In
all my years of playing on teams, my coaches pushed my teammates and me to go
harder, faster and give 110 percent. No
pain, no gain, right? You have to break
yourself down to build yourself up.
After
almost 20 years of Go! Go! Go! I was introduced to someone who had a completely
different outlook on training. His name
is Peter Shmock.
Peter
was the strength and conditioning coach for the Seattle Reign, a team in the short-lived
American Basketball League. I was
drafted in the inaugural 1996-97 year of the ABL and played with the Reign for
two seasons.
At
the time, I had never heard of Peter.
Later, I learned he was a two-time Olympian in the shot put and an NCAA
track and field All-American at the University of Oregon. He had also worked with the Seattle Mariners
and the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Not
too shabby!
My
teammates and I came from high-caliber college teams and were used to high-intensity
training. We were surprised when Peter
took a different approach. Oh we still
worked hard. We just worked
differently. And he took a more
individualized approach.
The
best example I have is when we ran outside on a track. We started together and were told to run one
lap. After one lap, we were to wait
until our heart rate reached a certain level, then we were to run another lap
(and another, and so on). We didn’t all stay
together. We wore heart-rate monitors
and ran when we were really ready.
He
led us in yoga and meditation. Others
rolled their eyes or complained after practice.
Me, being somewhat lazy in nature, appreciated the “less is more”
approach. I was up for that!
One
of the funniest (and actually “funnest”) days was when we met Peter in a
park. He told us to follow him and do
what he did. Picture a group of
20-something women in sports bras and shorts chasing a man around a public
park. He ran for a while, then stopped
and did pushups. Ran again, then did
dips on a bench. We did side jumps up a
hill. We did all kinds of crazy
things. I loved it!
Peter
was also the only person in my life who succeeded in getting me to gain
weight. My college coaches tried for
four years – weights, Ensure, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before
I went to bed. No luck. How did Peter do it? He tapped into my competitive nature and
threw in a tall, good-looking guy. (See Post No. 415) I went from 165 to 174 in a few months.
For the next year or so I fought to hold on to that weight and continued
doing the same weight-lifting workouts. I
slowly returned to my fighting weight of 165.
I didn’t return to the Reign for the next season and mid-way through the
league went bankrupt. I eventually got a
real job and didn’t have time for daily two-hour workouts.
My
philosophy now is that any amount of time spent “working out” is better than
nothing. My gym is next to my office, so
that is very helpful. I work out in the
mornings during the week and do strength training at least two days a week and
cardio the other days, which consists of either a stationary bike, walking (I gave
up running for good last year), swimming or tennis. In the warmer months, I also bike 30-40 miles
on the weekends. I stretch and do core
exercises. Sometimes I get up when the
alarm goes off, sometimes I don’t. When I
don’t and I get to the gym with 20 or 30 minutes to do something, I do 20 or 30
minutes.
So
back to Peter. Last year I started
following him on his website and got regular motivational emails. Right before Christmas I heard he had written
a book, The Way of the Life Athlete, so
I bought it. I just finished it this
week and highly recommend it. He also
has a website: http://lifeathlete.com/.
You
may think, “I’m not an athlete, so this doesn’t pertain to me.” One of the quotes in Peter’s book sums it
up. Bill Bowerman, Peter’s track coach
at Oregon, and one of the co-founders of Nike, said, “If you have a body, you
are an athlete.” We are meant to move
and be active. We want to feel good and
be healthy. You can reap benefits at any level.
Go for a walk. Cut the
grass. Blow the dust off that bicycle sitting
in your garage. You’ll be amazed by how
much better you feel.
And
speaking of how you feel, pay attention to how your mind and body feels. A recent email I received from Peter had
another awesome quote from a friend of his.
“Exhaustion is not a status symbol.”
Our energy levels vary from day-to-day.
Pay attention! You don’t have to
power through to impress anyone. Take it
easy when you’re having a low energy day or not feeling your best. And then ramp it up when you’re more
energized. Now, if you have low energy
for a long period, maybe see a doctor.
But you’ll have those days now and then.
Many thanks to Peter for his insight and wisdom in helping me,
and many others, keep our minds and bodies moving in a positive direction.
Ok,
now get out there and live your best life as a life athlete. And buy Peter’s book!
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