Businessman and Celebrity personal trainer Tim Gover slams the NBA organizations for not inculcating weight training as a routine workout for its athletes.
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We often hear hoop fans and former NBA players saying that the league has become soft today. The officiating in the NBA has lost all its reputation. However, the surprising part is despite the rules being more stringent when it comes to fouls and body contact, injuries to players have increased significantly.
In the past, one had not even heard the term load management. With NBA players spending a considerable portion of their wealth on fitness and health, only a handful of superstars have managed to stay fit consistently. The prime example is that of LeBron James, who defied all odds.
The situation had reached a point where commissioner Adam Silver was open to discussing plans of reducing the 82-game schedule of the league. We have witnessed top contending teams lose their window for a championship, courtesy of the umpteen injuries to players.
Having trained legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade, Tim Grover addressed the matter of increased injury proneness of players in the league.
Tim Grover calls out the NBA for not paying emphasis on weight training.
Grover had his first taste of fame when he became Jordan’s personal trainer. The owner of Attack Athletes played a crucial role in helping the Bulls legend overcome the famous Jordan Rules coined by the Bad Boy Pistons.
Thus Grover was the perfect teacher to help understand the sports science behind the well-being of athletes. Grover also spoke about why players of today are unable to compete consistently. Grover is a student of the old-school training.
“You have so much more technology, so much more resources, less contact, and still more injuries. It’s mindboggling to me. It’s because everything is rubber band, everything is resistance, everything is cable. There are teams in the NBA right now that don’t even have a weight room, you still have to move Iron. It’s the one greatest form of injury prevention because you do a compound movement, it sends the muscles and the electric stimulus that goes into the body, that cannot be duplicated by cables, bodywork, and medicine balls.”
Grover added,
“This goes back to the when they build the pyramids, if you start adding cables, it is not true resistance.”
If anything, players today are not getting the Sam’s strong foundation as players in the past, therefore they are not as strong and often not as explosive
They can’t absorb contact as well, and can’t stay healthy
Tim Grover (Jordan, Kobe, Wades trainer)pic.twitter.com/WtzP8QO2Wz
— Dee4Three | Holding Court 🏀 (@Dee4Three84) February 5, 2022
Over the years, the fitness industry has evolved in several ways, what may seem right to one person is bizarre to another. While gaining a lot of knowledge, we sometimes forget how basic certain things are, especially in the area of exercise.
Having worked with NBA legends, one cannot help but agree that the league needs to pay attention to what Grover is saying.