Steve Nash Gets It

The Phoenix Suns are sometimes referred to as the valley of youth in NBA circles because of their track record of keeping players conditioned and healthy. Grant Hill, for example, averaged only 25.5 games per season in his 6 years in Orlando, but since arriving in Phoenix has played in 228 of a possible 240 games. Shaquille O'Neal enjoyed a significant statistical spike in his brief stint in Phoenix, and since leaving has once again found himself serving an extended sentence on the disabled list. Steve Nash, perhaps the best example of all, is enjoying yet another excellent statistical year at the age of 36--long after most NBA guards have either slowed down or found themselves out of the league.

In a recent BS Report, ESPN Sportswriter Bill Simmons interviews Phoenix forward Jared Dudley, and around the 9:15 mark they talk about how Steve Nash keeps it going:

Steve is not only the most well-conditioned athlete, he's one of the smartest athletes. He knows that he's an older guy, he knows that this is the last 4 or 5 years he's going to be playing in the NBA. He takes care of his body is one of the things.  He gets to the gym first. He does a lot of kind of balance workouts. He's not in the weight room doing bench press and leg press--that's not him...He's kind of like a wirey strong, so he's balancing on these med-balls type, he's working on his core, he's doing different stretches.

Sounds familiar right? We understand why people don't always join our cause--after all, if someone has been training one way their whole life, their response to being told "you're doing it wrong" is usually somewhere between dismissive and outright defensive.

But how do other sports teams, at least other NBA teams, not look at Phoenix and admit "they're doing something right"? Personally, I'm a Clippers fan (I know, I know) and I would feel a lot better about Blake Griffin coming back from his knee injury if I knew the training staff hadn't amassed so many injuries in their history that fans legitimately believe the franchise is cursed.

This is our mission here at Sport Science Lab: to get the word out. And make no mistake, it will get out--it's really just a matter of what athletes and teams get it first. 

Here's a video about head trainer Aaron Nelson and the rest of Phoenix's training program. His methodology isn't the same as Sport Science Lab's, but we're definitely in the same ballpark.