The idea was simple: to see how an average person would fare in a workout designed for a Division I athlete.
The night before Monday’s session, however, this average person started to get nervous.
See, I’m 52 years old. And I’m not an athlete. I’ve been working with a personal trainer for the last nine years, but the work I do is nothing close to what’s expected of the Arizona Wildcats women’s basketball team. I watch — and I report — but I don’t play.
Cay Manuel, the UA’s assistant performance enhancement coach, sets me up with the same hourlong lifting session that the Wildcats go through every week. Each player has sessions that are customized to their skills and limitations. I’ve had shoulder issues, so Cay assigns me a workout plan that will help maintain strength and increase mobility.
I pair up with UA graduate assistant Christine Clark, who’s a household name among Tucson basketball fans. The former Tucson High standout starred at Harvard and then played professionally for the Lavezzini Parma basketball club in Italy.
Just before the workout starts, I look around the massive weight room inside the Eddie Lynch Athletic Pavilion.
“This,” I say, “is cool.”
“You won’t fall off”
Monday’s workout begins easily enough:
- First, I warm up on the treadmill to get my cardio started. My goal, besides completing the workout, was to try to keep up with Christine. So far, so good: I can walk at least as fast as she can.
- Cay then shows me how to do “banded walks,” monster walks and lateral walks. Christine and I put small bands around our ankles and walk down a track. I’m still keeping up.
- Then, medicine-ball throws. We stand on one foot dribbling the ball — they’re smaller than basketballs, and much heavier — against the wall. Three sets of 10 dribbles, center and both sides and then we change feet. Christine starts to pull away. She is using a heavier ball, and she has much, much better balance. Of course, she can dribble better than I can. She’s a basketball player.
- Next, we do lower-back hyperextensions, hanging horizontally with our ankles suspended in between rollers and lifting the top half of our bodies up while squeezing our glutes. Christine hangs with a weight plate in her hands. I focus on my breathing, my form — and staying upright.
“Don’t worry,” Cay says. “I promise you won’t fall off.”
- We bench press and row. It’s been a while since I’ve lifted, so I just bench the 45-pound bar. Christine, of course, piles on the plates. While I’m completing the circuit, a UA player enters the weight room looking for some stress relief. She tries a few techniques and measures her heart rate on an iPad; when those don’t work, she jumps into an ice bath.
- We start with the final circuit with what Cay calls a dumbbell push-press. The idea is simple enough: From a squatting position, stand up while pushing weight over your head. I catch a break: I did these last week with my trainer. I then do lateral pull-downs, three sets of 10 with 60 pounds’ worth of weight.
The circuit ends, and it’s time for cool down. We made it.
“It’s not just
knowing science”
My workout is typical of what most UA women’s basketball players endure once a week.
Each player’s session is customized. The workout plans are loaded, along with a bunch of other data, onto an iPad. Players can download an app and then train on their own; the app includes tips from Cay and videos on how to do each exercise.
Cay typically mixes up the reps and weights and the resting time in between, depending on the goals of each player.
After completing my first Division I-caliber workout, I asked Cay how she’d rate me.
“Overall, it was good for what I know of your history and your age,” she said. “Usually someone your age will have bad balance and stabilization. Normally the first thing we did (med ball throws) we’d take it down a level. … A lot of people couldn’t get through that workout, especially at a faster rate. You did pretty well, better than I expected. Usually people don’t understand the fundamentals with stabilization and they have to start from scratch.
“One of the best things was that you didn’t have an attitude — you had a drive to do this. That is one of the hardest things for an athlete is to stay on it and do it. (Although) these girls are good.”
Cay treats every player differently depending on their ability. Her job is as much about people as it is performance.
“It’s not just knowing science and the human body; it’s knowing these kids individually and what they need,” she said.
“I expect different things from (Wildcats players) LaBrittney (Jones) than Bria (Rice). For Bria, it’s technique. LaBrittney is different— it’s about getting it done.”
And I got it done, even if I woke up a little sore the next day.
Before leaving the weight room Monday, Christine and I found Cay and asked a question. Maybe it was the endorphins talking.
“Cay,” we said. “Let’s do this again.”
