While LeBron James is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he spent his second stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers showing why he is considered one of the best athletes in the world. James has shared many of his workouts on social media, and this âcore and mindâ stability workout is one heâs used throughout his career. This is a look back at one of his workout posts from the end of the 2017 season.Â
Shortly after his seventh straight NBA Finals appearance, James was back in the gym. After the Cleveland Cavaliers fell 4â1 to the Golden State Warriors, the Cavs superstar posted a video of himself on Instagram performing an insane âcore and mindâ stability workout with a physio ball and a Body Blade:
As the NBA season approaches, the self-proclaimed âKingâ decided to up the intensity of this workout. Instead of using the blade, LeBron tried his luck with balancing not one, not two, not three, but FOUR kettlebells.
And while thereâs no doubt that this move is extremely tough, we were curious what balancing on a physio ball while waving around a weird metal implement (or balancing kettlebells) would do for us mere mortals. So we asked trainer Chris Powell, C.S.C.S., creator of the new Transform app and trainer on ABCâs Extreme Weight Loss, what King James is getting at here.
âThis move is designed to focus on proprioceptionâspacial awareness and deep core stabilization,â Powell says. âThe center of movement originates in the core, then extends outward to the âsling systemsâ (arms and legs) to run, jump, and shoot. LeBron is doing this exercise because it is training his core to react to an unstable environment and fire rapidlyâso when he puts himself on the court, he can react quickly to any unstable environment and deliver a peak performance.â
As difficult as this may look, Powell says you can also try this move at homeâyou donât even need a Body Blade. First, Powell says, create instability by standing on a balance board, balance disc, or even just one foot. Then, youâll want to âdeliver a dynamic upper-body stimulus.â There are a few ways to do this:
- Do arm circles
- Swing your body side-to-side
- Pass a kettlebell clockwise around your body, and then pass it counter-clockwise around your body
- Grasp a single dumbbell with both hands, and extend it forward, to the right, and to the left
For example, Powell says, âa great way to do this at home would be to stand on one leg and perform arm circles or dumbbell âclocksââextending a dumbbell in different directions like you are placing the dumbbell on different numbers on the face of a clock.â
Weâre not saying itâll turn you into a superstar athlete overnightâbut itâll go a long way toward improving your core strength and reaction time.
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