Draymond Green’s Workout
Have you seen Draymond Green play basketball? He’s an elegant machine, all of his muscles firing at full capacity, his mind solely in the game and, man, is that game strong. Green didn’t perfect his form by accident. He’s a man dedicated to his health and fitness. He’s worked hard to achieve his goals and he works himself even harder to stay on top.
But just because you’re not at the top of your game playing for the Golden State Warriors doesn’t mean you can’t learn a thing or two from Green when it comes to working out. You can use his mentality and hardcore dedication to help you meet your fitness and physique goals. Green puts in the time and effort to hone his craft. He knows when to surge ahead and work even harder and when it’s time to back off and let his body rest. Here are a few lessons Green has learned along the way.
Put In The Time
Draymond Green, if nothing else, is dedicated to his fitness. He’s dedicated to perfecting his game and he’s willing to put in the time and energy to make it happen. Extra hours in the gym and on the court give him an edge and keep him in top performance condition. Playing basketball is his job and working out is the overtime he needs to put in to be the best at what he does.
According to SFGate, sister site to the San Francisco Chronicle, Green can be found wrapping up his workouts at the the Golden State Warriors facility as late as 9:30 p.m. And that was after a full, eight-hour day of grueling training camp.
You don’t need to work out twice a day to get in shape. It’s Green’s job to be at his physical peak. How often you work out is entirely up to you and your schedule, whether you can fit in sweat sessions three, four or even five days a week. The lesson to glean from Green here is the dedication. He showed up, even after hours, and did the necessary work to reach the level of fitness he needed.
Sweat On A Stationary Bike
Draymond Green knows the importance of balancing cardio workouts with his strength training. He’s even been known to get creative about getting his heart rate up. In a story by ESPN, Green is implicated in the great mystery of the disappearing stationary bikes. The stationary bikes at the Golden State Warriors training facility had somehow become mobile and wound up soaking in the sauna. As it turns out, Green had been dragging them there to get a little more sweat going while he rode the bikes.
Green might be onto something there, too. According to Reuters, cranking up the heat on your workouts might give your body a boost. Working out in a heated environment gets your heart pumping even faster, which increases blood circulation to your muscles, decreasing friction and making it more comfortable to stretch out.
“Your body is engineered to exercise in the heat,” Michele Olson, Ph.D, professor of exercise science at Auburn University, told Reuters. “This is why we sweat.”
The key to getting this right is to watch the level of humidity. Green is a risk taker, but cycling in the sauna might not be for everyone. The higher the humidity, the more at risk you may be to feel the negative effects of the heat on your health.
“If it’s too humid,” Olson said, “sweat cannot evaporate and this can prove dangerous, causing a heat injury, such as dehydration, heat cramps or heat stroke.”
If you’re thinking of upping the intensity of your workouts by adding a heat element, it might be best to start small and controlled. Take a hot yoga class or nix the air conditioning if you’re working out at home. Make sure you have lots of water on hand.
Pull Ups FTW
You know what exercise is really hard? Pull ups. You know what exercise makes an enormous difference in your upper body strength? Pull ups. Golden State of Mind highlighted Green’s incredible strength with an image of him going above and beyond with his dunk. “You can just dunk the ball,” the article reads. “Or your can finish the motion like Draymond Green here and get the full workout you deserve.”
Golden State of Mind got two things right here. One, Draymond Green goes above and beyond, nailing the dunk and throwing in a pull up just for good measure. Two, you do deserve a full workout, one that includes pull ups. A pull up is a compound exercise that’s going to work a whole mess of different muscles in your back, shoulders, arms and core. There are variations for everyone, so no matter your current strength level, you can find a way to incorporate pull ups into your routine. And ladies, don’t be afraid of this one anymore. You’re strong, you’re in control and you’re completely capable of completing a pull up.
Find the pull up that works for you now and build up to a full pull up as you get stronger. Your upper body will thank you.
Know When To Back Off
For as hard as Green works, he knows when it’s time to take a break. A body needs time to recover from all of those pull ups and heated cardio. He and the whole Golden State Warriors team participate in salt water floats, according to Stack.com. This sensory deprivation technique is used to recover and relax. And judging by Green’s performance on the court, this method of recovery works.
Draymond Green is dedicated to his sport. You can be dedicated to yours. Use these lessons from Green to fuel your own workouts and get the most from your fitness routine.
Want more Draymond Green? Of course you do. He and Performance Inspired Nutrition co-founder Mark Wahlberg are all over the Performance Inspired social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
