Relentless_ From Good to Great to Unstoppable ( PDFDrive )

Near the end of Michael Jordan’s career with the Bulls, he agreed to allow a camera crew to follow him around for a documentary on his last season in Chicago. Early one morning—maybe 6:00 a.m., it was dark outside and Michael’s kids were still asleep—the crew came to his house for a rare glimpse into his private gym where we trained. The video has never been released, but I can tell you how it began: The cameraman noticed a poster on the wall, a classic shot of MJ soaring through the air with the caption, HOW DOES MICHAEL FLY? He zoomed in on the poster, then turned the camera to Michael and asked him, “How do you fly?” Michael just laughed, shook his head, pointed across the gym at me, and said, “Ask him.” Good question. No doubt Michael’s genetics gave him a physical advantage: he has huge hands, long limbs, and predominately fast-twitch muscles. But contrary to popular legend, he is not a freak of nature. I know people mean it as a compliment

when they say that about him, but I think of it as an insult, because it suggests he didn’t have to work for his success. In fact, there are plenty of athletes who share his physical abilities, and in some cases even exceed them. But he has mental toughness that exceeds anyone else’s physical toughness, and that’s ultimately what separates merely great athletes from iconic superstars. That’s why Kobe Bryant, in his thirties, can outplay guys who are much younger. Like Michael, he has the mentality and focus and relentless drive to maximize his skills, push beyond, and never stop working to improve. So there are undoubtedly many factors that allowed Michael to fly. But when he pointed at me in his gym that morning, this is what he meant: we trained in a way that maximized his abilities and gifts, so he could reach his ultimate potential in every way. And that training—the “secret” to Michael’s explosiveness and the power he had to launch himself through the air—is the basis for my program, Jump Attack.

Jump Attack is a total-body workout—legs, arms, core—that delivers results, whether you’re a young player getting started or an experienced athlete looking to improve . . . and we all have room to improve. It’s not easy. But if you want proof that Jump Attack works, just ask any of my clients. It’s the same program I’ve used with the pros since I first developed it with Michael in the 1990s. Increasing vertical jump and explosiveness is one of the most difficult things to accomplish in athletic training; it requires specific muscles to be activated and firing simultaneously for a prolonged period of time. If you’re doing it correctly, everything works together for extraordinary results; the right training will send you soaring over the competition. The wrong training will leave you flat on your feet. Give me twelve weeks and your best effort, and I’ll give you a complete plan that delivers: • Explosive athleticism for ultimate

performance in all sports and activities • Increased muscle mass, power, speed, and agility • A tighter, leaner physique • Mental toughness and endurance • Effective rest and recovery • Optimal nutrition • Injury prevention The key to the program is my Explosive Sequences, the critical component for developing the body and skills of a winner. For twelve weeks, you’ll use ten unique all-new workouts to master the sequences, consistently increasing your vertical jump, overall athleticism, and muscle mass with each phase of the program. Here’s a look at the Jump Attack system: Weeks 1–3: Phase One—Don’t Think

If you’re thinking, you’re failing. We’re preparing your body, your ligaments, your muscles, your mind, testing you mentally so you can be ready to get through the next phases. These are simple but challenging isometric workouts—no weights—that make you sweat like crazy and ignite your muscles to react as never before. Don’t think about what you’re doing, just focus on the results and get it done. Day 1: Endurance Legs #1 Day 2: Endurance Total Body #1 Day 3: Stretch and Recover Day 4: Endurance Legs #2 Day 5: Endurance Total Body #2 Day 6: Stretch and Recover Day 7: Rest Week 4: Rest, Test, and Recovery After each phase, you’ll take a week to rest your

body and recover from the intense work you’ve been doing. You’ll test yourself twice during each recovery week to measure your progress. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see quick results; the payoff comes at the end of the entire program. Weeks 5–7: Phase Two—Attack Now your body is ready for the hard work; get ready to to push yourself harder than you ever have. We’re adding weights, overloading the muscles, getting them ready to apply more force into the ground, and teaching them to fire over and over, without fatigue or weakness. Day 1: Power Legs Day 2: Power Body Day 3: Stretch and Recover Day 4: Power Legs Day 5: Power Body Day 6: Stretch and Recover

Day 7: Rest Week 8: Rest, Test, and Recovery Another week to rest and recover. Stay active; use each recovery week to play your sport, and let your body start learning how to use your new abilities and skills. Weeks 9–11: Phase Three— Relentless Anyone can start something; it takes a winner to finish. If you’re still working to get results, you are truly relentless—a lot of pros don’t make it this far. Phase Three combines all the workouts from the first two phases and kicks everything into high gear. Stay with it a little longer and accomplish what you started.

Day 1: Explosive Legs Day 2: Explosive Body Day 3: Stretch and Recover Day 4: Explosive Legs Day 5: Explosive Body Day 6: Stretch and Recover Day 7: Rest Week 12: Rest and Testing Congratulations, you’ve completed the Jump Attack program. But you still need the final week to rest your muscles and let your body fully recover. Take your final two tests, record your results, and get ready to take your game to a whole new level. ••• Jump Attack is more than just a workout; it’s a complete program that addresses all your athletic

needs and issues. Train the Mind to Train the Body Fact: You can’t be physically tough until you’re mentally tough. . . . You must be unbeatable from the neck up before you can be unbeatable from the neck down. Based on the principles of Relentless, I’ll show you how to get comfortable being uncomfortable and prepare your mind and body to reach a whole new level of success. Getting Started We’ll test your vertical jump for the first time (you’ll repeat the test several times throughout the program) and record your starting stats so you can measure your progress. Learn the rules of perfect form and go through the Jump Attack warm-up for flexibility and injury prevention.

Jump Attack Fuel You don’t put cheap gasoline into an elite automobile, and you don’t fuel an athletic body with junk food. I’ll share the nutrition plan I give my players, including a complete list of dos and don’ts, as well as advice on supplements and other performance enhancers. Injury Prevention, Rest, and Recovery No matter how great the athlete, injuries happen. We’ll talk about preventing them before they occur and recovering safely when they do. As I tell my players after an injury: I don’t want you to come back as good as you were before; I want you to come back stronger than ever. Jump Attack Maintenance

Being the best means never being satisfied; you never stop working and improving. That’s how the best get better. No matter how good you are, you can always do more. At the end of the twelve weeks, the maintenance phase gives you the tools you need to build on the gains you’ve made and set your sights on a whole new level of excellence. The Workout Journal A training log is your most important workout partner; you can’t measure success at the end if you don’t know where you began. The book includes blank pages for recording results and keeping a record of weights/reps/stats. Attack Athletics Q&A All your training questions answered, including a few you didn’t think to ask.

••• This is the blueprint for jumping higher, moving quicker, packing on muscle, and developing explosive power. Your job is to follow the plan and work hard. That’s it. It takes no talent to work hard; anyone can do it. The greats might be born with extraordinary talent, but they know the truth: it’s not enough to get to the top; and you have to fight to stay there. If you’re serious about that fight, if you’re ready to change your body and your game, if you’re committed to showing up and doing the work, you’re on a journey that will set you apart from the competition and take you places you never imagined. Jump Attack takes the mental fitness you mastered in Relentless and completes the mind- body connection. Relentless made you mentally tough; now you’re ready to be physically tough. It works. During the 2012 NBA finals, I spent five days in Miami with my longtime client Dwyane Wade,

trying to get the most out of a damaged knee that would need surgery after the season. The work we did—sometimes at 2:00 a.m.—will remain private, but at the end of the finals, as the Heat were crowned the NBA champs and the champagne flowed in the locker room, Miami GM and NBA legend Pat Riley came up to me and said, “I’d love to know how you got Dwyane so explosive in just a few days.” The answer is the premise for Jump Attack. You’ll need more than the five days I spent with Dwyane in Miami, but the work I did with him— and what I do with all my players—is the basis for what I’m giving you in this program. For more than two decades I’ve watched and trained the best of the best; I study how they improve, what works and what doesn’t. In my business, success is in the details: if your leg twitches, if your shot is off, if you’re fatiguing faster or slower than you did before, I’m going to notice. I’m putting everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve taught, everything I know into Jump Attack. This is how the best get

better, and you can too. ••• For more information on Jump Attack and Tim Grover, visit www.attackathletics.com.

© FOTOSTUDIOMILANO.COM TIM S. GROVER is world-renowned for his work with championship and Hall of Fame athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade, and is an international authority on sports performance and motivation. Since 1989, he has been CEO of Attack Athletics, the legendary training philosophy that teaches excellence,

commitment, and the concept of “don’t think” to elite athletes and business professionals around the world. He is based in Chicago. For more information, visit attackathletics.com. SHARI LESSER WENK, co-writer of the bestseller Start Something by Earl Woods and the Tiger Woods Foundation, has been a literary agent, editor, and ghostwriter of sports books since 1983. She lives in Chicago. MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT SimonandSchuster.com COPYRIGHT © 2013 SIMON & SCHUSTER

ALSO BY TIM S. GROVER Jump Attack

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