Why StayOnTheCourt.com
I am writing this because I am willing to try anything to stay on the court. In my case it is the basketball court. My brother, who is 6 years older, took up sand volleyball when he moved to the panhandle of Florida. So it is the volleyball court for him. Whatever your court is, if you are like me, you are scared to death of not being able to do that activity any longer.
I will try anything. I don’t care if it is the placebo effect or if it really works. Anything that keeps me out on the court I am going to experiment with and try. Wraps, compression, cryotherapy, sauna, whirlpool, strengthening, stretching ,rolling and supplements. Anything that keeps the joints in functioning order or makes me think they are I AM IN!
A Regular Guy Trying to Figure It Out
I am 47 years old and have a wife, an 8 year old daughter, a 5 year old boy and a full time business. As we discuss products, exercises, routines, nutrition etc. we will always try and look for that, as Tim Ferriss says, minimum effective dose. We are all busy and for most people it is just not realistic to have more than an hour to yourself to do your stretching, weight lifting, basketball playing and recovery (sauna, whirlpool, rolling, etc.). Something must give.
I am not saying I have the solutions. I don’t. I have tried and read about lots of things since starting my obsession with not growing old (at least not looking or feeling old) in my late 20’s. That is what this is. A discussion. Sharing things that have worked and not worked in trying to keep ourselves on the court.
Average Athlete (Maybe a little under average)
Just so you have a frame of reference from where I am coming from as you read. I would consider myself a pretty average athlete (nearly called the blog averageathlete.com) by natural ability. I was able to play varsity basketball in a large high school and even start my senior year. It was clear my athletics were not going to continue at the collegiate level. I Quit football in 9th grade, track in 11th grade and replaced it with tennis. I am 6’3” and go about 180 lbs today (about the same as high school). I would consider myself an ectomorph body type which means I really had to work in the weight room to add any muscle and just look like a normal human being.
I spent my college years, 20s and 30s in the 195 – 205 lbs range with a max out of about 220 lbs while eating a lot of Mcdonalds and drinking a lot of beer my first year working full time after college I feel a little too skinny at 180, but one thing that has really worked for me over the last 18 months, time restricted eating, gets credit for the additional weight loss (and not drinking as much beer, replaced by Bourbon).
No Miraculous Stories Here
Honestly, my life hasn’t been that tough and I don’t have a lot of miraculous stories overcoming major obstacles. By necessity of getting older a lot of my breakthroughs have been since I hit 40. Things such as:
- Beating tendonitis (jumper’s knee which I have had since high school)
- Blowing up a shoulder on the basketball court which necessitated shooting left handed for about a month
- Blowing up both ankles on the basketball court where I discovered the importance of going to an ankle and foot doctor immediately
- My ongoing battles with trying to kick an 80 ounce a day Diet Coke habit and how it affects my ability on the court.
- Having my tooth elbowed through my lip by an opposing player and the importance of staying away from hot head players and when you need to let a plastic surgeon do your stitches vs. urgent care.
- Incorporating Sauna and Whirpool into your recovery and fitness routine.
- Why I would choose Planks as the one exercise I would choose if I could only do one.
Glossary Of Terms (Or Pickup Basketball Stereotypes)
If you tripped over this blog it may be because you enjoy playing basketball. As someone who has played pick up basketball most of his life, I always thought this video was nearly perfect in identifying all the characters that show up for pick up basketball. I will probably refer to some of these through the blog so I thought, on the off chance (73 million views), you haven’t seen this video we would put it here and call out these stereotypes:
- Mr. Excuses
- The Football Player
- The My Bad Guy
- Mr. Accessory
- The Looks Can Be Deceiving Guy
- The Dad + Kid
- The Player Coach
- The Rage Monster
- The Old Guy
- The Imaginary Dunker
- The Foul Guy
- The Lose-Lose Situation
- The Tall Guy That Only Shoots 3s
- The Pants Guy
- Mr. Freeze
- Mr. Shoulda Made The League
- The Misses All Game, But Banks In A 3 For The Win Guy
I can identify almost all of the stereotypes on my court. I will have to admit, that I have a mixture of these myself. A combo of “The Tall Guy That Only Shoots 3s”, “Mr. Freeze” and “Mr. Accessory Guy”. Every once in a while I play the role of “he Misses All Game, But Banks In A 3 For The Win Guy”.
I think I can add one hybrid category that I call “Jekyll and Hyde”. This is the guy you can have a great relationship with while he is on your team or watching from the sideline. But, as soon, as you get matched up against him he acts like a combination of “The Rage Monster” and “The Football Player”. Get into all out F-bomb throwing matches and then come back the next and play on his team and everything is cool again. A very interesting and volatile personality on the court.
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