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February 23, 2022

UFC Champion Israel Adesanya on Who He Wants to Fight Next

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 3:22 am

Israel Adesanya is currently one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC, defending his middleweight title successfully four times. The latest defense came against Rob Whittaker, who he’d knocked out in their last crossing. This time, the win came in the form of a unanimous decision after five rounds at UFC 271. Even though the champion sits comfortably at the top of the rankings, and was a kickboxing champ before that, his star is still rising in the world of mixed martial arts. Not just because of his technically impressive performances, but also the unique energy he brings to the Octagon.

“I’m an entertainer by nature,” Adesanya tells Men’s Journal. That passion for performance beyond the norm and his pursuit of mastering all fighting styles is where his nickname “The Last Stylebender” fits, a reference to Nickelodeon’s animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The action cartoon also makes an appearance on his forearm, where he’s the character Toph Beifong tattooed. “I watch anime for the fight scenes, and I try to bring their spectacle to my finishes.”

We spoke with Adesanya about his favorite shows, training camps, brushes with Hollywood, and who he plans to fight next.

Men’s Journal: Going into a title defense where you’ve already beaten the fighter, how do you make sure you aren’t going in the Octagon overly confident?

Israel Adesanya: There’s an element of that you need to address, but there’s also additional urgency there because I really can’t lose to this guy. I’ve already beaten him. I’ve got that motivation to work with, and I push that forward. Even though I’ve been victorious before, I make my pursuit to find a way to do it in a more impressive fashion, if possible.

The knockout you scored on him the first time was pretty flawless. How did you find that moment?

I didn’t even go by our game plan during the first fight we had. For this one I brought back a few old weapons I wanted to use while also upgrading. To be honest, I wish I’d been more fluid in my decision-making this last fight, because there were times when I saw opportunities to take him out. I was feeling very comfortable southpaw, and I should have leaned into that. But in the end, I decided to stick with our original game plan.

When did the fight camp for UFC 271 begin?

This one we started in November of last year and there was a lockdown in Auckland. I used that time to get in the best shape of my life, going into a camp by doing these prison-style workouts with my best friend, Chance. He also used to work as a personal trainer, so he knows what he’s doing. That also meant he had a bit of equipment in the house as well. We set up some TRX bands to use on the doors and sandbags to add to the bodyweight training. I got pretty swole. I rolled that physique right into my camp. I was thicker, more muscular, and had gas for days. During fight camp, I’m working out two to three times a day. I put in a full days work, just like anyone else, but it’s probably a lot more fun than other gigs.

UFC fighters in Octagon
Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker duking it out in the Octagon. Courtesy Image

How strict is your diet during a fight camp?

Everybody knows I’m one of the healthiest people in the world, vegan and gluten-free. Just kidding! I like to enjoy life. Food is one of the great equalizers in this world, and one of the things I most look forward to when I travel around the world. I love going to eat when I’m in America—the more disgusting and sweet the better. I’m glad I’ve got the metabolism I do, because if I didn’t we’d have a problem. I try to eat relatively healthy when I’m in a training camp, but the last few weeks I really dial it in. I cut back on the Uber Eats. On fight week I work with Jori from The Fight Dietitian. He knows what to put in my food to optimize me completely. On the actual day of the fight I tend not to eat. I want to earn my kill.

Is there a tried-and-true training exercise you use during camp?

Hill sprints. There’s a street in Auckland where we’ve been going for over a decade called Air Street. That hill has created so many champions. It’s a hill that can’t be beat, nobody has. It takes a minute and a half to run up it. And you have three minutes total to get back down. Whatever time you have left is your rest time. I‘ve gotten close to hitting the record there, but never actually made it to the top in time. I did it with ten seconds left and nobody has beaten that yet. It’s a fucked up hill, man. It’s a soul destroyer. We ended up having to do these sprints in camp one summer, and it was pain. I just take my shirt off at the beginning now, because I know that one round in I’m going to be absolutely drenched.

The practice is about pushing yourself. It’s not about beating anyone else’s time. It’s about beating yourself and your own doubts. It’s good to train those mental states—how you can push through those boundaries. I know exactly when I hit my first wall. The first hurdle is getting past that. The second wall comes by this driveway, and I look forward to ways to dig deep. That’s the energy I need going into the final round in the UFC.

Any new techniques or disciplines you’ve adopted to improve your game?

I recently started to do breath work training with my guy Dave Wood back home in Auckland. He’s from Piha and has a very unique way of thinking. He gave me the red pill [so to speak]. My eyes were opened to how the way we breathe changes how we perform. There are a lot of people out there who breathe constantly through their mouths and don’t even realize it, even athletes. So once he showed me there was a new level to be unlocked, I went to gear three. You can see it during the fight but also between the rounds, when my eyes are closed, just focused. That’s probably the most recent game-changer. I’ve been working with him closely for about nine or ten months.

How did that translate to how you fought this last battle?

I was more present in this fight than I’ve been in any fight previously. I had a few flashes later in the fight, a few milliseconds though, but that was about it. You can’t lose focus in a fight at this level. You can’t. A momentary lapse of judgement can cost you greatly. That’s a quick way to wake up looking at the lights. But because I was more present in this fight, there was no chance I was going to lose.

Given that you’re the champ, there’s a lot riding on your next fight. How do you make sure your body is taken care of?

I’m all about doing prehab instead of rehab. I have a massage therapist, physiotherapist, and chiropractor I see once a week during fight camp. I still feel very young, but I’m not as young as I once was. I don’t recover the same. It takes a lot more time. I can’t party all night then show up fresh to the gym in the morning anymore. I have to take care of my bones and my flexibility consistently. I use the Theragun on my legs, especially before hill sprints.

What do you look forward to most after a victory?

My shower. There’s so much stimulus after a battle in the Octagon, getting dragged here and there. First you’re off to get a medical check, then to sit down with the media. Once that’s over I’m getting into the shower with my bare essentials. That’s when everything else in the world is stripped away. For me that space is like the white room in The Matrix when Neo is first tapped into his training. The next thing I absolutely need is get a great meal. I want to try the local cuisine, or whatever is being talked about in the area.

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What do you say to people who are calling for a third fight between you and Rob Whittaker?

What for? The only people who are calling for another fight between me and him are people who want to see me lose. I’ve already beaten him twice. I knocked him out the first time, and bested him the last. I’m ready for the next chapter.

Do you have your sights set on someone in the division?

I’m ready to fight Jared Cannonier next. I think he did great in his last fight and I already told him at the weigh-ins he better do so because I need some new challengers. I’m excited for some new blood in the Octagon with me. I know he wants the work, too. I have a rough game plan as far as what I’m going to do to beat him. I know my coaches are watching videos and ready to come with their own ideas.

You’re undefeated in your division, but who gave you the biggest competition?

Kelvin Gastelum was the greatest challenge I’ve had, because at the time he posed the greatest threat. He made me dig deep to that other level. I knew I had that fighting spirit in there and this fight unlocked that. Going into the fifth round, I felt the most adversity, because I knew we were tied up in that moment. That moment it’s all about who wants it more. I’m not sure you can see in the video, but I mouthed to him, “You can’t beat me.” I was prepared to die. What a glorious death that would be. I wasn’t just ready to die, I was also ready to kill.

There have been a few impressive technical knockouts already, but do you have a move or finisher you’re hoping to land in the future?

I’m trying to snatch someone’s neck to be honest. I’ve done it a few times in the past, like when I snatched Brad Tavares and Kelvin Gastelum’s neck. I could’ve done it in my last fight with Rob Whittaker, but I just didn’t trust my instincts unfortunately. I’ve been drilling submissions during my sparring sessions and they’ve been coming to me easy. Someone’s going to be caught with one soon, I’m telling you.

You’ve racked up some cool supporters, like The Rock. What was it like to have him send you a little carb load before your fight?

It was awesome. He sent me Brique French Toast, aka The Rock Toast. It’s so thick…with those coconut flakes. I want to have more right now. I feel like I’m going to have to meet him a couple more times for it to really sink in. I grew up watching him fight in the WWE, back in that Attitude Era. Back when he was fucking guys up on the mic, then fucking them up in the ring with the Rock Bottom. I met him in New York once, and he’s just a cool guy who’s very level headed. The young Izzy still freaks out that I’m just talking to The Rock like it’s nothing.

Feels like you’re getting more and more connected with Hollywood. Do you have any plans of doing action movie roles?

Back in June, we had a really big offer come in that would’ve been right up my alley. But unfortunately I didn’t have an O-1 visa, which is what I needed to work. That being said, I’m ready now if the right project comes around. It’d be exciting to square up against Tony Jaa from Ong-Bak. Keanu Reeves would be great, too. The Rock, too. I would like to see an onscreen match between us, maybe CGI’d.

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February 10, 2022

Strongwoman Inez Carrasquillo’s Overhead Pressing is On a Different Level

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 6:28 pm

The sport of strongwoman can be not only incredibly demanding but also a difficult and competitive sport to make a name for one’s self. Inez Carrasquillo, a rising star in the sport, doesn’t have this problem. Her latest astonishing feat is a 136-kilogram (300-pound) log press performed on Feb 2., 2022. It breaks (unofficially) the current world record and is a strongwoman’s heaviest press ever completed from the floor.

You can watch the lift below, originally posted to Carrasquillo’s Instagram.


According to Carrasquillo’s caption, the lift was “300X1 on the worst log ever.” And, apparently, this has been something the strongwoman has been in pursuit of for a little while: “Been chasing a 300lb press off the ground and I needed this win,” she added.

Carrasquillo’s 300-pound press shatters the previous world record by two and a half pounds, set by Andrea Thompson during the World Ultimate Strongman’s “Feats of Strength Series” in July 2020. However, because Carrasquillo did not complete the press in a formal competitive setting, the record is not yet hers. The last time Carrasquillo did officially compete was when she finished fourth during late last year’s World’s Strongest Woman, according to BarBend.

It’s important to distinguish between the log Carrasquillo lifted, how she managed the press, and the one Thompson lifted. Carrasquillo had a more compressed log with bumper plates attached farther out, whereas Thompson used a wider, more extended log. To wit, Carrasquillo began her press from the floor, while log presses usually start from elevated pads.

Carrasquillo, a third-place finisher in the 2021 Official Strongman Games, showed off her immense pressing potential by winning the famed Log Press for Reps segment. There, she pressed a 106.5-kilogram (235-pound) log 12 times. And in a another training session, Carrasquillo hoisted an axle bar loaded with 300 pounds overhead three times. 


But it’s her recent log press feat that drew the attention of the strength world. The “Texas Titan,” Gabriel Pena, had nothing but praise for the bright up and comer.

“Absolutely incredible [Inez]! I very much look forward to watching you write new pages in the books of history over the coming years.”

Elsewhere in the community, Thompson herself had yet to comment about Carrasquillo’s feat publicly. But her trainer, Laurence Shahlaei—an accomplished strongman himself—noted that he thought Carrasquillo’s lift was “Awesome.”

Finally, Canadian World’s Strongest Man lifter and the owner of the Hummer Tire Deadlift World Record, JF Caron, interjected simply by maintaining, “That’s very impressive.”

With an eye-popping moment like this behind her, massive strides are undoubtedly on the horizon for Carrasquillo. For someone who has claimed to want to be the world’s strongest woman in the past, how could they not be?

According to her trainer Alec Pagan, Carrasquillo is competing in the 2022 Arnold Amateur Strongman Championships from Mar. 3-5. If this titanic of a log press foreshadows what the near future holds, we can only expect more fireworks from Carrasquillo in front of the greater strength world at large.

Featured Image: @ines_strongwoman on Instagram

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January 26, 2022

The Best Mid-Workout Fuel for Endurance Athletes

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 3:17 am

Every good endurance athlete knows that nutrition is every bit as important as training. If you aren’t properly fueled, you won’t be performing at your best—and will even risk crashing mid-race or workout. Whether your M.O. is running, cycling, or swimming, that quick ‘n easy snack or supplement during a long training session should be packed with nutrients to keep you going. With too many options out there, just finding the right fuel can be tiring. Here are eight of our favorite mid-workout energy boosters.

 

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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1. GU Energy Gel

Designed to supply energy and key nutrients lost during exercise, GU Energy Gels are one of most convenient, mid-workout snacks. Available in a wide variety of flavors, GU gels contain the perfect blend of complex and simple carbohydrates that help sustain you during long workouts. They’re portable and easy to eat (and digest) while in motion, making them ideal to munch on mid-race or mid-workout. Pro tip: if you have a hard time with the consistency, mix them with some water for an easier swallow.

[From $10; guenergy.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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2. SaltStick Capsules

It’s probably ingrained in your mind that sodium is bad for you—but for endurance athletes especially, salt is your friend. Sodium is essential because it helps maintain fluid balance in the body. Salt and electrolytes are rapidly lost through sweat, so it’s important to replenish them during long workouts. As the name suggests, SaltStick Capsules are packed with salt and electrolytes, working to reduce muscle cramping and boost stamina while maintaining the five electrolytes lost through sweat (potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, and chloride). Take one capsule every 30-60 minutes to sustain peak performance.

[From $13; saltstick.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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3. Tailwind Endurance Fuel

Tailwind’s Endurance Fuel mixes with water and provides athletes with essential calories, electrolytes, and hydration. Made with all-natural ingredients and natural flavors, the combination of water, fuel, and electrolytes has a synergistic effect, allowing the body to absorb more of each and keep you sustained for longer periods of time and at higher intensities. Simply mix some of the powder into a to-go bottle and stay fueled and hydrated during those longer workouts.

[From $2.50; tailwindnutrition.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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4. Pickle Juice

It may sound disgusting, but if you’re prone to cramps pickle juice could be the elusive solution. Why pickle juice? It contains 10-15 times the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks, contains zero calories and zero sugar, and is packed with vitamins and minerals. Although there isn’t science yet to prove it, researchers believe pickle juice is effective at stopping and preventing cramps because it triggers muscle reflexes when it hits the back of the throat. This in turn prevents the misfiring of neurons that trigger cramping. If you tend to cramp, try packing a shot of pickle juice for your next workout.

[From $20; picklepower.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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5. BonkBreaker Energy Chews

BonkBreaker Energy Chews work like energy gels—combining fast acting carbohydrates and electrolytes to support muscle contraction. But while energy gels are traditionally eaten in one go, energy chews come in small bites and can be eaten in whatever portion the athlete requires. Packed with 240mg of vital electrolytes and 100mg of caffeine from all-natural white tea sources, BonkBreakers provide a much-needed boost of energy while remaining easy to digest. If you struggle with the taste or texture of energy gels, here’s your chewable alternative.

[$22; bonkbreaker.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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6. Clif Bar

You’d be hard pressed to find a more classic trail snack than a Clif Bar. Although they aren’t as quick to eat as some options out there, they’re sufficiently filling and packed with essential nutrients, making them a great mid-workout snack. Available in a wide range of flavors, Clif Bars blend carbohydrates, protein, and fat to provide long-lasting energy for lengthy workouts. Made from sustainably sourced ingredients, Clif Bars contain simple sugars, organic oats, plant protein, nuts, seeds, and oils, providing a time-tested blend of flavor and energy.

[$16; clifbar.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
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7. Kate’s Real Food Energy Bars

As the name indicates, Kate’s Real Food energy bars are made with organic, all-natural ingredients to keep you nutritiously boosted. Every bar contains organic almond or peanut butter mixed with organic oats, brown rice crisps, and organic honey for a nutritious snack with flavors that you’ll actually recognize. Bars take a little more time to consume than gels or chews, so they’re better suited for workouts than races.

[From $15; katesrealfood.com]

Get it

Try one of these snacks and supplements to help push through your next tough endurance test.
Courtesy Image

8. Baby Food

Weird as it may sound, baby food is gaining popularity as a snack for endurance athletes. Made with simple and natural ingredients, it’s packed with sugar and carbohydrates, easy enough for a baby to digest, and offers quick and reliable energy for larger humans. Many brands of baby food are available in convenient, “on-the-go” squeeze pouches that are as easy to carry as they are to eat. Plus, maybe you forgot, they taste surprisingly okay. You can buy squeeze pouches from different sport snack manufacturers or simply pick some up from the baby food aisle at your local grocery store.

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September 10, 2021

Is Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence Destined for Super Bowl Greatness?

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 9:10 pm

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence arrives in Jacksonville already looking like a Hollywood creation. The former Clemson University star, is now inviting comparisons to NFL greats that point to a Super Bowl destiny.

Who Trevor Lawrence Could Be Compared to if Things Go Right

Heart: KURT WARNER

Super Bowl title and MVP St. Louis Rams (2000)

Lawrence and retired QB Kurt Warner are both open about the importance of their Christian faith. Both entered the league as married men—Lawrence wed his high school girlfriend this year. Warner was an obscure college QB and, like Lawrence, often credits his success to deep religious conviction.

Legs: PATRICK MAHOMES

Super Bowl title and MVP Kansas City Chiefs (2020)

Over his Clemson career, Lawrence legged out 943 yards, averaging 314 a season. Mahomes ran for 308 yards in 2020. Although Lawrence didn’t run a 40-yard dash at his NFL pro day, he was clocked at 4.78 coming out of high school, around the same time Mahomes posted a 4.8 in the 40 at the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine.

Charisma: JOE NAMATH

Super Bowl title and MVP New York Jets (1969)

Like Broadway Joe, selected No. 1 overall in the AFL draft of 1965, Lawrence has a rare mix of athleticism, arm strength, sex appeal and Southern pedigree. (Namath led Alabama to a national title in 1964.) Neither shies away from bold opinions. Both are renowned for possessing generationally great hair.

HEIGHT: JOE FLACCO

Super Bowl title and MVP Baltimore Ravens (2013)

At 6’6”, Lawrence stands above most NFL QBs, virtually all of whom are between 6’2” and 6’5”—seriously, check. The exceptions—Drew Brees, Russell Wilson—tend to be shorter. The best Lawrence Super comp is Flacco, also 6’6”. Ditto 2020 Rookie of the Year Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert.

X-Factor: “SUNSHINE”

Lawrence’s “Sunshine” moniker recalls ‘70s high school QB Ronnie “Sunshine” Bass, played by Kip Pardue in Remember the Titans. Like Pardue’s performance, Lawrence’s preternatural football instincts and cool-breeze demeanor make him a perfect teammate—empathetic, laid-back, supportive—who can float above the drama that infects every locker room.

Why the Season Might Not Go Well for Trevor Lawrence

1. The Meyer Factor

Of course, when it comes to a No. 1 draft pick, there’s no such thing as a sure thing. A QB’s fate depends on his head coach. Jacksonville’s is a rookie.

“A good football coach needs a patient wife, a loyal dog and a great quarterback—but not necessarily in that order,” declared Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant. It works both ways. Great QBs invariably have a Canton-caliber coach. In Jacksonville, Lawrence will be playing for Urban Meyer, who’s never been an NFL head coach. Meyer is a college coaching legend, but that means zilch at the pro level.

Will he play Jimmy Johnson to Lawrence’s Troy Aikman? Johnson became the first coach to win a college title and then a Super Bowl with the Aikman-led Dallas Cowboys in 1993. Or will his pro tenure resemble Nick Saban’s? Probably the greatest college coach of all time, Saban left the NFL after two drab seasons in Miami, posting a 15–17 record with zero playoff appearances.

2. Sack Attack

Nothing blows up a can’t-miss career faster than a steady diet of turf.

Wunderkind Indianapolis Colts QB Andrew Luck was so damaged by sacks (lacerated kidney, anyone?) he retired at 29. If the Jags don’t get better at pass protection, and fast, dealing with London jet lag will be the least of Lawrence’s worries.

44: The number of sacks endured by Jacksonville QBs in 2020.

43: The number of sacks taken by all Tiger QBs over Lawrence’s three years at Clemson

3. Picked Apart

Lawrence’s passing in three years at Clemson was incredible: 90 touchdowns, just 17 interceptions. But considering Clemson’s talent and many of its opponents’ lack of it—yo, Citadel!—you’d like that second figure to be smaller. It equals the combined total by Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones (three QBs selected behind Lawrence in this year’s draft) during their entire college careers. NFL defenses have brought down an army of college legends.

“THERE’S SOMETHING OF AN ART TO IT, BUT ALL ATTEMPTS AT SCIENCE HAVE FAILED.” — Super Bowl-winning coach Brian Billick on evaluating quarterbacks

4. Booby Trap

The Jags franchise puts Lawrence in a perilous place—London.

From 2013 to 2019, Jacksonville played a series of “home games” in London, an arrangement that will continue in 2021. The U.K. is a great place for a pint, but a wicked weekend getaway. For the Jags, playing “at home” in the British capital requires a nearly 5,000-mile flight with a five-hour time change. It’s a unique challenge, which may explain why the Jags are 3–4 in their London home.

An even bigger issue would arise if, as has been speculated, team owner Shahid Khan—who also owns Premier League team Fulham F.C. and has explored buying London’s Wembley Stadium—relocates the Jags overseas. COVID halted most overseas travel, but it didn’t end the NFL’s dream of having a cash cow franchise in London. Should the Jags want an easy way to mess with Lawrence’s career, a bunch of transatlantic flights each season would be a good way to start.

5. Brain Trust?

When drafting QBs, NFL GMs are brilliant…13.5% of the time.

  • 37: Number of QBs selected No. 1 overall in NFL/AFL drafts
  • 7: Number of starting QBs who’ve won a Super Bowl title
  • 5: Number of QBs who won an MVP award
  • 5: Number of QBs who reached the Hall of Fame: Joe Namath, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Peyton Manning

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June 22, 2021

Drew Brees on His Historic NFL Career and How He’s Pivoting to Train for Life

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , — admin @ 8:51 pm

Few quarterbacks have made an impact on a professional sports team like Drew Brees made on the New Orleans Saints. Over the course of his illustrious 15 years playing for the organization, he shattered a slew of NFL records, was selected to the Pro Bowl a dozen times, and led them to victory in Super Bowl XLIV. But despite the time in, it wasn’t a question of ability when it came to his decision to retire, it was a question to his three boys.


 

“I had asked them the year before if I should hang up the jersey, and they said I should keep playing,” says Brees. And so he did, leading his team to the divisional playoffs, where they lost a hard-fought battle to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Superdome. “I asked them again after that season, and they were ready to have me home more often.”

These days Brees still spends plenty of time out on a field, but instead of sprinting on turf, he’s mountain biking over hills or throwing soft toss with the kids. Men’s Journal caught up with Brees to talk all things recovery, his secrets to success, and his historic run in the NFL.

Men’s Journal: How old were you when you thought I want to play in the NFL?

Drew Brees: I was somewhere around 10 years old, and I said I wanted to be one of the first people to play three different professional sports: football, basketball, and baseball. I was obsessed with all of them. Going into high school, baseball was No.1, basketball was second, and football was last. But I grew up in Texas—and when you grow up in Texas, you play football. I had family that coached football too, so I stuck with it and ended up getting a scholarship to go play for Purdue University, which was one of two schools that reached out. I was still a baseball nut at that point, and I thought that perhaps I’d be able to walk on the team, but they kept bringing in guys to try to take my quarterbacking job on the football side, so I had to keep showing up at spring training to defend my position.


I guess it wasn’t until my junior year, when we were coming off a really successful season, and a newspaper writer asked what were the chances I was going to leave school early. I realized he was talking about going to the NFL, and that was the first time the notion even entered my head. Kind of crazy that it wasn’t where my energy was focused, yet it was the path that God chose for me.

The drafting process seems like a surreal one from an outsider’s perspective. What was the experience like for you?

First off, it’s just an honor to be drafted. The idea it would ever be an actual reality for me was pretty farfetched. The actual draft is a crazy process. You have your pro days and these workouts on the combine. You have all of these coaches who are interviewing and analyzing you. It’s hard not to imagine every move you make is being watched. That’s all being measured, calculated, and discussed—and that it’ll ultimately impact your future.

It’s a stressful environment. You’re a bunch of competitors being pitted against each other, and it’s hard not to make your top priority being selected as high in the draft as possible. In your mind, that’s how your value is gauged, and you want to be highly valuable. All you think about is how you can get that highest spot. What I realized later, was that it’s much more important as a quarterback to end up in the right situation. It doesn’t matter when you were drafted, or what pick you were. It’s much more important to be with the right team—with the right culture and the right coach.

How’s your training evolved from those early days in the NFL to where you are now?

Starting with my time at Purdue University, it was all Olympics-based training. Lots of squats, power cleans, and bench press—exercises we believed would make us better, faster, and stronger. These days we’ve become much smarter in the way we train, but more importantly in the way we recover. I think recovery is the biggest difference between how player wellness has looked over the past five years. How do we help players get the maximum benefit from the work they’re putting in the gym?

During the later part of my career, I spent a lot more time thinking about recovery than I did about the training itself. I spent as much time doing Pilates as I did in the gym. Why? Because it focuses on breathing, lengthening, rotational work, and core work. For me as a quarterback, who’s also fighting the aging process, I wanted to do everything I could to maintain flexibility and joint integrity. I believe flexibility plus strength is where you find power. That’s where my head was as far as giving myself everything I needed to throw the football. How could I generate as much power as possible? Stretching became a huge part of my process as well, practitioner-led stretching, especially following a workout. Since you’re spending so much time contracting muscles in the weight room, it’s necessary to put equal time into that lengthening-back-out process.

Did you train for specific plays you ran in a game?

There were three or four times a season where we’d be on the one-yard line, try a few run plays, and get stuffed over and over again. You’re so close and you really need that touchdown. The last thing you want to do is kick a field goal within the 10-yard line. I’d go to the sideline and tell Coach [Sean] Payton that I could get it. That’s when he’d give me the nod and tell me, ‘Go get it.’

I’d dress up the offense and make it look like something it wasn’t, try to distract the interior linebackers, then jump over the top. There’s a technique to jumping over the top, an explosive element that’s key. You have to get up and over the line, extend out, and pull it back before you get drilled. There’s nobody to block that next group of guys going in hard after you.

On the Mondays after a game I’d do a really big workout. I’d always do box jumps and think to myself, ‘This is me jumping over the goal line.’ That was pushing me on as I did those box jumps, because I knew I’d be asked to go for it a few times each season, and I better be able to do it.

How does your training look today?

I like setting goals. That’s the one thing I’ve struggled with, finding something that’ll be my competitive release. As far as training goes, having a purpose or a goal in mind really helps you stay on top of your fitness. I think that’s going to be important for me, finding that next test to train for. If you don’t use it, you lose it.

That’s key for maintaining flexibility too. That’s why stretching is going to remain an active element of my regime in retirement, and why I partnered with Stretch Zone [a company focused on practitioner-assisted stretching], because I believe it’s a methodology not talked about or paid enough attention to.

If I were going into a football season right now, my training would be very specific to being a quarterback—lots of time in the field doing drills and throwing. Because there isn’t a season I’m preparing for, I don’t have to be that targeted. I can just cross-train. do a little bit of everything. The other day I did an hour-and-a-half mountain bike ride. I went to the beach and rode in the sand, had the legs burning, then went into the hills. It was a great way to get it in.

The day before that I was swimming, doing laps, and the day before that I went on a long hike with my wife. I’ll still drop into the weight room from time to time to do some high-intensity routines. I’ll jump on the rower, and I have a speed bag. There’s always the occasional game of pickle ball. As I’m speaking with you right now, I’m pitching soft toss to my 8-year-old son.

You’ve set so many records. Is there one that’s particularly special to you?

One that stands out in particular is the night we broke the all-time touchdown mark. It was a Monday night football game against the Colts back in 2019, at home in New Orleans. I finished the game with 29 completions out of 30 throws, and I am actually still upset with myself, because the one incompletion was the easiest throw of the night.

My feet just got a little out of wack so I was off balance when I threw the little outlet pass to the running back. I ended up throwing it right at his feet, and I’m still pissed about that to this day. But it was just one of those games where the defense was throwing a lot at us, and with every snap I just read it right and knew what to do. I knew where the ball was going and where it needed to be placed. I’d visualized that a thousand times, then to have it happen just like I visualized. That’s pretty cool.

I guess when you play 20 years, the stats add up. Each season lives on its own for me. I like the records that span over the course of many years, because there are a lot of people who share in those. When you think about a touchdown record it’s hard not to think about all those guys who caught those touchdowns, or all those guys who blocked for those touchdowns.

Fans loved watching you play, and that final game was clearly an emotional one. Do you know when you’ll make it back into the Superdome?

I have to see how things play out with my NBC gig. They’re doing a lot of renovations to it now, so it’ll probably look a bit different than I remember. I haven’t been back to the stadium since that last game, but I’m looking forward to going back. I’d love to take the kids. I’m always going to be a Saint. As the years go by, the faces may change, but there’s an amazing group of people there now, that plan on being there for a while. I’ll always try to put myself in a position where I can help those guys and the organization.

On that note, what does success mean to you?

There are the measurables you can take into account, like winning a championship. But it goes much deeper than that, because you might achieve something on paper, but how do you feel about it? Did the process make you happy? Or was it satisfying? One of the beliefs that was impressed onto me by my mentors was if you focus on the process, the results will be taken care of. In football, you’re working for a week to play three hours. The truth is we live in a results-driven society, and as I think more about how I’m parenting my kids. I tell them it’s about effort, energy, and the process. I don’t care what the result is, if they get all of that right.

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March 31, 2021

How ESPN Studio Host Maria Taylor Went From Athlete to Sideline Reporter

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 5:53 pm

ESPN studio host and sideline reporter Maria Taylor isn’t just the most stylish personality in sports broadcasting. She’s one of its best prepared and most determined.


 

The Basics on Maria Taylor:

  • Age: 33
  • Height: 6’2″
  • Hometown: Atlanta
  • Favorite Southern food: Anything smothered
  • Power fashion: Black leather jacket

Men’s Journal: How did you go from being a basketball and volleyball player at University of Georgia to reporting on the sidelines of a Steelers vs. Giants Monday Night Football game?

Maria Taylor: I told my athletic director I wanted to work in sports broadcasting from day one. I got my first job because he called Learfield/IMG [sports marketing company] and said, “You have to give Maria a job because she’s in my face every day.” When I got to ESPN I went to my bosses and said, “Hey, one day I’d like to host College GameDay. What are the steps to get me there?” Closed mouths don’t get fed.

And by 2017 you were hosting GameDay. Could you always rattle off stats?

At Georgia you’re in SEC country and don’t have a social life if you don’t go to games. That’s when I fell in love with football. But when I started GameDay everyone knew football inside and out, it’s their life’s heartbeat. Luckily my game analyst Matt Millen would take me to practices and we’d watch film. That’s how I really learned the game.

How do you stay in shape when you’re on the road?

You can always do a HIIT workout. Whether that’s doing burpees or mountain climbers, mix that in with 20 minutes of cardio. Everything I do is interval training because I was a volleyball player, and your game is spent in 30-second spurts.

What part of the athletic mindset powers you off the court?


Fail fast.

Please elaborate.

In a game a lot of mistakes are made, but it’s about how you handle it. So if you miss a layup you instantly get back in the layup line or on defense. Expect more in the next play. The mentality has to be: I’m going to improve. I give myself grace and push myself forward.

Best career advice you ever got?

It was from Robin Roberts—make everyone in the room believe that there’s no place you’d rather be from the time you start out making coffee, which I’ve done, to when you get to host the NBA Finals. Your reputation is going to precede you. Make sure it’s a good one.

Sports are rife with alpha personalities. Who’s intimidated you?

The Hall of Fame coaches you run into, the Nick Sabans of the world. There’s just an aura that comes with them. But I’ve learned to shift the intimidation away from me. I just really respect what they do and who they are.

So you weren’t intimidated when you met Barack Obama at the Duke vs. UNC game where Zion Williamson blew out his Nike and injured his knee?

That was my first time being completely starstruck! We had an inkling Obama might show up because Zion was playing and everyone had been coming to see him, like Jay-Z and LeBron. After I found out Obama was coming I decided to say, “Because of you and Michelle I can be who I am now.” Then he came up and said, “Hey, we love watching you on Get Up!” I was shocked to think that he had even heard my voice. And he was in that black bomber jacket—it was cool Barack Obama, cool #44.

What are you most proud of career-wise?

The first time I worked a National Championship football game was in Atlanta, my hometown, and my alma mater was in the game (2018). The whole time I thought, “This is where you belong.” And hosting the NBA Finals for the first time. My dad texted me, “What is my daughter doing on the halftime show of the NBA Finals?” I said, “Yeah, I don’t know, Dad, but we’re here though.”

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February 19, 2021

Boston Bruins All-Star Brad Marchand Talks NHL Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:40 pm

When All-Star Brad Marchand hit the scene in 2006, it was the clear he was a grinder. He didn’t have the stature of a typical hockey player (standing at 5’9″), but he had exceptional skill…not to mention he’s scrappy as hell, earning the nickname “Leg Sweeper” for his frequent slew foots. We hopped on a video call with the Canadian ice hockey left winger and alternate captain for the NHL’s Boston Bruins ahead of the 2021 Honda NHL Outdoor Games at Lake Tahoe, in which the Bruins will play the Flyers on Sunday, Feb. 21. Marchand touches on the kind of preparation he relies on for playing outdoors in frigid temps; how that rock, paper, scissors game with Mika Zibanejad got started; and who the toughest goalie is to score on in the NHL right now.

As of Feb. 17, Marchand sits one goal shy of his 300th with Boston—a milestone reached by only six other Bruins. He, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron are also the second-highest scoring trio in the NHL since the start of the 2016-17 regular season with 980 total points. (In that timeframe, they’re second to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who have a combined total of 1,073 points.)


Get to know Marchand a bit more in the video above, then catch the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers face off in the Honda NHL Outdoors event Sunday Feb. 21 as part ofNHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe.

The event will feature two regular-season outdoor games played at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, NV, and broadcast live at 3 p.m. ET on NBC in the U.S.

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Should COVID-19 Sport Titles Count?

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 3:10 pm

It’s an argument you’ve probably had half a dozen times already: Should COVID-19 sport titles count? Here’s our two cents.

Did you hear the one that goes: What do the Dodgers and Lakers have in common with Joe Biden? They probably wouldn’t have won without COVID-19 either. The NBA shutdown last March heralded the full-court disruption of many, many pleasures taken for granted in American life. But while barbershops were shuttered and concert halls converted to pandemic hospitals, the NBA and its co-leagues dutifully shouted “Game back on!” and bravely forged on in their essential role as bellwethers of the collective morale. After all, if a team wins Game 7 and no one is around to cheer and high-five, is it still the champ?


 

We’re kidding, of course. The compacted seasons were played to force TV networks into upholding contracts they’d inked with leagues for billions in ad revenues. Committed to its show-must-go-on principles, the NBA expanded its playoff format to make up missed games. MLB began play after what would have been the 100-game mark in any normal baseball season. And amid a succession of COVID-induced cancellations, the SEC passed off a No. 5 vs. No. 8 matchup featuring football teams with a combined record of 7–2…in November.

Along with canned crowd noise to compensate for empty stadiums, all the TV-driven shenanigans have upset purists, with some caterwauling about illegitimate titles.


Yet nine years after a lockout shortened the 2011–12 NBA season, few remember that all schedules that year were reduced to the number of games played last year by teams that didn’t even make the league’s bubble. Yet no one questions the Miami Heat’s O’Brien Trophy. Fewer recall that in the strike-marred 1987 season, NFL teams played just 12 games using the same rosters with which they started the season—one week was canceled, three were played using scabs. But anyone conscious at the time remembers that the Washington TBD Football Club glue-factoried the Denver Broncos, 42–10.

Winners write history—and America’s major sports leagues are always the winners. Besides, if the Houston Astros’ cheating-marred 2017 World Series win can stand asteriskless, 2020’s COVID-19 champions deserve their own feel-good Disney movies.

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February 10, 2021

Strength Training and the Efficacy of Electromyography (EMG)

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Electromyography (EMG) is a scientific method of testing muscle activity. It is well regarded, some say, in the non-scientific community because of the simplicity of a stronger reading means stronger muscles. However, it is neither popular or as well-studied as it could be so, the question remains as to its effectiveness.

Considering EMG is not a popular choice, the following questions may come to mind:

  • Where is the efficacy in applying it to training?
  • Should there be a narrower focus on exercises with higher peak or mean EMG performance?
  • What risks do we run by narrowing our views to said exercise groups?

The purpose of this article is to supply a brief overview of EMG, its application to exercise, and lastly, should everyone undergo EMG specific training, or will journals/articles suffice in exercise choice?

Electromyography Infographic

Neurological EMGs Versus Kinesiological EMGs

Electromyography (EMG) is an experimental technique concerned with the development, recording, and analysis of myoelectric signals. Myoelectric signals are formed by physiological variations in the state of muscle fiber membranes.

Peter Konrad1

Strength Training and the Efficacy of Electromyography (EMG) - Fitness, olympic weightlifting, neuromuscular power, athletes, snatch, clean and jerk, functional movement, plyometrics, electrical muscle stimulation, Kinesiology, bodybuilder, emg, glute strength, Electromyography

This can be further classified into neurological and kinesiological EMG.

This article will discuss kinesiological EMG only as its function most closely relates to training regimes, voluntary neuromuscular activation, and functional movements. Unlike neurological EMG tests, kinesiological EMGs are non-invasive.

In short, we are looking at how muscles fire during movement, and in the case of exercise, what movement innervates the intended muscle group more for the said individual.2

  • The setup time for a kinesiological EMG study is minimal as the only objects involved are electrodes, which can be hardwired to a device or sent wirelessly to an accompanying receiver.
  • Electrical current does not run through these electrodes. Instead, it measures the output of various muscles during a functional movement.
  • However, for each EMG study, the cost associated could be in from the mid-hundred-dollar range to three hundred dollars. By comparison, neurological EMGs, can run into thousands of dollars and require insertion of needles into the muscle and close monitoring.3

The other inherent risk is who conducts the study.

Time can be wasted if the professional does not set up a movement properly or does not understand the output data.

It is best to hire someone trained, such as a physical therapist, sports medicine doctor, or specialist with certification in EMG or even NEUBIE devices. Benefits extend into the competitive sector for bodybuilders and active sports’ athletes.

Lastly, an unintended risk of EMG testing for exercise choice is narrowing one’s variation in exercises.

Take Olympic lifting, for example; the movements tested during competition are the clean and jerk and the snatch.

However, during training, front squats, back squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and pullups (to name a few) are executed during a program.

It will be to the practitioner’s detriment if an EMG result causes a psychological effect.

The foci of exercises orbits around these core exercise ad infinitum, avoiding the ones that improve mobility, plyometric work, and balance.

Integrating EMG into Your Training

The safest way to begin EMG training is to:

  1. Hire a certified professional.
  2. Set up days where there are maximal recovery options.

In recovering effectively between sessions, primary muscle groups can fire more effectively, thereby improving the study’s effectiveness.

In the said study, the professional learns to ascertain which movement pattern presents the greatest bang for one’s buck.

It accomplishes this by measuring the mean and peak activation during contraction of the intended muscle group while shifting positions.

For example, in the gluteus maximus muscle group recruitment, one can look at the sumo deadlift, which places the trainee in a static abducted stance versus the glute abduction machine, versus a resistant band fire hydrant movement.

The professional then walk through the data and identify these two values, and compares them per movement.

In discussing with the client, the professional would opt to perform one movement over another to have the maximal effect during a training session alone.

EMG sessions should not be treated as an intense workout session.

Instead, it should be akin to a laboratory test or doctor’s visit where you are liable to spend either a brief time due to the muscle areas in question or a significantly longer time due to optimizing larger muscle groups.

One might ponder if EMG training is right for them.

Follow the Science in Your Quest for Performance

It is understood that Instagram pages are littered with gurus and trainers who have all the answers and are obviously doctors of kinesiology, physical therapists, and orthopedic surgeons.

The authority I am referring to is legitimate coaches in the field with experience and degrees who contribute to science.

Within this body of science, articles generate pearls on EMG studies, illuminating why certain movements are performed in contrast to another.

Nevertheless, in practicality, no one has time to read all those studies, and unfortunately, unless you’re in that niche, no one cares. They want to be given the answers.

So, if you want the answers, pay for them.

Pay for it by a structured process, consistency in the gym, hiring a coach, and reading summarized literature from reputable resources (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

EMG studies are beautiful, and they take away the guesswork.

Lucy will perform heavy hip thrusts, RDL’s and sumo squats to make her booty pop.

Meanwhile, Andrea modifies her hyperextensions and resistance band glute work.

Is EMG a Luxury for Athletes Only?

Does EMG serve us well across the board, or is this a luxury only to be spent on competitors or athletes?

The questions I would like you to think about are as follows:

  • How long have you been training?
  • Do you train to stay fit or develop a certain aesthetic?
  • How frequently do you train?
  • Have you hired a coach and or professional before?
  • Do you have disposable income?
  • Do you foresee yourself competing?
  • What data outside of exercise preference are you trying to collect? I.e., provides the best assistance in a sprint or passing a physical exam.
  • Are you injured or returning from injury? I.e., relearning how to activate muscle groups.
  • Do you enjoy and are you open to being observed or studied?
  • Is maximal hypertrophy your end goal?
  • Have you tried to bring up lagging body parts without success?

If you answer the previous questions accordingly, you may want to consider EMG.

References

1. Konrad, P., “The ABC of EMG. A Practical Introduction to Kinesiological Electromyography,” Version 1.4, Mar 2006, 5-30.

2. Basmajian, J. V., DeLuca, C. J. “Muscles Alive: Their Function Revealed by Electromyography,” Pub, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1985. 2 – p1.

3. Dr. Arthur Kornblit, MD., “How Much Does an EMG Test Cost?” Spend On Health, accessed January 20, 2021.

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January 29, 2021

Danny MacAskill’s Insane MTB Descent on The Slabs Would Make a Grown Man Cry

Filed under: Fitness — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 10:47 pm

When Danny MacAskill, legendary Scottish trials bike rider (and all-around god on two wheels), says at the beginning of his new short film, The Slabs, that what he’s about to ride is “pretty scary,” then you know goddamn well that it’s going to be a truly epic descent. One that would make mere mortals like us crumple to our knees, whimpering as we tearfully bail on the ride and slide back down the steep trail on our butts.


“I am a big fan of rock climbing and have been inspired by the various men and woman who set new routes and test themselves on some amazing faces around the world so I set out to find some challenging Slab Rock routes on my home Island of Skye with an aim to ride them in a continuous line and test what was possible on my bike,” MacAskill writes in the intro to the insane video.

He starts the show off by climbing to the top of The Slabs, located off the coast of Scotland, for his 1,600-foot ride down to Loch Coruisk below. The initial downhill seems fine, tame even. It doesn’t look that hard as you mumble to yourself. “Ah yeah, I could take that line, no problem.” And as it progresses, “I huck drops like that on [insert local trail here] all the time. No big deal.”

Then come the massive rocks and the gaps and the steeps. MacAskill goes from a languid but intense mountain bike ride down gently sloping side of a huge slabs of gabbro (a grippy, coarse type of rock similar to basalt) to dancing across boulders and bounding over huge gaps. The scale and steepness isn’t quite comprehendible until the drone shooting the descent starts to swoop and spin, showing the true angle with MacAskill silhouetted against the mountains behind him.

Craziness ensues as at one point he seemingly is about to run out of room on a precipitous knife-edge of rock that shoots down to the valley below. But MacAskill, being who he is, bounds up and out of the predicament, climbing like a goat and then continues to drop 650 feet down an even steeper, almost vertical, slope.


“I specifically picked lines that funneled me along a one-foot-wide ledge with cliffs dropping to the side,” said MacAskill in a recent interview with website UKClimbing. “It was quite a powerful feeling up there actually, I really quite enjoyed it,” he says. “Normally I’m used to doing tricks, so you’re maybe exposed for seconds at a time, whereas up there you’re doing a run where you’re exposed for a lot longer than that. It’s a bit more like climbing, I suppose.”

Check it out for yourself and bow down to the king of the death-defying stunts on two wheels.

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