Do back exercises. Pain is distracting.
For me, I exercise every morning. I exercise every day. I work out about an hour and 20 minutes, which is aerobics and resistance training. I work on agility and balance. I work on the things that are going to help my condition. I do agility training. I walk on a treadmill. I use an elliptical. I use weights.
Jumping rope is better than running because it engages the whole body.
We hear about the importance of strong core muscles all the time, but it never quite hits home until you stop and think what the muscles around your stomach and lower back really do.
From the moment I open my eyes, I'm trying to free my body. I'm trying to get looser, more flexible, to gain control. Movement is medicine to me.
When I work out I always focus on activating my core so I'm engaging at all times no matter if I'm doing yoga or if I'm on the treadmill.
I just want to be able to stand up straight for a little while before I get cut down.
I think the two most important parts of any athlete's workouts are his leg workouts and his core training.
Your core holds you upright; it helps you bend and twist and jump; it helps you transfer power through your body; and it strengthens your posture, whether you are batting, sitting at a desk or running around a park.
Cardio is king. This is how you make sure you don't wear out in the fight.
What I would say is I've only had one injury in my NBA career that was probably was because my core wasn't strong enough, when I had a stress fracture in my back.
But if I keep my core and back strong, the scoliosis doesn't really bother me.
Physical fitness is a three-legged stool: strength, aerobic capacity, and flexibility.
In regards to core training, I try to incorporate the medicine ball whenever possible. As a baseball player, there is a lot of twisting and turning that I will do. Keeping my abs strong is as important as anything else.
I don't generally like running. I believe in training by rising gently up and down from the bench.
When I'm in the gym, I always try and pair a push and a pull motion. I'll then follow that with a lot of shoulder stability work.
I think the two exercises that have helped me the most include using the bands with my ankles, and then another one of my favorites is where I lean on a balloon-shaped ball with my forehead touching it and rotate my head front, back and sideways to build up the muscles and ligaments in my neck.
I have been dealing with back problems since 1995 when I was with the Blackhawks, and I've only missed part of one season because of it. That was last season in Toronto.
Plyometrics. Hate them. Enough already. Jumping around, using your own body weight is so hard to me. How did we do it as kids?
I do tons of squats, jump squats, and fire hydrants.
Deep squats work so many muscles in your body. Once a week, I do three sets of six, or eight of the free-bar ones, which can help out your balance and work more muscles than doing them on the machine.
All physical activity begins with the body's core. I maintain the strength in my core so that I can jump, run, start, stop, and accelerate at the highest levels.
I've done everything from traditional yoga to Bikram yoga to Pilates.
I've recently explored the beauty of doing sit-ups on those endurance balls. It adds a whole new dimension of difficult.
When I'm lifting heavy, doing squats, and doing upper-body workouts, it's mostly about core and stability. But I'll still do deadlifts. I also do tire workouts with these big 600-pound tires, flipping them and stuff like that.
