(upbeat music)
- Hi, guys.
Mike Mancias here, athletic trainer for LeBron James
for the past 16 years.
Today, we're at Vitru gym in Los Angeles.
And I wanna take you guys through a quick demonstration
on some of the exercises that we use with LeBron James.
That includes mobility work, some cardiovascular
conditioning, upper body strength training,
lower body strength training, and, most importantly,
some core and recovery techniques.
(upbeat music) All right guys, so the first thing we'll talk
about is preparation.
Now, preparation doesn't start once you get to the gym,
but it starts the night before you get to the gym.
And that includes a good night's sleep,
a great dinner, and then, in the morning,
we'll have a pre-workout shake on the way to the gym.
About a half hour before we start our workout.
Once we get to the gym, we'll start with about eight
to 10 minutes of foam rolling, and that includes
the entire body.
The quads, the calves, the hamstrings, low back, et cetera.
Just to get the body and the muscle prepared for movement.
And now the exercise that we'll incorporate
after our foam rolling is called the SpiderMan exercise.
This is a great hip opener for hip mobility,
core strength, core control, and just a overall great
warm up.
John here is gonna demonstrate for us the proper
technique for a SpiderMan.
Great range of motion there.
Great hip opener in preparation for activity.
Great core strength and stability movement.
Again, we'll do one set of about 10 to 12 reps
before we start our total body conditioning
and lifting routine.
(upbeat music)
All right guys, so after we're done with our hip
opener and mobility routine,
now we start with our total body cardiovascular warm up.
One of the machine that I love to use in the gym
is called the VersaClimber.
It's challenging, but it provides a great
total body warm up and cardiovascular conditioning.
We'll do three sets of 30 seconds each with about
15 to 20 seconds rest in between each set.
John is now gonna demonstrate how to properly
execute a VersaClimber technique.
(equipment whirring)
Some of the benefits of the VersaClimber include,
not only cardiovascular conditioning, but lower
body toning and strength training.
Along with core stability and upper body mobility
and strength as well.
(upbeat music)
One of our favorite exercises to do for upper body
core conditioning and strength is called the inverted row.
There's a variety of different ways to do the inverted row.
You could use rings, you could use bands, et cetera.
We like to use a good old-fashioned barbell.
The inverted row targets the back, obviously.
But also, the more you maintain that stability
while you're doin it, you target your core and you target
your glutes as well.
Johnny here's gonna demonstrate a couple for us.
All right, so, again, you're doin an inverted row.
Nice and stable, core's engaged.
Glutes are engaged,
and then you just come right up
and you make sure not to bend or fold at the hip.
Keep your core engaged.
Keep your glutes engaged, et cetera.
And that's the movement right there.
All right guys, so for this, the count rep
is about eight to 12, and we'll do about three sets
of each.
All right guys, so for our next upper body and, actually,
total body movement here.
One of our favorites, again, is called
the landmine rotational press.
With this, we start with a nice wide base.
Nice wide stance.
Really engaging the glutes, engaging the core.
You load up with the...
In this case, his left hand, left arm,
and then we up and rotate and finish up with our right.
So it's a great lower body exercise.
Transferring weight up in to the upper body.
Nice.
You know, part of LeBron's game is playing above the rim
and transferring energy from the ground up in to the rim.
And this is exactly what that exercise is doing.
Now, for reps and sets, we'll do eight to 12 reps
on each side three times.
A big part of basketball is, obviously,
changing direction and lower body strength training.
Johnny here is gonna demonstrate a multiplanar lunge.
All that means is we're going forward or going side,
and we're going at an angle.
If this was a clock, this is 12 o'clock.
This is 2 o'clock.
And this is 3 o'clock.
Your foot placement...
You always wanna stay at 12, two or three.
And same thing on the opposite side, again,
you're at 12.
You're at 10, and you're at nine.
Really focus on the big posture.
Your head up, your eyes should be facing forward,
and your core should be engaged.
Your glutes should be engaged.
Your feet should be shoulder apart.
All right, guys.
So for a core exercise, we like to do a traditional
chop.
You usually will do this on a pulley machine.
Feet a little wider than shoulder width.
Good strong base in the glutes.
Your weight is transferred towards the back.
Most of the pulley motion is done with the opposite arm.
Eyes up on the target, and you're just gonna chop
and transfer your energy down.
Now, most of your weight should not be in front of your knee
or your foot, but mostly, transferred back on the glutes.
So you should be sitting down on that glute along
with that chop.
(upbeat music)
All right guys, so you've seen the exercises.
Now, let's talk about recovery.
So, recovery for us entails three different things.
It's nutrition, it's mobility,
and it's localized cryotherapy at the end of the day.
For us, nutrition is easy.
That's a Ladder plant-based protein powder.
And the second is mobility.
That's me stretching him.
That's him stretching on his own.
Including hamstrings, glutes, quads, groin,
and some shoulder exercises.
You know, just to open the chest and work on his posture.
And then cryotherapy at the end of the day.
On the road, we fill up his hotel room bath with ice water
or it can be something as simple as a foot bath
cold bucket. All right, so we went over a lot today.
But just remember, some of the simplest routines
and exercises are probably the ones that are most
beneficial for you.
As long as you focus on your intensity,
you focus on your movement,
and that's when you're gonna see some results.
(upbeat music)