packers where he was pressed into duty early replacing All Pro left tackle Jason Peters.

Barbre looked and played like he had been the starter all season.

Roseman said one play against the Packers – a 27-13 win – that he remembered most was a block Barbre made on All-Pro linebacker Clay Matthews. Barbre made Matthews look like his opponent in a WWE undercard match.

“It was unbelievable,” Roseman said. “He’s got Clay coming off the edge, and he uses those long arms and those heavy hands and he just shocks him, and you just went, ‘Wow.’

“That was a ‘wow’ kind of play from an offensive lineman, and to see Allen and to see that kind of effort, you’re proud of him.”

Barbre was the definition of of journeyman before coming to the Eagles on a futures contract. After he was selected in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers out of Missouri Southern State University, Barbre made locker room stops in Seattle (twice) and Miami before landing in Philadelphia.

Barbre plans to show up at OTA’s next month ready to compete for a bigger role in the offense. He knows he has to maintain his weight and get even stronger if he wants to increase his playing time on the offensive line.

In a recent phone interview, Barbre said he has been training on his own with the help of a local training partner.

He said he was using the programs given to him by Strength And Conditioning coach Josh Hingst and Sports Science Coordinator Shaun Huls, but was also using some programs he has used during his college and pro career. Barbre also credited MHP Supplements with helping keep his weight consistently at around 310 pounds.

“I’ve just been training on my own, doing a little Crossfit stuff with one of my buddies…a lot of Olympic lifts: clean and jerks, hang cleans,” Barbre said. “The Eagles gave us some work to do and that’s given me some stuff to do with that.”

Barbre said he has no desire to challenge Dallas Cowboys lifting legend Larry Allen with lifting heavy weights. For him it’s all about doing routines that transfer to playing football.

“I haven’t really put anything crazy on there yet,” Barbre said. “I’ve been just building back (my strength) …I haven’t gone crazy with the weights. I think I’ve cleaned 315 pounds a couple of times…

I’ve done some core work plus some front squats. It’s something I’ve been doing before I got to the Eagles. Something for myself.”

Barbre talked about how he transfers lifts to his position on the gridiron.

“The front squat relays to setting in the stance and being strong in my opinion,” Barbre said. “And then the cleans and all that are explosive, getting out of your stance. It all relates.

“I’ve followed other programs that…if I don’t do certain lifts for myself…I need those lifts, those Olympic lifts those explosive lifts for myself. Those lifts are real beneficial for me for some reason. I just feel like they help me more. It’s a full deal you know? You’re using your core and everything.”

As for his diet, Barbre said that is where supplements come into play.

“I eat a healthy breakfast everyday,” Barbre said. “I eat good meals and I take my supplements.”

Barbre said that he needs to keep his calorie intake up to maintain his weight, so salads and fruit are not always on his menu. “I can’t afford to eat too healthy,” Barbre said. “I’ll lose too much weight.”

Allen Barbre at a radio show in 2013. Barbre says MHP products have helped him prepare for the 2014 season. Photo by Pete Lerro/contrastphotography.com

So to keep his weight up and keep good things inside, he turns to supplements he gets from Maximum Human Performance (MHP).

“I take the “Dark Matter” after I work out, I drink the protein some (Up Your MASS, a weight gainer

Probolic-SR, a protein shake) and I eat the protein pudding (Power Pak) when I need a snack and I take all the vitamins and a joint supplement every morning.”

Those vitamins are by name Activite Sport (multivitamin), Releve (joint supplement) plus MYO-X.

“Yeah, yeah I like it,” Barbre said of his supplement regiment. The Southwest Missouri resident said he needs to maintain a certain weight to be an effective and strong blocker.

“I’m not really into losing any weight. I weigh a lot more now than when I was in college and even in Green Bay, I was skinnier,” Barbre said then laughed when he realized a 300-pound-plus man was saying that. “I was barely 300 pounds. I have been able to put on some muscle mass and I felt like its helped my game.”

Barbre said the team has bought into the “Sports Science” beliefs Kelly brought with him from Oregon. GPS monitors, smoothies, sleep patterns, loud music during practice and alternative practice days were all new to the NFL and by seasons end, the Eagles, to a player including veterans, said they had never felt stronger and fresher as the home stretch of the schedule and playoffs approached. Some bought in right away, some it took a while, eventually all were believers.

“I think a lot of people don’t give stuff enough time doing it like as far as sleep,” Barbre said withiout any noticeable yawning. “Getting all that sleep is not going to help you the first two or three days. Throughout the season you are building up the sleep bank. It’s like (when you sleep long) you are putting a deposit every night for your body. I feel like it really helped us.

“There was such a focus on taking care of your body and a lot of teams had never done that,” Barbre continued. “They overlooked stuff like that. It’s kind of mind-boggling when think about all the money and time they (NFL teams) put into other stuff. Sports science is now just getting into the (forefront).”

Barbre was asked if he thought teams around the league were watching and taking away the positives of Kelly’s science. “I imagine that they will be,” Barbre said. “I feel that coach Kelly has a system and that’s what he wants to follow. I just followed that system and did not veer off track and try to do something else just cause it was new and him being in the NFL for the first time…he stuck to his system and it seems like it worked.”

Barbre said winning the NFC East and remaining healthy has the team thinking about bigger and better goals for 2014.

“Most definitely, we’ve gained confidence as a whole team,” Barbre said. “We’ve been to the playoffs and now we can work and focus on our goals and continue to take another step. Maybe get to the “big Dance”

Eagles fans hope he is right.

Email Al Thompson at the.magazine2@aol.com