How I Stay in the Game
These athletes share their longevity secrets
Tom Glavine, 42
Two-time Cy Young Award—winning pitcher for the Atlanta Braves
"When I was younger, working out was about seeing how strong I could get.
Tom Glavine, 42
Two-time Cy Young Award—winning pitcher for the Atlanta Braves
"When I was younger, working out was about seeing how strong I could get.
Today, it's about muscular endurance. So instead of, say, maxing out after a couple of sets on the bench press, I'll do three sets of 12 to 15 reps with lighter weights. The result is that my muscles don't fatigue as quickly, and I feel like I have more staying power on the mound. I've also reduced the amount of running in my routine. It was beating up my knees.
Instead, I'll divide 30 to 45 minutes of cardio among the elliptical machine, the spin bike, and walking briskly on the treadmill. I've also started doing Pilates. I was a little skeptical at first, but it strengthens my core and enhances my flexibility. Other than that, I try to limit my two vices--pizza and french fries--to a single serving every other week."
Randy Couture, 44
Current UFC heavyweight champion and the only fighter in UFC history to win the title five times
"In my twenties and thirties, I thought more was better. My workouts were intense, and I was notorious for overtraining. Learning how to taper properly and allow my body to recover for competition is one of the greatest adjustments I've had to make. Now I have a longer taper. During the training cycle, I'll do a combination of core lifts, circuit weight training, and plyometrics. But 10 days before a fight, all the hard running, lifting, and sparring ceases. No workout lasts longer than an hour, and I simulate fights in a very controlled way with partners I know. I enter competitions feeling like I've peaked at the right time. That's not to say that I win all of my fights, but physically, I feel great. I feel unstoppable."
Vinny Testaverde, 44
The only NFL quarterback to have thrown a touchdown pass in 21 consecutive seasons
"My goal has always been to get stronger. In practice, that means working out smarter, not harder, and reducing the wear and tear on my joints. Take squatting, for example: I went from doing a straight-bar squat to a safety-bar squat, which takes the stress off my back and knees but still delivers pretty much the same strength gains as a traditional barbell squat. I've cut back on outside roadwork for the same reason. Now I use a treadmill, or I alternate running outside with exercising on a few different indoor cardio machines. Over the years, I've noticed that the less time I wait between the end of a season and the start of my postseason training, the quicker I'm able to get back into my routine. Flexibility is a big part of that, so I incorporate 15 to 20 minutes of stretching into each workout."
Dikembe Mutombo, 41
Center for the Houston Rockets and four-time winner of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award
"My priority is protecting my joints—my knees, in particular. I do exercises that are low impact, such as swimming. I even run in the pool, something I rarely do on the treadmill or the road. I split my cardio sessions between the spin bike and the elliptical machine, and I spend a lot of time developing my leg strength by doing step-ups, leg presses, and squats. The more stable my legs are, the less stress will be placed on my knees. I always warm up for 30 minutes before each game. A lot of the younger guys just wake up, throw on a uniform, and step onto the court. Not me. I hit the gym and do just enough to get my blood flowing and my mind humming. That translates to a few sets of step-ups, some light dumbbells, and 15 minutes of spinning."
Karch Kiraly, 47
The winningest player in beach-volleyball history, and the only player to win Olympic gold medals in both indoor and beach volleyball
"About five years ago, I started working with plyometric coach Mike Rangel. At first I thought, I'm too old for this if it's anything like the plyos I did in my twenties with the Olympic team, but I saw that his exercises—short sprints, knees-to-chest jumps, ankle hops, bottle hops—were very low impact and performed on soft grass, which appealed to me as an older athlete. We also lowered the impact further by moving to the sand, where all of my competition is anyway. I'll do a series of sprints with changes of direction for 20 seconds, rest for six to eight seconds, and then do it again, going hard for a total of about 30 to 45 minutes. Doing this makes me a more explosive athlete. I'm also more limber now than I was in my twenties, thanks to a dynamic stretching program from Adrian Crook, developer of the InFlex movement program."
Pat Onstad, 40,
Goalkeeper for the Houston Dynamo. Last season, Onstad allowed, on average, less than one goal per game, an MLS single-season record.
“Ten or 15 years ago, I’d go out and break 40 minutes during a 10K training run, and I’d lift three times a week. It kept me in good shape, but the movements didn’t mimic soccer. Today, I do more lateral movements, plyometrics, core exercises, lunges, and shoulder exercises with resistance bands that condition my body for what I do on the field. Now that I’m 40, I also need more recovery time. It usually takes a full two days to recover completely from a game or hard practice, but if I implement regeneration workouts—such as 20 minutes of aerobic activity followed by 30 minutes of light lifting and 10 minutes of stretching—the day after a game, I’m able to go hard again the next day. Stretching plays a big role in that recovery process. I always stretch for 10 to 15 minutes before and after a workout.”
Ian Adamson, 43
The most successful adventure racer of all time, with seven world-championship wins. He is also the current world record holder for endurance kayaking (262 miles in 24 hours).
“I’m all about cross training with outdoor sports. My girlfriend and I live near a national forest, so we’ll jump on our mountain bikes or put on our hiking shoes and hit the trails. I also love to snowshoe, telemark ski, and Nordic ski, all of which have become a part of who I am after 40 years in the outdoors. But anytime I run or ski or hike, I make a point of doing two sets of 50 pushups and 50 sit-ups when I get home. This helps me maintain a balanced musculature. I hadn’t even considered adding yoga to my routine until last year, but now I go once a week. Elongating muscle fibers and training fine motor skills are incredibly important to athletic longevity, and you don’t usually get those benefits from activities like biking or running or kayaking.”
Dave Scott, 54
Six-time Ironman world champion and the first inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame
“The older I get, the more I realize that consistency is the name of the game. When I was younger, I would train every day for four to six and a half hours. But if I didn’t have time to do the whole thing, I’d get discouraged and bag the workout. Since then, I’ve realized two things: First, something is always better than nothing, even if it’s just 20 minutes of exercise. Second, you have to schedule a backup time to work out. Life happens, and if you establish a contingency plan, it doesn’t have to affect your fitness. Recently, I’ve started to concentrate on multimuscle exercises, including squats with the bar held above my head, and single-leg Romanian dead lifts. Building and maintaining muscle mass becomes increasingly difficult as you age, and compound movements give me a boost in that regard by triggering the production of growth hormone and testosterone.”
Chris Chelios, 46
Defenseman for the Detroit Red Wings and the oldest active player in the NHL who has appeared in the playoffs 22 times—a league record.
“I train to prevent injury, and that means targeting the body’s stabilizing muscles. A lot of guys will go to the gym and just hammer the larger ‘beach muscles’—the chest, legs, upper back, and arms. Sure, they look good in the mirror, but they don’t help that much on the ice. Instead I work the abs, hip flexors, rotator-cuff muscles, and the smaller support muscles in the legs and trunk. Shoulder rotations, lying leg raises, and balance-board drills hit those muscles. I also focus on strengthening the body’s weakest links, such as the knees. It might sound counterintuitive, but the best way to protect your knees is to strengthen your hips. To build hip strength, I sit in a 45-degree leg-press machine and squeeze a stability ball between my thighs as I extend my legs. Three sets of 10 reps once a week.”
Posted by The Correspondent
on 06:32. Filed under