The True Meaning of Conditioning
Swen Nater
This is going to be a rather long posting. I’ll try to keep the
quality high from beginning to end, though I may become a little tired.
I’ve not done this long a posting before. [deep breath] Here goes.
It was early on an April 1980 San Diego morning, the first morning
after the last game of the San Diego Clippers season. I put on my
Clippers socks, basketball shoes, practice shorts, and practice shirt
and walked out the front door of my home into the cool, but soon-to-be
warm, day. The eastern sun, slowly rising like a released golden
balloon, almost blinded me. But it warmed me slightly.
My usual off-season workout was weights, sprints, footwork, jumping,
or shooting. I had never tried running. As I stared jogging I thought,
‘With the kind of shape I’m in, I should be able to run all day.’ The
“eye-opener” was just around the corner.
Planning on “getting it over with” in as little time as possible, I
picked up the pace from a jog to a run. My heart rate increased and
leveled off a bit. About 5 minutes into the run, my legs began to
tighten a little and my breathing shifted from aerobic to anaerobic. In
other words, I began seeking more air. It felt like the third overtime. I
slowed down. That didn’t help much so I reduced my pace to the slowest
jog I could muster, hoping to finish the two miles. Finally, after one
mile, I quit and began my walk back home. With my head down, lungs
burning, hands on my hips, and confused, I could not figure out why
someone who could run four miles in a basketball game (combined with
jumping and extreme wrestling) and not be tired, couldn’t run two miles
straight without jumping and no one hanging on him. I was conditioned to
play more than an entire NBA game but not conditioned to run two
miles.
In 1974, I was challenged, by a 60 year old PE teacher in San
Antonio, Texas, to a game of racquetball. I had never played before but I
figured, since I’m used to running on an 84’ X 55’ court, the much
smaller area would not be a problem. Because of the teacher’s
experience, he had me running from wall to wall while he stood in the
middle of the court, sadistically, joyously, and without an ounce of
compassion, spreading the ball around. Ten minutes into the match, I
began tripping over my tongue and was convinced I had used all the
oxygen in the place.
Conditioning is Activity-Specific
It can be said; a couch potato
is in condition because he’s accustomed to sit five hours in front of a
television set working the remote, eating potato chips, and drinking Bud
Light. It can be said, “He’s in shape.” He’s not in great physical
shape but he’s in shape to sit in one position for 5 hours without
becoming physically, mentally or emotionally fatigued.
A New York traffic intersection cop is conditioned to move his arms
and stand for hours without becoming physically, mentally, or
emotionally fatigued. A court stenographer, scorekeeper at a basketball
game, graveyard custodian in an office building, and garbage collector,
are all in a condition I am not. And, they are not in the condition I am
for what I do. Conditioning is activity-specific.
Therefore, training must also be activity-specific. And, the more the
training is “like the activity” itself, the more properly trained
people will be.
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