While Bulls fans maybe caught a few extra winks or breathed yet one more long sigh of relief over Monday morning’s coffee and sports page, Michael Jordan and key teammates Scottie Pippen and Ron Harper were already breaking a serious sweat. Personal trainer Tim Grover arrived at Jordan’s house by 8 a.m. sharp to coordinate a weight-lifting and stretching workout.
Forget that too-old, too-tired, sleep-late stuff.
“We’ve been hearing about the age concern every year since Michael turned 30 (in 1993),” said Grover, who has worked with Jordan for the last nine seasons and runs a company called A.T.T.A.C.K. Athletics, which trains about 20 NBA players. “It’s the same thing, the only angle to even try to find a weakness in Michael’s game. But there is no dropoff in his conditioning. His program is constantly tailored to his body’s needs and what’s required of him on the court.”
Exercise scientists confirm getting older doesn’t necessarily translate to a loss of the proverbial step of quickness or the need for more recovery time on the bench. Proper intensive training–Jordan, Pippen, Harper and Grover meet early mornings practically every day from preseason camp to the last Finals game–can more than offset the documented loss of muscle tissue experienced by all of us beginning by age 30, which includes seven Bulls players, topped by the 37-year-old Dennis Rodman. All of these big-game performances hinge on tiny muscle fibers.
Physical conditioning figures to be a key part of the NBA Finals. The Utah Jazz is a team that averages almost two years less in age than the Bulls but still points to Karl Malone (35 in July) and John Stockton (36) for leadership. Malone is a noted weight lifter who prides himself on killer workouts in his gleaming home gym in Salt Lake City.
“There’s no doubt we lose total muscle-fiber count in the human body as we grow older,”said Donald A. Chu, a researcher and president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association in Colorado Springs. “But the cutoff point for significant losses is a lot further out than people think. It certainly extends into our 40s if training is maintained.”
Chu said research shows athletes can be trained for optimal speed until about age 22. But peak levels of muscle strength are possible until age 40. The explosive movements of basketball–jumping, cutting, muscling past an opponent–are a combination of speed and strength that depend on what exercise scientists call fast-twitch muscle fibers.
“So you can emphasize the strength component, typically with weight training that copies movements you will use on the court,” said Chu. “Basic work on weight machines won’t do. You need to work at maximum or near-maximum loads, which means you have to be in great overall condition before you even start thinking about improving explosiveness. If you do it right, you don’t lose your competitive advantage and might even get better.”
Gifted basketball players are typically born with more fast-twitch fibers, while marathon runners tend to be loaded with slow-twitch muscle fibers that allow for superior endurance. But there are intermediate muscle fibers that basically start out as slow-twitch but can be trained for fast-twitch use. The goal of Grover’s training program is to recruit as many fast-twitch muscle fibers as possible.
“We don’t take many off days,” explained Grover. “It is vital to keep these players at optimal explosive strength. We don’t want to lose a fraction of an inch on shot trajectory or a split-second less lateral speed time.”
Chu said Utah could start flat Wednesday night for similar reasons. It is hard to keep game-sharp when your only opponents are teammates in scrimmages. But the work ethic of Malone and Stockton is formidable.
“It’s all about hard work,” said William Evans, director of the exercise science lab at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. “What separates the elite athletes is how much they train. Jordan clearly has outworked practically everyone in the league. Just look at how he played defense in the final quarter of Game 7 against Indiana (when he held Reggie Miller to one shot).”
Evans, who has worked with several professional sports teams and served on numerous blue-ribbon government panels on aging, praised Rodman’s energy and prowess. He especially likes Rodman’s practice of riding an exercise bike up until his first appearance in the game.
“I have often said there should be bikes at courtside,” he said. “Sometimes the worst way to recover is sitting completely still and allowing lactic acid to accumulate. The muscles get sore and stiff.”
Another factor determining endurance during a long season is building upper-body strength to withstand the eye-popping physical rigors of NBA play evident to anyone who has ever sat courtside.
“I liken it to a boxer taking blow after blow to the body,” said Grover. “Michael, Scottie and Harp take the most physical contact of anyone on the floor every night.”
Grover does work the Bulls stars to greater points of exhaustion earlier in the basketball year, then eases a bit during the postseason, employing a technique called “periodization” that prepares the muscles for peak energy during competition. But he runs a series of lifting and explosive strength tests each day to make sure his clients are not missing any edge.
He wants Jordan, Pippen and Harper to have no lack of confidence in their physical abilities. Each player has specific exercises to strengthen areas of past injury: Jordan’s ankles, fingers and wrists; Pippen’s back and feet; Harper’s knees.
“There’s so much mental anxiety down the stretch of big games,” said Grover. “The players’ heart rates and blood pressure goes up, which can wear them out. It’s important for them to know their bodies are prepared to carry them through. That’s one less thing to think about.”
Sean McCann, sports psychologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee, said mental fatigue is probably what prompted Jordan to uncharacteristically admit he was tired after the final game of the Indiana series.
“At the really elite levels of sports, almost everybody is right on the edge,” said McCann. “In some ways, I think age gives you an advantage. Older athletes know how to read the signs of their bodies. When younger players feel a slip in their play, their reaction is to work harder, which isn’t always the answer during a game.”
McCann said the obvious relief of Bulls players from winning a hard-fought Eastern Conference finals should lift most of the team’s feelings of fatigue as early as Tuesday’s practice session. He did note that research shows such monumental relief can trigger the immune system to let down its guard enough to allow for a cold or the flu.
“The only question is whether the players can process the enjoyment of beating Indiana in such a short time, then turn around fast enough to reset their goal of winning another NBA Finals,” said McCann. “But this is an experienced team. They are not just happy to still be playing.”
Chu said playing in Utah for Games 1 and 2 might actually be advantageous.
“They are clearly needing to recover until game time,” said Chu. “It will help not to be worrying about tickets for family or friends or worrying about other everyday matters at home. They can focus on Utah.”
