9PLAYLIST | STEELE JOHNSON

Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | Steele Johnson in mag.

A WILD RIDE WITH HEIMANA REYNOLDS

Next month the Summer Olympics will take place in Tokyo. While we look forward to seeing a number of our favorites in Track & Field, Swimming and Volleyball, there are a number of sports that will make their debut and skateboarding is one of them! We're excited to catch up with an athlete who has been at the top of his sport for the past couple of years and is an advocate for skateboarding and its community. Heimana Reynolds has showcased his style and creativity at a number of World Championships, X Games and will now take the world's biggest stage in just a few weeks representing Team USA Skateboarding.

We caught up with this Hawaiian native who calls San Diego, CA his home to find out how he got into skateboarding, going pro, the Olympic Trials and the power of recognition.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When we grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, we remember that after school, even though we didn’t skateboard, but we had friends that did. You could see how fun it was. Living here in NY, you see it all the time from a transportation perspective or just people being out having a good time! How were you introduced to the sport?

HEIMANA REYNOLDS: Well, I’m born and raised in Hawaii right? I mean, my state is known as the surfing capital of the world! Originally, my dad he was born and raised as the board sports rider from surfing, skating and snowboard riding when he could. At first, at a young age, he introduced me to surfing. From there, I was very young like 4 or 5 years old and at that age, there are so many variables that have to do with surfing – it’s cold, it’s windy, it’s this and that. So I didn’t fall in love with it at that age. When I was 6 or 7, my dad was like, “ok what’s the next best thing? Skateboarding. Let’s try this." He introduced me to skateboarding and I just fell in love with it. He would take me all day, every day, after school, before school and weekends! It was just history from there you know?

AM: When did you realize you wanted to be an athlete and be a professional skateboarder?

HR: I remember the day that I realized that this was something that I want to be able to do. My very first contest my dad took me to was in California, it’s this contest for all 12 and under skateboarders. He took me out there and I got to meet so many people, I got to compete for the first time and I actually did well for myself even though it was the beginners division! And I actually won a few divisions! I thought, “woah this is cool, this is awesome and I want to be able to do this for the rest of my life!” And hopefully I can! So far so good you know?

AM: You have won so many things from World Championships to being at the X Games and all of these different events. What has that journey been like for you?

HR: Oh my gosh, it’s been amazing! All I can say is that I’m so blessed to be able to travel the world and to meet all of these amazing people and get to do all of this because of skateboarding. Who would have ever thought that I could be traveling the world, I could be competing, I could be winning, I could be making money off of this wooden toy with wheels? You know what I mean? This journey has really been amazing and it’s not done yet! I mean, I’m super excited for Tokyo and it’s going to be the most amazing thing ever.

AM: That is going to be insane! I know you were talking about growing up in Hawaii and you live in California now in San Diego, what’s the skating scene or community like in terms of similarities and differences between where you grew up and where you are now?

HR: Honestly, there are so many similarities and differences. Growing up in Hawaii, I mean the similarities – well the reason why I moved to San Diego is that pretty much it’s the closest thing that’s like being in Hawaii without being in Hawaii. I’m able to still surf and skate every single day. I moved out here mainly because of the skate park and the skate scene out here you know? The cool thing about being out here is that you can stand in a certain area like my house let’s say and point in any direction and I can tell you where the skate park is. I think that is the coolest thing ever because there’s so many skate parks and not only is it about the quantity of skate parks but the quality of skate parks that are out here! Compared to Hawaii, it’s off the charts! Being out here and being able to skate, be at all of these different parks, being able to be out at the entire skateboarding scene out here is honestly the best thing for my skate career.

AM: That’s awesome! What’s an average day like for you when you’re training or doing your tricks? How many hours are you actually on your skateboard?

HR: Haha! Well a normal training day for me would of course be waking up at about 7:15/7:30am, getting out of bed, getting my day started and going straight to the NAKOA Gym where I meet with my personal trainer, Brandon Glade. We run through a bunch of – not so much body-building exercises but building muscle around my joints to prevent injuries. So we do all of those exercises for about an hour. I go home and I get a nice breakfast in me and I go straight to the California Training Facility which is the Olympic Skatepark for us. I go there and my first session will be about usually 3-4 hours just running tricks that I want to work on, trying to learn tricks and hone in on tricks that need work on and I grab some lunch after. Then I go back to the skate park and then I run lines to get my stamina up, to do the tricks that I learned earlier that day or those that I need to work on. Just kind of running my legs together so that’s another 3-4 more hours!

AM: That is definitely a lot! What are the specific workouts that you do to optimize you in your sport as I know you’re focused on building the muscle around joints? Do you have go-to’s that you do?

HR: We’re always changing up a lot of stuff. We do stamina work, we do cardio, we do a lot of agility stuff, landing hard and trying not to land hard on your bones! Also doing lightweight stuff. I don’t know the exact names for everything, but my trainer, he’s awesome! He’s the best in the business in my eyes.

AM: Prior to COVID-19, what was your year like in terms of your competitions just to give people an idea of what your schedule was like and how much you traveled?

HR: Oh my gosh! It was never a dull moment to say the least haha! There was honestly a time before COVID where there was a contest between where it was pretty much every weekend or every other weekend. We were able to travel to China, Brazil and all of these crazy countries and multiple times in that same year! I’d just bring my skateboard along and just kind of go with it. It was so amazing to be able to feel out all of those different cultures and just competing on those weekends. Oh my gosh it was amazing and so much fun. It was definitely strenuous but it was definitely a super amazing ride.

AM: Did you find, because we have been interviewing a number of athletes, that during this time before things started opening up again that in order to keep training and working out, that you had to do weird modifying situations to still stay healthy and on track for what you wanted to be able to do? We talked with Ryan Murphy a few months back and he was pushing his SUV up a hill because he couldn’t get to a gym haha!

HR: Haha yeah! During COVID, it was a crazy time especially being a park skater where you have all these ramps and big concrete – all the skate parks were closed you know? So it was really hard for me to be able to motivate myself. It was really funny, I had to do a lot of my sessions where I was in my living room and literally skating my coffee table and doing tricks off my coffee table and stuff like that! It got down to the point where I had a bunch of cases of Vitamin Water and I literally set them up and I was grinding on them and going over them – it was actually pretty funny!

It was actually a really cool experience to be able to not have to worry about the stress of events and training but to actually fall in love with my skateboard again, you know? It reminded me of when I was 8 years old and I would skate in my driveway for hours on end and just like having fun with literally nothing. I thought it was a really cool experience.

AM: Do you have go-to movements or signature movements that you do when you’re skateboarding?

HR: I do. I have a couple. My main trick that I’m kind of “known” for is called a Frontside Invert and it’s where you go front side up to the coping and you kind of plant your hand on the coping and you kind of do a one handed handstand while holding your board and then bring it back in. That’s one of my favorite tricks and I try to do that in every contest. It’s a super fun one!

AM: It looks awesome and you were in our 9PLAYLIST feature last month and we have that shot as the background of your playlist. That shot looks amazing and it’s impressive, but it must be so hard to be able to do that! Not for you obviously!

HR: It’s a lot of falling down and a lot of getting back up to learn it and to perfect it, you know?

AM: Exactly! What was the Olympic Trial process like and how many events did you have to do to qualify?

HR: The Olympic process was a cool experience, but also there are a lot of similarities and differences compared to contests that we’re used to! There’s a whole new thing with the point system and trying to get as many points as you can because it’s the Olympics and everybody wants to get to it. There are only 3 spots for Team USA, you know? So, we had 3 main events in 2019 and then we had 2 more in 2020 until the postponement and then we had another 2 this year. In 2019, at the first event, I was able to make finals but got 6th place, the next 2 were a Pro Tour event and then the World Championships and I was lucky enough to make the runs that I needed and win those 2 events which really boosted my score a lot leading into 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, the most recent 2 events, I battled a knee injury and had to pull out of those events, but luckily for me, I had enough points to stay in the top spot and make it to the Games.

AM: Which is amazing! Once again thinking back to growing up seeing our friends skateboard back in the 80’s and 90’s, we couldn’t have imagined that it would be a sport at the Summer Games! How important do you think that this is for the visibility of the sport and then you being a part of the debut of that?

HR: Honestly, just hearing you ask me that question just gave me the chills you know what I mean? The shivers went through my spine because it’s such an amazing thing. First, it’s amazing for the sport to be at the Olympics and I have always thought that it deserved the recognition and that it should be considered a real sport to be at the Olympics. For me to be able to actually compete in the debut of the sport means the world to me. Skateboarding is my entire world. It’s all I’ve ever known and it’s all I ever do. It’s what I’m so passionate about and to be able to make history with skateboarding means so much to me and I’m so honored and blessed to be able to say that I will be in the debut of skateboarding for the Olympics.

AM: It’s so amazing and what are you looking forward to at the Games and what does your schedule look like leading up to heading to Tokyo?

HR: Oh my God – I mean I honestly don’t even know what to expect. I know that there are a lot of guidelines and stuff like that, but I’m really going to be there for the ride and the experience and kind of just making the memories of a lifetime out there!

Leading up to the Games, I am definitely training as much as I can without being injured. I’m just trying to keep my mind and my body healthy. I’m trying to keep my legs warm and I know that there are tricks that I want to be able to do before the Games so I’m honing in on those and not trying to get too crazy learning anything more before the Games. I have my tricks that I want to do and my lines that I want to run and pretty much, just trying to stay healthy and reviewing the park layout and getting ready!

AM: For Olympic Skateboarding, the events are broken out between street style and park style. Can you share the difference between these events?

HR: Of course. When you talk about street skating, automatically you think about the street. You’re skating on the street, but it has a lot to do with what you see around town. Street skaters will be skating stairs, handrails and jumping off of things like that. In park skating, you’re going to see more of ramp style where you see quarter pipes, half pipes, coping and long grinds and it will be really fast and high airs.

AM: In looking at competing in park, can you break down from an Olympic standpoint – how do you accrue points, what are judges looking for? So when we’re cheering you on, we can understand how you’re being scored?

HR: When you’re skating in park, one of the coolest things about park and skateboarding in general is the creativity aspect behind it. So, a lot of the judges are looking for the speed that you’re going at and how fast you’re going, how many tricks they can pull together in their 45 second run, how high their airs are and stuff like that. But it also goes into the creativity aspect. If you’re watching a skate contest, you will never see someone do the same run as another skater. That is the coolest thing because it brings the individuality out of the sport. A lot of the judges are looking for high airs, long grinds, going fast, how many difficult tricks you can pull without falling and the creative aspect of how unique your line was with all the tricks and which ones went back-to-back.

AM: For the Olympics, you have a designated uniform that you have to wear, but do you also have a specific board or shoes that you wear or are you able to choose your own for that?

HR: So yeah, we have the Olympic designed uniforms that we wear, but shoes, boards and helmet go under equipment. So, we can bring our own stuff in for those. I’ll have my The Heart Supply skateboard, I’ll be wearing my Axion Slip On shoes. They’re my favorite shoes and super comfortable – I love them. Also, my helmet will be a black S1 Helmets.

AM: I know that you’re partnered with KT Tape and our readers and followers know the brand and have seen them on athletes such as those in swimming and volleyball and how they use it. How is it beneficial for you when using it in skateboarding and why did you feel that it was a synergistic partnership for you to be aligned with their brand?

HR: In skateboarding and specifically with me, I don’t like to have any restrictions especially with braces and things like that. So, if I hurt my ankle, my knee or my wrist, I don’t want to have this brace that restricts my movement too much and gets in my way with this big bulky brace on my knee. So when I partnered up with KT Tape, they taught me how to tape up my knee, ankle or anything else, it really helped to hold my knee or ankle in place without having to deal with the restrictions of a bulky brace. It was really cool to experience that and to learn how to use the tape. They have a bunch of different stuff. I use the KT Recovery+ Wave that’s this electromagnetic pain relief thing. So if my shoulder is super sore after a long skate session, I’ll tape that thing onto my shoulder and I won’t feel it at all but the next morning I’ll wake up and say, “wow, that really helped a lot!” They also have KT Recovery+ Pain Relief Gel Roll-On and stuff like that. They have a lot of different products that help progress my skateboarding a lot.

AM: It’s always fun to do prep for these interviews and I know you’re in the campaign imagery with Ralph Lauren as well which you have such the look for that. But we also came across the Proper Rideshop. Can you tell us more about this?

HR: Like when I told you earlier about my dad and how he got me into skateboarding, once he realized that this was what I wanted to do – he took into account that if this was something that I wanted to be able to do and that skateboarding would be my life that they would turn their lives into it too! Him and my mom both quit their jobs, got an indoor warehouse, opened a skate shop in the front and a full skatepark in the back. They run camps and clinics to teach skateboarding to the youth. It’s a super cool environment. We have a membership program where we have over 400 members with young kids. We give back to the community and work with some homeschool programs teaching them where this is a form of their PE classes. We work with this program called A.skate Foundation which works with special needs kids in the autistic community. Proper Ride Shop has turned into a full family affair and it’s amazing.

AM: That’s amazing what they do for the community and the fact that you were able to train there while you were growing up!

HR: Yeah that’s true! They opened it up 10 years ago. I’ve been able give back to the community there and then after hours, be there to get training in.

AM: That’s fantastic and because you’re passion for the sport is so evident, in what ways do you give back to the sport and the community?

HR: I teach kids about the sport and I try to go around to help the kids of the next generation. Proper Rideshop is a really cool thing to give back to the community. Once, I was part of the next generation and people gave back to me and now that I’m in that next generation, I want to see the younger generation just strive and help them become what I did. I love giving back to the community.

AM: When you’re not skateboarding, what would we find you doing when you’re just taking time for yourself?

HR: When I’m not skating, I like to be in the ocean. Whether it’s surfing, fishing – especially back at home. I’m always going to be in the ocean because that’s my little zen mode. I grew up surfing and skateboarding my entire life so if I’m not at the skate park, I’m definitely surfing.

AM: We love talking to people that are changemakers that inspire other people. Who are 3 people that have helped you in your career where you are whether you know them personally or follow them socially?

HR: Oh man. The first one that comes to mind is definitely Shaun White! He has been a huge inspiration to me since I was a young kid just watching him at the X Games skateboarding and snowboarding. I knew of the time and dedication that he took whether he was on or off his board. It really just made me see what was out there and made me want to push and be the best that I could be. It’s actually really cool. During the beginning of the Olympic Trials for skateboarding, he was like, “I want to start skating again and do this." From there, I used to see him at the skate park a bunch and I was like, “woah that’s Shaun White, I looked up to him as a little kid.” We actually built a relationship together and I’m able to call him up and go skate anytime I want! It's a really cool thing to be able to do that and to have him as a good friend of mine. He’s an amazing human.

Another person that really inspires me and I know that it might sound cliché, but my dad really inspires me a lot. He was the person who taught me what hard work is and the person that pretty much paved the way for me and taught me every life lesson that I know. He’s the one that pushed me when I wanted to quit and he helped me get back up and he is definitely one of the biggest inspirations in my life.

As a skateboarding standpoint, Tony Hawk – of course he’s been a huge inspiration to me. Not only is he probably the biggest name in skateboarding, he also opened up the doors to show that you don’t have to just be a skateboarder. He designed his own game, he gives back to the community, he travels the world and he gives skateboards to little kids. He is one of the most amazing human beings and he has inspired me my entire life.

IG @Heimana_Reynolds

PHOTOS COURTESY | KT Tape + Ralph Lauren

Read the JUN ISSUE #67 of Athleisure Mag and see A Wild Ride with Heimana Reynolds in mag.

COURSE BOUND WITH JULIE TYSON

On Aug 16th - 22nd, THE NORTHERN TRUST golf tournament will be back at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ. We attended back in 2019 and in anticipation of the upcoming event, we wanted to find out more about this tournament, its importance in the golf season and how it benefits its communities. Julie Tyson is the Executive Director of the PGA TOUR of THE NORTHERN TRUST. She shared her career journey, how she came to working in the golf industry, her approach to putting on one of golf's biggest tournaments as well as how she balances a myriad of schedules.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Back in 2019, we had the opportunity to go to THE NORTHERN TRUST and had an amazing time there so it’s so great to find out more about this tournament and your role in it. I’m also excited to chat with you as we are fellow alumnae at Indiana University so it’s always nice to connect with people from there!

JULIE TYSON: You are! You’re a Hoosier?

AM: I am and I was impressed that you were a founding member of the IU Dance Marathon on campus as I enjoyed going to that and raising awareness!

JT: That’s amazing and so cool! I’m on this sports board that they have now at IU and we had a board call last week and it’s like a who’s who of sports. I was listening on the call and I thought, “gosh Indiana turns out some really talented people!”

AM: Without a doubt!

JT: Well you included!

AM: Well thank you!

JT: You have quite a business!

AM: Thank you for saying that! It’s been an incredible journey and even in this time of the pandemic, we were really able to take stock to optimize what we’re doing while working on some really amazing things that will be launching soon! You know, in doing this magazine, we talk to so many people across a number of verticals and a number of them have come from IU and it always makes me think of just how phenomenal of a school it is and how far their arms reach! I’m from Indiana originally so I always wanted to go there, but looking at it from where I am now, seeing all the people that come through there it truly is incredible.

JT: I have 2 older brothers and I’m from Chicago originally and they went to school there during the Bobby Knight era.

AM: Same!

JT: And just like you, but for a different reason, we really wanted to go to Indiana University badly. I remember my first foot steps onto the campus, I had a couple of those pinch me moments like, “I can’t even believe that I’m here!” It’s such a cool experience.

AM: I loved it so much that after my freshman year, I became an Orientation Leader there every summer for the incoming students that were coming in! I’m still friends with a number of the people from those teams as well as students that I oriented. Bobby’s last year was my senior year, but my memories there were truly incredible and anytime I get to talk to others that went there, I know that it’s good people.

JT: Awww me too. I agree completely.

AM: Exactly. You have worked in this industry for a number of years. What is your background and what led you to working in sports and specifically to the golf industry?

JT: I was in media sales for a long time out of Chicago and I remember very distinctly boarding a plane and it was one of those really small 19 seat planes and I was in Michigan and it was in Feb. and I thought that it was freezing cold and dark and I need to do something different. I started to think about what would be next for me and I thought that being an agent would be interesting and fun. So my easiest path in I thought would be women’s sports to become an agent. I thought that I didn’t want to travel all over the globe at that stage in my life so that eliminated tennis because they were playing a lot of their events globally and I thought that golf would be an interesting thing because it was very well established and sort of fit with the lifestyle of not being in freezing cold Michigan weather.

So I reached out to the Vice President of Business Affairs at that time and said, “If you ever need help with your television, I’d love to help.” We got through a bunch of conversations and lo and behold he became the Commissioner of the LPGA, a guy named Ty Votaw. So I went to go work with the LPGA initially and worked there for a long time. It’s a very entrepreneurial setting where if you can dream it, you can do it. I loved my first foray into golf through the LPGA and then my career progressed and I ended up working at the PGA TOUR first in Account Management and then in Global Sales. Then, in 2017, my path led me to a counterpart and a friend that had become the head of our Championship managed event that we own and operate a portfolio of events and he asked if I ever wanted to come and run a tournament within this group of events? That began my event management experience was in 2017. THE NORTHERN TRUST happened to be moving from LA to NY so it was a perfect time for me because I got a new title, we were playing new venues and so everything was new. I didn’t walk into a big legacy really even though this event has been played in and around this area for over 50 years!

AM: That is quite a journey. Before we get into THE NORTHERN TRUST, can you tell me about your role at the PGA and what your day-to-day is like?

JT: So, I’m the Executive Director which means that literally if you think about it like a CEO of a small business, every aspect of the event rolls up through me whether it's client relations, whether it's operations, local relationships with the city or the state – putting on an event like this you have to let everybody know you’re coming to town and make the appropriate accommodations, marketing, HR, everything under the sun. Now the great part about this is that if you think about it like a franchisee, I have the PGA TOUR in the backdrop that we’re owned and operated and I have those resources that I can tap into on a daily basis. But we’re pretty much in NY running our own show up here.

AM: As you mentioned, THE NORTHERN TRUST is over 50 years old, can you tell us about this tournament which is the first of 3 Fed Ex Cup Playoffs events? What makes this such an important event?

JT: This is probably one of the most competitive events in all of golf where players compete throughout the regular season to earn enough points to make it to the Playoffs. We are the first Playoff event as you said. So we only accept the top 125 players in the world. If somebody gets sick or decides that they don’t want to play this particular week, we will play with fewer people. We won’t bring anybody else in. Not only do they compete to get into this event, after this event, we will cut as the Playoffs progress as they go from this event to the second event it will go to 70 players. So for some number of players like 55 players, their season will end at the conclusion of our tournament at THE NORTHERN TRUST because they didn’t earn enough points to make it into the top 70. So that’s 1 and 2, we tend to be one of the largest global platforms first being in and around NYC which is a huge enough platform to begin with. This event is also televised in over 220 countries worldwide so it’s a really big stage that we're putting these guys on. Lastly, over the course of those 3 weeks, these players will pay for over the 3 week run between the bonus pool at the end and the 3 weeks of purses, almost a $100 million in prize money. So that in and of itself, the scale of the stage, the number of hours of television, the platform, the fact that their season could end – there is a lot at stake here that these guys are playing for. So, really competitive environments tend to produce memorable moments on the golf course.

AM: Wow that is very critical in the fact that you could be ending your season after that particular tournament. How far in advance do you begin working on a tournament like this and as we’re a few weeks away, what does your schedule look like leading up to it?

JT: This event typically rotates in and around NY and NJ and in 2020, we played in Boston. We start planning 18 months in advance for where we are going to be in the upcoming year while simultaneously completing the steps towards the current year’s event. We have to be building 2 events simultaneously.

AM: When people think of golf, they think about The Masters, The Players or The Open as opposed to thinking of a tournament that’s minutes away from NYC, what are the intricacies of having a PGA TOUR event in NYC?

JT: Yeah. Interestingly here a local NYer or someone from NJ that is from the area will tell you that convenience is key! You have to have an easy way to get to something no matter how compelling. Unlike some of these other places where you’re in Augusta, GA and it’s convenient and easy to get to once you’re on the grounds of Augusta – you’re pretty local there. Here we battle traffic and all of these other kinds of modes of transportation. I think in 2021 what you will see as fans is that we have made it more convenient to get to the tournament. This being our first time back since 2019, we learned a lot from our fans so parking will be easier, we’ll have our rideshare much closer, our Ferry will drop off at the Liberty National Port instead of at Port Liberté. It will be super easy to get the opening and closing holes. So we have made it more convenient – that’s 1.

2, I think that if you live in the area, you have access to pretty much anything that you could ever dream of from world-class food options to entertainment so we really have to try harder to make this a singular experience that is super memorable. So we have really held ourselves accountable to building something that we think will get people to come back time and time again and hopefully your experience proved that we’re working hard on that front.

AM: I thought it was awesome. We went to the Media Day the day before and took the ferry over that day. I thought it was really cool. Who would have thought that steps away from the city, we have a golf course that we can go to without having to go to other regions in the country. It was really well produced and I’m excited to see what this year will be like. When I think about the music festivals and fashion weeks that we have attended it’s always challenging to do them when you’re talking about doing them here!

JT: I totally agree and we’ve lived through every challenge. COVID being what it is, to have THE NORTHERN TRUST last year in Boston during COVID which I can’t think of anything that is more complicated and we successfully pulled that off so we learned a ton about running events in a COVID environment just like everybody did in running their businesses.

AM: Speaking to that, running any type of event during COVID is problematic. What was your approach last year to tackling it and being in a different locale and keeping in mind all of these other factors that were literally outside of your control?

JT: Well, first we had to determine what was going to be our North Star. Our North Star was always going to be safety. Safety of the players, safety of the fans, safety of the volunteers, of the staff and in every step. We decided that we were going to operate without fans because we didn’t know if we could effectively do it as there were a lot of unknowns about COVID, there were no vaccinations - we just didn't think that we could aggregate people in a safe way. We knew that with the areas with the population of people and volunteer staff and players, that we could control how they could engage, we could control social distancing safety measures. So safety was always going to be our North Star. The second part of this and I think with anything that you’re going through with a crisis, is communication. We over communicated to everybody, the league, we communicated to the state and health officials. We over communicated with people and brought everybody into the process so that they could transparently see what we were planning to do and to advise us if we were going down a bad path. It helped us to be able to play in a time where most sports were unable to. We were really excited to be able to do that and to deliver to fans so that they could at least watch it on TV.

AM: In 2019, we had the best time watching Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka play and walking the course as they played. So for this year’s event, what kind of hospitality features and experiences that fans can enjoy while watching their favorite players.

JT: I think one thing to note is that if you’re a golf fanatic, we’ve got an option for you which is golf with a side of fun, but if you’re not super into golf and you just want to watch a little bit of golf, we’ve got fun with a side of golf. I think that more and more our fans are starting to see that you don’t have to watch 8 hours of golf if you don’t want to. We’ve got hospitality options that range from anywhere from over a little over $100 a ticket to all the way to $7,500 a ticket. It just depends on the level of convenience that you're looking for. So at the high end of that, the $7,500 ticket gives you valet right up to the door of the club. At the lower end of that, you’ve got access that will keep you out of concession and food lines and it gives you a reserved seat which generally is hard to find in golf. We’ve got hospitality options with everything in between and it just becomes things like climate control, shade or location on the golf course if you’re on a finishing hole. Those things come at a premium. We’ve got people and opportunities that can help coach you through any kind of opportunity that you want to experience. I think that the most interesting thing is for our Grounds Patron. We have 6 miles of front row seats for our Grounds Patrons which is unheard of in sports. Also, our amenities bring in local flavor with our food partners that you saw in 2019. So Shake Shack, Luke’s Lobster and Pizza Vita are there. We also brought in Playa Bowls which is a healthy option that was one of the bits of feedback that we got back from our food partners. We’ll have a wine garden that we fashioned after a North Fork vineyard experience with Adirondacks and food for purchase that pairs up nicely with wine as well as other kinds of experiences that people can enjoy. Again, if you’re interested in fun with a side of golf, we’ve got all kinds of space on a 6 mile golf course that is out in fresh air for you to enjoy with your friends.

AM: In addition to watching amazing athletes and having fun on site, there is also a charitable component as I know you’re focused on food scarcity. Can you tell me about where the proceeds will go to this year?

JT: Thank you so much for raising that as it is super important to us. Right now, we’re trying to frame up our relationships with our charitable partners and part of the reason why we’re still working on that is that it is the tournament’s proceeds that go out to that charity. So we have to hit the numbers in order to take the proceeds and provide them out. What we have tried to do is to pick some themes under the umbrella of Community Champions and Community Heroes. We know everyday that there are people going to work to make somebody else’s life better. Wherever we and THE NORTHERN TRUST as our title partner can go to work and help make those folks lives easier, we want to be able to do that. Things we've focused on include food scarcity that is coming out of COVID in NJ. They're focusing on real issues and summer is always tough with kids not going to school and having a guaranteed meal so that was one that we knew we wanted to be able to help. We’re looking at Boys and Girls Club, The First Tee which is our national charity partner with local chapters. We work with Tackle Kids Cancer, so we have a whole host of charities that we’re talking to right now and we want to help them in 2 ways. 1, with proceeds and financial underpinning and 2 is to take the PGA TOUR’s broad spotlight and shine it on those charities so that not only are we giving to them, but others that can afford to give are also supporting them. So you will see a lot of that going into the weeks leading up to and during tournament week.

AM: Going back to the point you were making with safety being a North Star, what can fans expect when it comes to their experience on-site at the tournament this year in terms of protocols and adherences that are taking place?

JT: Happily, NY eclipsed it’s 70% mile marker with vaccinations so that has been a mile marker that we have been waiting on for a long time! That being said, we also know that as people take their first steps back out into society, they’re going to do this in a cautious way and we want to meet them where they are. First, our food service, even when you’re in a shared structure for hospitality, where we used to have a buffet, we’re going to modify those experiences in terms of the way that we serve and produce the food so that we can make sure that everything is done safely, prepared safely and served safely. Second is, we’ve got fresh air that people can enjoy so we will keep things largely open air this year, more than we have in years past. That's due in large part because of COVID, but also because we have all been cooped up and we think that people want to be outside a lot more. Thirdly, we want to remove the judgement from mask wearing so we will be an environment where if you feel that you want to wear a mask, there will be no judgement and we will encourage it, but it will not be required. Generally speaking, we have an army of volunteers that will be wiping down surfaces and making sure that we keep people a reasonable distance apart – all those things that we have come to expect and want at a golf tournament will continue. I think that our 2020 experience made us much more knowledgeable to know how to operate in this environment.

AM: Wow, it seems like you have so much on your plate with so many different types of schedules running, outside of your job at the PGA TOUR, how do you take time for yourself?

JT: You know, I think that work and life sort of blend together and I’m fortunate because I work in golf and golf is a passion point for me. Being outside is a passion point, so I get to do a lot of what I like to do anyway. I have a family and I have a dog and things like that and when they want your attention, you sort of just give into it at those moments. So everything has its place and I’m grateful that I have all of those things because they are welcome distractions.

AM: How do you give back to the community whether it’s golf or philanthropic endeavors that you’re involved in?

JT: I sit on a couple of boards, but I think that really the thing for me is that my job marries to my passion point. Every day I get up and I get to think about the tournament that my team and I, THE NORTHERN TRUST, that operates with us will be able to benefit the communities where we play. I’m really lucky in that regard because I get to do that every day for a lot of hours a day. We all work a lot of hours and part of my mission is to make sure that we’re serving those communities and building deep roots and I’m grateful that we get to do that so that work and life get to blend together in that way.

AM: It’s always great when we get the opportunity to talk to changemakers and I think especially when we talk with women in sports that are dominating their fields and doing such an amazing job. I know our readers will enjoy it and personally, just prepping for this interview and seeing the dynamics of your career, I was really impressed and excited to talk with you and to see this event from another vantage point!

JT: I’m impressed with you! You’ve got this business that you created from the ground up are you kidding me? This is amazing. We love your support in covering this tournament.

AM: We’re always about storytelling and I love bringing awareness to a number of our topics especially when it comes to areas where people may not think of women being involved in. It’s exciting to see what the landscape can be especially for younger women that are coming up that they will have a better footing than what we had when we started on our journey.

JT: Hopefully that is true or we’re not doing our jobs. Someone once told me, “when you get to the top, send the elevator back down for women.” I’m grateful that you’re helping to do that and any way that I can do it, I want to do it!

IG @PGATOUR

@Thentgolf

PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY | PGA TOUR/THE NOTHERN TRUST

Read the JUN ISSUE #66 of Athleisure Mag and see Course Bound with Julie Tyson in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | CHRIS BRICKLEY

Read the May Issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Chris Brickley in mag.

9LIST ROUTIN3S | LAURIE HERNANDEZ

Read the May Issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST ROUTIN3S | Laurie Hernandez in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | DAVID BOUDIA

Read the May Issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | DAVID BOUDIA in mag.

MINDFUL DEDICATION WITH CHRIS BRICKLEY

As we head closer to the NBA Playoffs, we caught up with Chris Brickley, a Player Development Coach who played at the University of Louisville under Rick Pitino, worked with players at the NY Knicks and launched a successful training company, BlackOps Basketball. His training has been sought after by a number of basketball players, entertainers and more.

We took some time in between his busy schedule to find out about how he built his career, how he became so influential in the sport as well as his personal projects.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with the game of basketball?

CHRIS BRICKLEY: I fell in love with the game at 11 years old. I realized I could use the game to do some amazing things and I became obsessed with it.

AM: You played at the University of Louisville under Rick Pitino and went on to coaching at Ole Miss and being the youngest assistant coach at an NCAA Division I school at Fairleigh Dickinson University. What is it about coaching that you enjoy?

CB: Being in love with the game of basketball and learning from Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to teach young men the game of basketball and the game of life.

AM: How did you transition from coaching there to being at the NY Knicks?

CB: When I was coaching at FDU, I would workout JR Smith at night at Manhattan College. That season JR was 6th man of the year. The Knicks heard about me and hired me.

AM: What is a Player Development Coach and what do you do in that role when it comes to interacting with your players?

CB: My role was to make development plans for all of the players and to make sure during the off-season and season they were constantly improving. I loved it.

AM: When did you realize that you wanted to start BlackOps Basketball and why was that important for you to do?

CB: Being with the Knicks for 4 seasons, I believed that I had enough connections to branch out on my own. Even though leaving a guaranteed Knicks contract wasn’t easy, I’m glad I made the decision. BlackOps Basketball is something I am proud about.

AM: What are your days like with your clients during the season and off season?

CB: During the season, it’s a lot of text convos and dinners, taking about their games and what they can do better. The off-season is grind time - we make a plan and work extremely hard to attack that plan.

AM: When it comes to taking on clients as you have a number of NBA stars, those looking to hone their skills for college as well as those that are entertainers, what do you look for?

CB: I look for players and people that genuinely love the game and want to get better. You don’t need to be an NBA star or a celeb, you just need to be urgent about getting better. Simple as that.

AM: What kind of intake questions do you ask for those that have worked with you for the first time? Do you ask what they want to improve, athletes that they want to play like etc?

CB: We have many conversations before we start up. I ask them what they think they need to improve & work on. I tell the them what I think they need to improve and work on and we come to a common ground. Then we work.

AM: In working with your clients, how much interaction do you have with their teams’ coaches?

CB: I have a lot of interaction. In the off-season players coaches will come in the gym and watch the workouts. They will also give me stuff to focus on.

AM: You have also been working with J. Cole who will premiere this month playing for the Rwanda Patriots BBC for the inaugural season of the Basketball Africa League. I know this was a dream for him to play at a pro level, what was it like working with him to get him to this dream?

CB: J. Cole was someone I looked up to way before working with him. So to work with him every night for 4-5 months was amazing. He got so much better and now he’s a pro!

AM: I know that Quavo has worked with you for a while and introduced you to Travis Scott, which brought you on tour with him, how do you schedule your time as your work can literally take you anywhere?

CB: So Quavo is one of my close friends so shout-out to him. When he introduced me to Travis, Travis asked me immediately to come on tour with him. His tour hit all the NBA cities and it was during the winter so it worked perfectly. I could work with Travis and also see my clients in their cities. Shoutout my guy Travis!

AM: We’ve enjoyed looking at your feed over the years where you’ve shared pick up games at Life Time Athletic with LeBron James, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony etc. – how did these come about and did you realize that this would be such a draw for others to want to participate in as well?

CB: One night Melo and I were hanging out in Puerto Rico and he said when we get back to NYC schedule a pickup game. He said he wanted to play some 5 on 5. The first one I scheduled had Kevin Durant, Kemba Walker, JR Smith along with 10 other NBA players, it went viral and the rest is history.

AM: How do you take time for yourself when you’re not watching games, prepping for your clients, working with them in person, etc.?

CB: I listen to music, hangout with friends and go on walks. Music and walks are my peace of mind.

AM: You’ve partnered with BODYARMOR. How did this partnership come about and what is it about your synergy that made sense for you to work with one another?

CB: I’m very excited about my new partnership with BODYARMOR. Seeing the growth they’ve had in the last few years and the potential they have to do more – along with the fact that they have incredible athlete investors who I regularly work with like Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Trae Young – it was a no-brainer for me. I know my brand and company is still on the rise too, so we’re both grinding to be the best out there and that makes it even more special.

AM: Why do you like including BODYARMOR within your routine?

CB: Now more than ever, athletes and trainers – like myself – are paying close attention to what we put in our bodies. To perform like the best, you need to prepare like the best – and hydration plays a major role in that. BODYARMOR is my go-to because it gives me exactly what I need – potassium-packed electrolytes, vitamins, and antioxidants – to ensure I’m feeling my best out on the court and can perform to my highest level.

AM: Tell me about Color Blind. What’s the ethos behind it and what is the product assortment that’s currently available?

CB: Color Blind is my baby! It means so much to me. I love fashion and I love the meaning. It represents the light in all of us Doesn’t matter your race, your gender, your religion, we are all humans. I have some amazing collabs coming soon! I can’t wait for you guys to see.

AM: What other projects are you working on that you’re able to share with us? Based on your IG, it seems like you’re working on some music?

CB: Yes BlackOps Presents ‘Welcome To The Grind’, it is going to be the soundtrack for all hoopers and athletes across the world. When athletes and people in general are working out I want them to play this album. The album has some of the biggest names in music. It’s going to be a classic!

IG @CBrickley603

@BlackOps.basketball

@ColorBlind

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 56 - 61 Chris Brickley/Social | PG 64 BODYARMOR |

Read the May issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see Mindful Dedication with Chris Brickley in mag.

IN BALANCE WITH LAURIE HERNANDEZ

We fell in love with Laurie Hernandez's personality and energy when she competed in her inaugural debut at the Summer Games 2016 in Rio! She showcased her skill and commitment to the sport of gymnastics with the Final Five and left with a team gold medal and a silver as an individual.

We wanted to know what she has been up to since we last saw her on the global stage, how she maintained her training during the pandemic as well as a number of projects she has taken on - including, winning ABC's Dancing with the Stars in season 23 with her partner, Val Chmerkovskiy. We're also looking forward to seeing her in Golden, a docuseries on Peacock that takes us behind the scenes on what it takes to make the Team USA Women's Olympic Gymnastic team as she prepares for the Summer Games in Tokyo.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with gymnastics and what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to go professional?

LAURIE HERNANDEZ: I fell in love with the sport when I was watching it on TV as a little girl. The gymnasts were such an amazing mix of power and grace that I looked at my mom and told her “I want to do that!” and not long afterwards my parents started me in gymnastics.

AM: What is a normal day or week like for you when you’re in training mode and do you have go to movements that you enjoy incorporating into your fitness routine?

LH: I practice Monday-Friday around 5 hours a day and Saturdays for about 3 hours. I also have physical therapy twice a week to help with any aches and pains. Before training I use Hyperice tools like a Hypervolt gun to help with warming up my muscles and at home Normatec leg compression for recovery.

AM: Did you always feel that the Olympics would be part of your journey as an athlete and what does it mean to you to represent the nation on such a global stage?

LH: It was always a dream to go to the Olympics but of course when I first started I had no idea where it was going to lead.

AM: In terms of the sport of gymnastics, we’re familiar with the activities that take place; however, do each of you have your specialties that you take on and if so, what are yours and why do you gravitate to them?

LH: Absolutely! Every gymnast has their own strengths that they bring to the sport and that’s what makes it so fun to watch. I love to perform and get the crowd involved so floor exercise is one of my favorites!

AM: At the Summer Games in Rio in 2016, you received a gold medal as the Final Five team and silver individually for beam. What was it like to be there for your first Olympics and competing with your team?

LH: It was such an honor to represent the USA and I will never forget the feeling of standing on the podium, listening to the National Anthem with USA on our uniform. What hit me even more once I got home was the impact it had on the young Latinx generation. I had parents come up to me and tell them that their child had started gymnastics because they saw me at the Olympics and I looked like them which gave them the confidence to start the sport. That has really stuck with me and something I will forever cherish.

AM: Last year at this time, the Olympics was in limbo although it seemed like it would be postponed. We have talked with a number of athletes about how they had to modify their workouts as they didn’t have access to their normal facilities. Did you find yourself doing workouts that were modified (ie Ryan Murphy was pushing a car up his hill, April Ross created a gym in her home, Steele Johnson was walking on his hands in his backyard) in order to get in a good workout and to stay on track?

LH: Of course. I was doing stretches and yoga in my home to keep up my flexibility, going through routines mentally, running in my neighborhood, etc.

AM: You just competed at the Winter Cup earlier this year which you choreographed and was Hamilton inspired – what was that like and what are your personal goals as you anticipate a second appearance at the Summer Games?

LH: I loved being back out on the competition floor and had so much fun with my new floor routine! I did go back and do a few small choreography edits so stay tuned for my next competition. One of my biggest goals this whole journey is to comeback for myself and to have fun with the sport.

AM: Tell us about Golden. I know that LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted are creating this docuseries that includes you and additional gymnast Olympic hopefuls to obtain the remaining 4 spots. What can we expect from this show, do you know when it’s available on Peacock and why did you want to participate?

LH: It will focus on the day-to-day repetition it takes to become an elite athlete in our sport and a behind the scenes look at the ins and outs of our daily lives. I love all the girls that are participating alongside me and some are my close friends, so it made it a fun project!

AM: The Road to Tokyo has a number of events to qualify for being on the team. What’s your schedule look like right now and what competitions should we keep an eye out for?

LH: My next upcoming competition is the U.S. Classics on May 22nd.

AM: Part of the fun of the Olympic Games in addition to the actual competition, is being able to navigate the city outside of the Olympic Village. As we’re all emerging from lockdowns, have you been given a sense of what being at the Summer Games will be like outside of when you’re training and competing?

LH: We have not been given any specifics, but I know that without family and friends in the stands it will feel a bit different than previous Games.

AM: After a successful debut at the Olympics, you took some time off and won ABC’s Dancing with the Stars, published 2 books and were the inaugural host of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior Junior – why was it important for you to take the time off to take on these projects?

LH: It was super important for me to take time off and find out who I was and what I liked outside of gymnastics. Something my mom always told me was you are Laurie who just so happens to do gymnastics, there is much more to you than just one thing. Finding my love for dancing, acting, and hosting was very rewarding and also helped me realize I still loved the sport too.

AM: How important is it for you to balance your competitive nature while also embracing positive mental health and fueling your creative side?

LH: Extremely important. Mental Health awareness is something I am very passionate about sharing and embrace fully. This was actually another reason partnering with Little Words Project was a great fit. Spreading kindness and self-love is huge and I hope others benefit from wearing some of my favorite words and affirmations.

AM: We know that you love poetry and are a fan of words. Tell me about Little Words Project. Why did you want to collaborate with them with your collection of bracelets and how excited are you that it is available at Nordstrom?

LH: Words have always had a big impact on me and Little Words Project was the perfect partner to share my affirmations with others. I loved creating the sayings/words on each bracelet and am so excited to see others showing kindness to themselves and others by wearing them.

IG @LaurieHernandez

PHOTOS COURTESY | Laurie Hernandez

Read the May Issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see In Balance with Laurie Hernandez in mag.

IN SYNC WITH STEELE JOHNSON

This month’s issue marks another interesting milestone within the past 15-16 months. Last year, our May Cover Issue #53 was 2 X Team USA Beach Volleyball 2X Medalist April Ross and at that time, we were unsure of whether the Olympics were going forward or if they would be postponed. A year later, we have navigated a pandemic, vaccines are being administered and we have a number of sports and events that have come back. The Summer Games in Tokyo is moving ahead and although it’s been a strange year, it’s amazing to think about what this year has been as we all have our individual stories.

As an athlete, there have been a number of challenges to continue to train in advance of the Olympics whether that has meant modifying their workouts, and/or waiting for training centers to reopen; however, with Olympic Trials ahead for Team USA Swimming next month, we caught up with Team USA Diving Silver Medalist, Steele Johnson. He competed in his first Olympics in Rio in 2016 where he competed in the 10-meter Synchronized with his partner, David Boudia (you can see the 4 X Team USA Diving 4X Medalist's in this month's issue for our 9LIST STORI3S) where they went to the podium with a Silver medal and he competed in the 10-meter Individual. We talk about his Olympic experience, training and qualifying for the upcoming games, what this past year has been in prep for it, Olympic Trials and the importance of creative outlets.

ATHLEISURE MAG: It was a pleasure to see you a few weeks back during the KT Tape Virtual Press Day with you and a number of Olympians that are ambassadors for the brand. When did you realize that not only did you like swimming, but the moment that you realized that you wanted to be a diver.

STEELE JOHNSON: I spent a lot of my time in the summers as a kid in the neighborhood pool. This was at the age of 4, 5, 6 and every time, instead of swimming in the shallow end with my friends, I would always go into the deep end and just jump off the diving board. My mom and dad said it was just all day long and they couldn’t get me off of that diving board. Year after year, I just started teaching myself different flips like front flips and back flips. It got to a point where I was 7 years old and my mom was getting super nervous with the things that I was doing at the neighborhood pool. So she signed me up for some diving lessons just so that I could learn how to be safe with the sport and maybe to give me a sport to do in high school. Overall, it was to learn how to do it safe and if I liked it, I’d be able to keep doing it. The rest was kind of history! I enjoyed it, I stuck with it and I got really good at it from a young age. I just got seen by the right people in Indianapolis and started training in Indianapolis full time by the age of 10.

AM: Diving is a fun sport to watch at the Olympics and obviously, it looks like a very technical sport and you compete solo as well as in a team. Can you breakdown the event in terms of how you go about obtaining points and the fact that you’re doing it with someone else at the same time?

SJ: So, the way it’s scored, especially in Synchro than in Individual – in Individual you have 7 judges, they watch the dive, you get a score. The top 2 scores are dropped and the bottom 2 scores are dropped so that you of course get the middle average. It’s the same for Synchro except, each diver has 3 judges, the high and low are dropped and the middle score stays for each individual diver and then there are 5 Synchronized judges and they keep the middle 3 of those as well. So, it’s a little different score wise, but it’s ultimately the same thing of when you’re doing Synchro.

I mean across the board you pretty much see that everyone chooses one person who just counts – like 1, 2,3, go. Everyone has their own variation of it. For David and I, we just count 1, 2, 3, go and when we say go, we do our dive as normal and it’s in training that you learn the timing of each other, the way we walk down the board, the way we jump and stand and eventually, that stuff becomes second nature the more that you do it. So, it just takes a lot of repetition at home and since we’ve been doing Synchro for a long time, David and I have had the same coaches over the years, all our mechanics are similar all our foundations are similar so syncing up with David is especially easy just because we dive so similarly.

AM: That’s amazing and when you’re outside of the Olympics and doing Championships and other meets, is he always your Synchro partner or is it someone else and is that difficult if it is someone else?

SJ: Over the past few years, especially with 10-meter Synchro, I have competed with multiple different partners – all of who have been my teammates that I train with full time at home. So, it’s been easy for me because the people that I have done Synchro with, I have been able to train with them every day of the week! Whereas, some Synchro teams don’t live in the same city or the same state even and they can train together maybe once or twice a month for a few days. But now, when I compete with David, I only compete Synchro with David so all of our timing – we’re training together every single day.

AM: What are your favorite dives to do?

SJ: On 3-meter, I really enjoy the 3½ Tuck mostly because you start standing backwards on the end of the board so there’s no walk to the end of the board. It’s in that walk to the end of the board that we call the hurdle, that more things can go wrong. I like standing on the end and doing that 3½ and that’s my favorite dive on 10-meter as well. Being able to do it on 3m as well was just a bonus.

AM: We know that you and David are partners, but what are the things that you look for in a partner and what is your training like when you’re together?

SJ: I mean when looking for a partner, it’s typically that you look for and find 2 of the top divers that are in the US and you pair them up!

AM: Oh wow!

SJ: Luckily for David and I, we live in the same town and we have the same coach. Training for us was pretty simple. It was, “hey do you want to do Synchro? Let’s try it out.” We tried it out and if we’re good at it, we can start perfecting it and training more. It all starts with trying it out, trying a couple of jumps and dives – simple stuff to see if we even have a natural ability to time up. If we do, that’s great! Because a lot of times, you don’t have a natural ability to time up and you can work at that and make it better. Typically, you take a couple of the best divers in that event, pair them up and see if they work out.

AM: In 2016, you won the Silver Medal in the 10-meter Synchro at the Summer Games in Rio as well as participating in the 10-meter Individual. What was that like for you with that being your first Olympics, going to the Opening and Closing Ceremony games?

SJ: It was honestly one of the most coolest experiences! My goal when I realized that the Olympics could really be a reality for me, was to make the Olympics. So going to the Olympics, I was just ecstatic to be there. I was excited to go to the Opening Ceremonies, be able to compete and to represent Team USA. To be able to walk away with a medal in my first Olympics ever was just icing on the cake. It was something that I had always hoped for, but I wasn’t holding too tightly to because I didn’t want to walk away from my Olympic experience having my head down if I didn’t achieve what I had wanted to achieve. But rather, I wanted to walk away being excited that I had gotten an Olympic experience. So walking away with the medal, I was just beyond excited and so happy that I could share it with David because he and I have trained together for so long! When I was 10 years old, he actually drove me to and from practice because both of my parents worked. It was cool to actually have that relationship going into a Synchro pairing and going to a podium finish.

AM: We always like asking athletes about the workouts that you do to optimize yourself for your sport. What do you focus on for diving?

SJ: Yeah, the biggest things that I do is core workouts and leg workouts. That’s pretty much 90% of everything I do whether it’s in the weight room, at the pool in dry land. We do pretty intense core workouts because diving is all about having tight form, staying tight through the water so that you can have a small splash. So, all of that tightness starts at your core. If your core is not tight, your dive is not going to be tight and the dive is not going to be pretty. The legs – you just need to get as much out of the board as you can. The jump has to be as high as you can to generate as much force as you can and that comes from the legs. We don’t really do too much arms or upper body because if your upper body gets too big, it makes it harder to make a small splash going through the water. So it’s important to have healthy shoulders and to keep them stable – stable but not to work them too much where you’re building a lot of muscle mass.

AM: This time last year, it was up in the air on whether the Olympics would take place as scheduled or if it would be postponed, so it forced people to not even train in their normal places that they would do. What were the alternative exercises that you had to do to still be ready or at least to maintain what you needed to do?

SJ: We weren’t able to do normal practices because the sport of diving, you obviously need a pool and you need a springboard and platform – which in my small apartment, we don’t have! What I had to do was just a lot of core workouts on the floor. I had mats at home that we would lay out in our spare bedroom and I would do just as much core workouts as I could.

Just trying to keep it fresh and to make up variations. Luckily, we had a bench and some dumbbells, so I was able to do some light squatting stuff, but nothing near as much as being in an actual weight room with a squat rack and things like that. It’s tough to be out of the pool or not to be able to do all the diving specific stuff. Thankfully, our sport is so technical and core focused, there was still a lot that we could do out of the pool that would still benefit us. Thankfully, we were only out 3 months total out of the pool. That’s the longest break that I have ever had in a long time. In hindsight, that’s not too much time to miss. We were able to pick things up kind of right where we left off.

AM: Now that we’re a few weeks out from Tokyo, what does your schedule look like leading up to the Summer Games in terms of qualifying, Championships and other things that are going on?

SJ: We just have our Olympic Trials coming up in the 2nd week of June. So right now, I’m just training fulltime for that. I also work a fulltime job as a videographer for a foundation repair company in West Lafayette. So between the training and the work, I’m pretty busy all the time whether it being at the pool for 4 or 5 hours – doing my workouts, stretching, core and all those things or running off to the office to film videos or sitting in front of my computer for a few hours a day editing and things like that. I’m keeping pretty busy, but with all of that being said, it’s been nice to be able to work from home during this time so I feel like I can get rest and be off my seat when I need to be off my seat.

AM: With things reopening and vaccines being available as I know you just got your second shot, do you have a sense of what the Olympic experience will look like in terms of whether you have to quarantine prior, will you freely be able to move around the Olympic Village? What will that look at as this Olympic experience will be different than any other!

SJ: Right! I don’t know much of any details at the moment. Honestly, I’m not trying to focus too much on those details right now. My goal is to keep my head down, keep my eyes forward, train as hard as I can these next 4-5 weeks to prepare for the Olympic Trials and to just get through the Trials first and do the best that I can there to put myself on the Olympic team. Then, once I qualify for the Olympics, that’s when I will start to look at all these details and to see what this is going to look like!

AM: Looking at the Summer Games in Tokyo, what do you anticipate will be the events that you will participate in?

SJ: So at the Olympic Trials, I will be competing in the Mens 3-meter Individual and the Mens 3-meter Synchronized. Those are the only 2 that I will be doing. I’m hoping to qualify for both of those events and I’m feeling really strong for them at the moment.

AM: How do you decide in terms of Synchro and the Individual – the types of dives that you are going to do?

SJ: A lot of the dives once you get to the Olympic level are pretty standard for each event. In the Mens event, you have to do 6 dives total, 1 from every category – so you’ve got, a front facing dive, a backward, a reverse, an inward and on 3m you have to do 2 twisting dives. Whereas on 10m you do 1 twister and then a handstand dive. With each direction, there are tons of dives that you do, but each of them have a specific degree of difficulty. Once you get at the Olympic level, you pretty much have everyone do the same exact list because we’re all reaching that maximum degree of difficulty of dives that are humanly possible.

AM: What’s your routine like the day of an event – heading into competition. Do you have certain things that you just have to do – what’s that like?

SJ: A lot of it depends on what time the event is. I like to wake up early and getover to the pool and get into the water pretty early in the morning. I like to do maybe half of my competition list just maybe 1 of each of them – something quick. Just to wake up and get my body moving.

It doesn’t necessarily matter how those dives go in the warmup because ultimately, the competition matters. I’m using it as a way to wake my body up and get ready for flipping. Then, I like to get away from the pool, go out and get coffee/breakfast whatever and then come back to the pool for the event warmup and do the other half of my list and then touch basics for whatever I think that I need to work on right before the event. Then I just listen to music and get in the right headspace for the event and hope that I do well!

AM: As we mentioned earlier, we saw you at the KT Tape Virtual Press Day and we know that you are sponsored by the brand. Why did you feel that this was a synergy for you to be with them? Have you always used their products and how does it optimize your work that you do?

SJ: I have been a huge fan of KT Tape for a long time now. From as early on as I could remember. I even remember as far back as the 2012 Olympic Trials which were the first Olympic Trials that I competed in, I had a pretty major ab injury. At the time, the team doctors and the trainers were putting KT Tape on me and I realized that it was helping a lot and it helped me to get through the competition and to feel good enough to keep diving. Over the years as other injuries such as my shoulders and my triceps and back have popped up, my first line of defense has been my KT Tape because I’ve seen it work for me. Even at the 2016 Olympic Trials, I was competing with KT Tape on. In 2017, 2018 and 2019, I have been using KT Tape for 8-9 years now and I just love how useful it is and how helpful it has been for me. So when the opportunity came to partner with them, I jumped on that because it was a no brain er and something that I use whether they are sponsoring me or not. Being able to be supported by that company and to represent them was kind of a dream partnership for me.

AM: What are your favorite go-to KT Tape products?

SJ: Definitely the KT Tape Pro Extreme which is their Pro Tape, but it’s got much stickier adhesive so obviously being in and out of the water constantly, I need tape that is going to stick while I am doing flips in the air, I’m underwater, drying off, getting wet again and that stuff has just been so great for training and in competition. It’s knowing that I can do a full training session and it’s not going to fall off, just gives me the confidence knowing that I’m taped up and that I’m not going to have to worry about it the whole training session.

AM: In prep for talking with you, we saw via your social that you love to play music and that you’re into photography and videography. How important is that to you to have these creative outlets and what do you do when you’re not pool bound?

SJ: I think that having creative outlets even if you don’t classify yourself as a creative person, is vital for people! Me being a creative, I think that that is a pretty cliché thing to say. But there is just a lot of freedom of being able to sit down after a rough day of practice and to just sit down and play guitar and play base or to edit a video that I have been working on in the previous days – edit photos or to go out and take a film camera and to take pictures with my wife. It helps you separate the sport you’re doing or the main thing you’re doing which in my case is diving, it helps it separate from the rest of my life. I’m able to leave diving at the pool as much as I can when I have these creative outlets. I’m not just diving, diving, diving and then coming home and watching diving video, talking about diving and thinking about diving because then that gets exhausting and you’re subconsciously tiring yourself out. By having creative outlets and having hobbies that you can kind of be a little out.

By having creative outlets and having hobbies that you can kind of be a little mindless with, it helps me naturally relax and take my mind off of the stressors that diving can be sometimes is I have a bad day or week in the pool.

AM: Clearly you have a lot going on and I know you’re moving to Nashville with your wife soon. How excited are you to go to this city and what are you looking forward to?

SJ: We are super excited. We have family that lives just south of Nashville so we have been visiting the city many times every year for the past few years. My wife has been going there even before she and I met. We just love the city, we love the culture, we love the people and for me, I love the coffee scene. I’m a huge coffee snob so the coffeeshops there are unmatched! The food is great and it’s just a great environment. You know, I have been in Indiana for over 25 years now so it will be nice to have a change in scenery and a change of pace, but we’re just really excited to be close to family and close to friends and be in a new environment that we get to explore together. Just getting to learn what it’s like and to love the city and the surrounding.

IG @SteeleJohnson

PHOTOGRPAHY COURTESY | KT Tape

Read the May Issue #65 of Athleisure Mag and see In Sync with Steele Johnson in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | KELLEY O'HARA

Read the Apr Issue #64 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Kelley O’Hara in mag.

WINNING IS A HABIT WITH KELLEY O'HARA

Soccer season is upon us and our eye is on the US Women's National Team's Olympic Gold Medalist, 2 X FIFA World Cup winner - Kelley O'Hara who also plays for the NWSL Washington Spirit. With a season that kicks off next month, we took some time to talk about how she fell in love with the sport, being able to play for the DC team, what it's like when she's in training, her schedule when competing with the national team as well as her home team, joining KT Tape as one of its newest ambassadors and of course her upcoming projects in film, podcasting and her beauty brand.

ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with soccer?

KELLEY O'HARA: I think I fell in love with soccer in high school. I played a lot of sports growing up, and soccer was one of my favorites, but it wasn’t until I decided soccer would be the sport I wanted to pursue full time and wholeheartedly that I really fell in love with the game.

AM: When did you know that you wanted to go pro?

KO: I always knew I wanted to play for the USWNT, however I didn’t think much about turning “pro” because for most of my high school and college career there was not a professional domestic league to play in. My goal was always to continue to play post college, but I always thought that would mean having to make the national team as my only option. Once the WPS came around, I realized I had the opportunity to get drafted and play not only for the national team but also for a pro team.

AM: What is the role of a defender?

KO: Technically I play defender, but I play it in a very attacking minded way. My number one priority is keeping the ball out of the net for the other team, but my next biggest priority is contributing to our attack in a meaningful way.

AM: The season is about to start next month for your team, Washington Spirit which you recently joined. I know that you also live in DC so how exciting was it for you be able to play for your city?

KO: Honestly, it’s a dream come true. I feel like every pro athlete would probably love to be able to live where they play. I have spent the last 10 years of my professional career moving from city to city - spending season in one place and off season in another - it’s nice to be in one place and living at home full time! Plus, DC is such a soccer city! I am really excited to play for the fans here and try to win a championship for the District.

AM: What are the weeks leading up to the start of the season like for you in terms of training and getting ready to get back on the field?

KO: We just spent three weeks down in FL for spring training to prepare for the Challenge Cup, which is the NWSL preseason tournament this year. That starts in April and then regular season starts in May.

AM: What are your workout routines like when you’re training for the week for the next game versus off season?

KO: In season training is all about recovery, preparation, and then execution in the game to get a win. So, most of the training is focusing on making sure you’re physically ready, i.e., your loads for the week are enough but not too much, and you’re tactically prepared for whoever you’re playing. In the off season, my workout is very individualized and is about working on weaknesses. It allows me to create a quality base physically for the season ahead and offers me the luxury of working on technical aspects I want to specifically focus on.

AM: On game day, what’s your routine like leading up to hitting the field?

KO: Game days are pretty chill. My main focus is preparing my body to perform, so eating and drinking the right things leading into the game, while also mentally preparing for what needs to get done.

AM: You joined the KT Tape team earlier this year, what does this partnership mean to you and how will you partner with them?

KO: I’ve been using KT Tape pretty much my whole career, so it’s cool to turn it into an official partnership. I love that their product is athlete focused and really works! I’ve relied on their tape throughout the years to give me the extra assistance my body might need, so to know they are now supporting me not only on the field but off of it is pretty great.

AM: What are your go to products?

KO: I have primarily used their KT Tape Pro, both for performance and recovery. I just tried their newest product the KT Recovery+ Wave and it was incredible! It helps to relieve pain in tissues and joints with sensation-free electromagnetic waves. You don’t feel anything from the device, but it modulates nerve activity to give you pain relief and it really works! I was blown away.

AM: In addition to being on the Washington Spirit, you’re also on the US Women’s Soccer Team. How is it managing both of those schedules and are there differences for you when you are competing?

KO: It definitely makes for a busy schedule, but I feel lucky to have that problem! When it comes to competing for my two different teams, I don’t approach them differently. My goal is always to win - whether that’s in an off-season pickup game, practice, an NWSL match or an Olympic final - I aim to bring the same competitiveness to everything. Winning is a habit, so it’s something I am cultivating.

AM: We're looking forward to seeing LFG which comes out on HBO Max which focuses on the US Women’s National Team’s fight for equal pay and has you, Megan Rapinoe, Jessica McDonald, Becky Sauerbrunn, Sam Mews and others on the team speaking and advocating about this issue. Why did you want to participate in this film?

KO: We wanted to tell our story in our own voice. I think a lot of people really only know what has happened or is happening by what or how the media writes about the lawsuit, but most people don’t know the amount of time, energy, and persistence this legal battle has taken. Plus, we know that our fight and hopefully win has the potential to create important change we need across all industries.

AM: The past year has definitely been one that we have all been navigating. With the Olympics postponed to this summer, what are you looking forward to with the upcoming games?

KO: Definitely the joy that is competing and chasing after a goal with my team. I’m also looking forward to the Games hopefully giving the world something to look forward to and to showcase the unity and joy that sport can provide not only for athletes but for their fans

AM: Outside of the sport, you’re the host of Just Women’s Sports. Tell me more about this podcast and why you wanted to have this included in your platform?

KO: The Just Women’s Sports podcast was born out of the desire to give female athletes a space to tell their stories. Only 4% of media coverage is dedicated to women’s sports, and it’s something I have personally felt my whole life. Haley Rosen, the founder of JWS, wanted to change that. I came on board to help advise the company, but that quickly turned into wanting to be involved and do the work to help change the future of what covereage looks like for female athletes.

AM: What other projects are you working on that we should keep an eye out for?

KO: I am an owner and partner in Tame the Beast - a company of grooming and shower products with a focus on sustainability and reducing plastic consumption. I am creating a unisex skincare line with them that will be launching this summer, which I am really excited about!

AM: You have so many accolades from being a 2 X FIFA Women’s World Cup Champion, an Olympic Gold Medalist and receiving the Hermann Trophy in 2009, what do you want your legacy to be in the sport?

KO: A winner and a good teammate - the type of player and person you always want on your team.

IG @KelleyOhara

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | PG 36 KT TAPE | PG 38 - 40 USWNT |

Read the Mar Issue #63 of Athleisure Mag and see Winning is a Habit with Kelley O’Hara in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | DANICA PATRICK

Read the Feb Issue #62 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S | Danica Patrick in mag.

9PLAYLIST | LEBRON JAMES

Read the Oct Issue #59 of Athleisure Mag and see 9PLAYLIST | LeBron James in mag.

9LIST STORI3S | Mike Piazza

Read the Sep Issue #57 of Athleisure Mag and see 9LIST STORI3S in mag.

CATCHING WAVES WITH COCO HO

We've always enjoyed watching surfing as athletes catch each of the waves and make maneuvers that push space and time. We had the chance to catch up with Coco Ho a few weeks after her recent performance at World Surf League in California. As a member of the Hawaiian surfing dynasty family, her lineage includes her late uncle Derek Ho, who was the first Native Hawaiian to win the world championship at the age of 29. Her father, Michael Ho also grew the sport by winning the Hawaiian Triple Crown, The Duke Classic, The World Cup and the 1982 Pipe Masters. Her brother, Mason Ho is also a pro surfer.

We caught up with Coco from Oahu's North Shore to talk about her effortless style at 5'2", her focus on growing her empire within and outside of the sport as well as her passion for the ocean.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’re excited to have you in this month’s issue. We actually saw you at the World Surf League’s a few weeks back in California. You come from this amazing Hawaiian surfing dynasty with your dad being Michael Ho, your uncle Derek Ho and your brother, Mason Ho. What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to join surfing as well and then to compete professionally?

COCO HO: I probably didn’t recognize it until I was about 8 or 9 and I was already surfing because that’s what you do when you’re growing up in Hawaii. I was surfing with my brother after school and then all of a sudden, I recognized their power and then got super consumed into the sport and their accomplishments. I kind of already drew parallels and said, “I want to go to Australia with them” and I definitely used them as my mirror of what I wanted to be.

AM: That’s insane to be so young and to know at that moment. Do you remember the first time that you were on a surf board? Was it strange for you or because you were seeing all of these people surf, that you just felt like, “yeah this is what we do?”

CH: My dad played it so cool with us when we were kids. He was so consumed in his career so it wasn’t a focused effort on us. It became a natural thing. Thankfully, I had a big brother where I was able to follow his lead and that’s kind of how I learned how to surf – just with Mason. And then, once my dad kind of paused and looked, he was like, “wait, my kids really like it.” He started giving us his time and his tips. It was never from him like, I’m surfing and I need to make sure that my kids are surfing too.” It was very natural and I think that that’s why it was so successful.

AM: Wow, that’s really cool and because of the accolades that you have received and the way that you have been able to dominate in the sport, what is the legacy that you want to leave behind in terms of surfing?

CH: I think that the most important thing is that our family just oozes the love of the sport. It’s a true passion with my dad and with Derek who were over 50 and still surfing – the best that they have ever surfed in their lives. So I think it’s definitely about a pure love for surfing and obviously, Mason and I are coming in as more of a lineage to show and draw inspiration from family, friends and cousins. It’s just a really tight bond and strong love for the sport and for each other.

AM: How would you define your surfing style?

CH: I would describe it as definitely effortless. I don’t mean for it to look effortless, but sometimes I wish it wasn’t ha. As a competitor, you need to show that grit and grunt. So a little effortless, but hopefully very strong and graceful.

AM: You do make it look so effortless and as someone who is surfing competitively, how does one go about winning this sport? Many of our readers know this sport and have seen it, but how do you accrue points and how do you know when you have won versus someone else?

CH: Yeah, I think it’s pretty broad. Speed, power and flow are a big part of that and wave maneuvers are another part as well. Wow factor is huge too. It’s pretty vague and can be anything. In my career, I have noticed that being a little smaller and sometimes making it look too easy or that I’m not trying, but I’m technically doing harder things – it’s kind of been my downfall as it’s not being recognized in terms of what I’m doing. So I’ve been learning that and just to make everything look bigger because I am only 5’2”. So that’s why on certain beaches with bigger waves, from girls that are larger then me, it may look like their maneuvers are more powerful as they are bigger then me. But I am exerting the same power and technical ability.

AM: We don’t know if we’re using the right terminology, but when we’re watching you surf through what looks like a water tunnel, how does it feel? Is it like time stops – what is going on for you when you’re in that moment?

CH: Oh yeah that’s the barrel and it’s TOTALLY a water tunnel! It’s like a silent/loud moment where time definitely does stop and it’s just the best feeling in surfing hands down. It feels like slow motion.

AM: What is the surf season like typically? Is it a year round sport because you can go to other locations and then obviously as we’re all dealing with this COVID-19 situation, are there upcoming events that you are training for that we can keep an eye out for?

CH: Surfing is 100% a year around sport. I have never actually experienced a break ever in my life until I started dating a snowboarder and I was so confused how he could take the summer off and I was like, “you can’t snowboard for a month or two?” That was like foreign to me! We have so many elements with our sport like paddling and those are things that you kind of lose if you take a month off, but in the same sense, I found that there are a lot of positives to taking even a week off. You come back so fresh and excited. It’s year around and in Hawaii, you don’t even have to leave the island and you’re going to get waves – year around. I know that some places it’s hard for them to be year around, but everyone can travel and that’s what makes it so beautiful. During COVID-19. I never stopped, I never stopped training because I wanted to be at my best, I can still film and I can always still work. Through COVID-19. I never felt any less motivation because we’re always filming. My brother is a very big YouTuber so I hopped into a lot of his projects which is very nice because I’m kind of more the competitor and he’s the free surfer guy. It’s cool to be able to experience his world.

AM: Do you have certain workouts that you do that benefit you in the sport of surfing?

CH: Definitely. Nothing beats practice in the water. I definitely learned that after my knee injury that it is also important to maintain everything that supports the knees. I train with my boyfriend’s Olympic coach and we have been doing that on Zoom since April 1st about 2-3 times a week so it has been very beneficial for me. He changes it up and does things for my core, my legs. I think that I’m strong in my shoulders and then we will do something and I’m like woah – what is that? It’s good to do everything for surfing because we paddle and we hit it all – core, back.

AM: You also have your own fragrance line, Pirette Beach. Tell us more about this and why did you want to launch this?

CH: This is such a fun project. The flagship scent already existed before I became a part of the brand and it’s interesting because I already had it and loved it. It was in my purse and I had already gotten it as a gift. Years later, the brand was doing so well without marketing and a large team as ours is skeletal. I became a co-owner and it's awesome. It came at such a good time and I was already looking at other options in surfing besides the jersey and fashion was obviously one of them. But beauty and taking care of our skin was top notch. It fell into my lap and now it’s my baby!

AM: Last year, you became the Global Footwear Ambassador for REEF. So what is it about the brand that you felt was synergistic with you and what does this partnership look like?

CH: My thing about REEF is obviously the legacy that we have had with my late uncle Derek who was on REEF as a World Champ. So obviously, that was special to me. My brother is also a part of the team. Moving forward, it’s still such a lifestyle beach brand that represents surfing and this lifestyle so well and actually represents it the best! I want to make sure that everything that I represent is the best and having REEF and Pirette Beach doing that is important to me.

AM: You have been directing people to shop from your REEF picks. What is it about the assortment of shoes that you’re highlighting and want people to get that you embrace?

CH: My 3 choices involved my goal of traveling. You can’t really bring everything and look cute at night or be at the beach. My whole goal was to make it easy and to look cute for every time of day that you’re booked. I did a casual white slide that can go from the morning heading out to the beach to at night with a cute top and a cute skirt. I tried to make everything look day to night. My favorite was a wedge platform and it kind of spiced every outfit up. Sometimes, you feel weird to dress up and I love that this shoe did that so casually and cute.

AM: How do you give back to the surfing community?

CH: I have done a lot of things in the past with the Boys & Girls Community in Hawaii. That was a lot of fun. You can surf, chat and I think giving time is the most important thing. As a little girl, I liked to be able to go and to look at my heroes, touch them and I was fortunate to be able to do that. I was under the reign of a lot of the older pro surfers. So that was my goal with the Boy & Girls Club to sit in their classrooms and to interact with them. Let them ask questions, teach me games they want to play and let their goals and dreams spiral and blossom as they hang out with me.

Lately, with all of the ways of the world and where it’s going, I have been involved with Surfrider Foundation and trying to use my platform to help the environment, awareness and it’s such a crazy time. I thought we were doing so well and now we need to circle it all back.

AM: That’s awesome. We love Surfrider Foundation’s Long Beach chapter with their initiatives to clean up the beach and to get people involved.

CH: They are so consistent!

AM: For our changemakers, we know that you inspire a number of people within and outside of your sport. We always like knowing who are 3 people that have gotten you to where you are in life?

CH: I have my family as I have explained! I think the pro surfer women that I have gotten to know and love and admire since I was 10 years old is Rochelle Ballard and Megan Abubo. They gave me that model to hang out with the generation below me and to be there and present with them. That’s how I am now here in the North Shore. I hang out with every little girl. They have done a huge number on who I am today.

Thinking huge, Beyoncé. She’s been such an inspiration in terms of how to structure your career, be vulnerable, be honest and that’s what gets people to be able to believe in you and to know who your are.

I've been obsessed with her since I was 16. I have mimicked and copied how she has gone about dropping her collections or a cool interview. I model a lot of my big career goals and interviews off of her.

Lastly, I would say, Maria Sharapova and I would say that when I was 17, I realized that she showed how you could be so strong and yet feminine. That you could also do a number of things in terms of collaboration, fashion etc. That you don’t have to be ashamed to wear heels and that you can be a bad ass athlete and still into fashion.

IG @xococoho

Hear Pro Surfer, Coco Ho on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read Athleisure Mag’s Sept Issue #57 and see Catching Waves with Coco Ho in mag.

S2. E8. #TRIBEGOALS WITH CELEBRITY FITNESS TRAINER + LA LAKERS DIR. STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE GUNNAR PETERESON

On today's episode of #TRIBEGOALS, we chatted with one of our favorite celebrity fitness trainers Gunnar Peterson who has worked with a number of our favorite personalities from Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and more. In addition, as the Director of Strength & Endurance for the LA Lakers, we talk with him about how he has worked with his clients and the team to keep them on their routines. He also shares advice on movements that we can do at home regardless of whether we have equipment or not. He also shares his thoughts on returning to gyms and studios as the country is in various stages of reopening. 

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW WITH GUNNAR PETERSON

This month, we chat with one of our favorite celebrity fitness trainers Gunnar Peterson who has worked with a number of your favorite personalities from Khloe Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and more. In addition, as the Director of Strength & Endurance for the Lakers, we talk with him about how he has worked with his clients and the team to keep them on their routines. He also shares advice on movements that we can do at home regardless of whether we have equipment or not. He also shares his thoughts on returning to gyms and studios as the country is in various stages of reopening.

ATHLEISURE MAG: We always love being able to talk to you and being able to optimize our workouts and here in NY we have been in since March 13th. Thankfully, we got all of our equipment that we needed and we had no idea how long that we would be staying in due to COVID-19. What did you suggest to your clients in terms of equipment that they should have on hand?

GUNNAR PETERSON: I love that you guys got your equipment right away because it seems to me from what I heard, that the people that didn’t get it right out of the gate automatically had to line up and there was a delay. I have a very strange relationship with equipment – you can call it an addiction or a relationship whatever you want. That said, look whatever you have – even if you have nothing, you can still make it work. I would suggest adjustable dumbbells, a piece of cardio equipment that you enjoy, an assortment of bands, an auxiliary piece of cardio – think jump rope, a utility bench, a stability ball and that is all best case scenario. Worse case, we will get busy with water bottles, soup cans, a broom stick, a stepping stool, a couple of pieces of scrap cardboard. If you have that kind of stuff lying around it doesn’t have to be a mish mash like that, I actually thought those through it’s not grab bag you can come out of this lockdown in better shape. How’s that for a statement on standby?

AM: Love that statement. About a week before this quarantine, we had bands and a few other things, but didn’t really have dumbells, weight plates and other things like that so I was on Amazon and started amassing these items. And once we were in quarantine, you couldn’t get anything. We were pretty well stocked on our end.

GP: I heard it from people that are planners and those that get out ahead of things like this. There were other people that told me that they had nothing and that they had given everything away. Ever since they had started coming to me, they had given everything away as they didn’t need it in their house anymore because they came to me. I was like, “oh I’m sorry – like I’m supposed to be the person to blame for this.”

The household items though the water bottles and the soup cans, broom stick an ottoman – you can fill up garbage bags with laundry because they have the handles built in and scrap pieces of cardboard or a towel. You can use a scrap piece of cardboard if you’re outdoors on the lawn or turf. If not on a towel if you have a hard surface like poured concrete or hardwood floors. Any of those towels can work for leg curls, hip curls, hip bridges, ab extensions, chest flys there are so many movements you can do on the floor with that. People are like, “cardboard?” and I’m like yeah. I actually demo-d that workout online for someone out on the lawn, you put your heels on the cardboard and you do a leg curl in and put your hips up and your hamstrings and your glutes are good to go.

AM: What are 3 movements for abs, and legs, butts and arms that we should include within our routines as we’re always looking at changing it up a little bit and just optimizing that workout?

GP: For abs I would say, think bicycle crunches where you’re pulling left knee into right elbow and you’re up and semi crunched the entire time so that you’re abs which is all about time under tension the TUT Principle. The abs are engaged the whole time and you’re working that transverse rotation bringing the right elbow to left knee while extending that right leg and pulling the right leg in and extending the right leg and the left elbow to the right knee.

Also abs in extension which comes down to you being on your knees, toes in contact with the ground in sort of like a coffee table position and then extend the arms by sliding a towel out or if you’re on a piece of cardboard then you’re on cardboard. You want to extend them and working abs in extension is important and not just working them in inflection and also athletically – a lot of the strain happens when people will go into extension against resistance and they weren’t prepared for it. So you want to work on extension. You can also do that single arm right? You can fly one arm out and bring it back and the other arm up and bring it back just to create an uneven load.

The third one I would say is the hip bridge. So, using that same towel, put your forearm on it, extend your body and think about keeping a straight line between all of the h’s – head, hip, heels – straight line. Lower the hips down, draw the abs in. Your cue is when you pass center line pull your abs in and then bridge up so now you’re working frontal plane abs. So those are the movements for abs.

For legs, I would say squats and you have a number of squat movements to choose from whether it’s a basic squat, a sumo squat, a split squat, kick stands – there are a million ways to do that. But you definitely want to hit a squat and you should do that loaded because you’re working a big muscle group and it can handle an exterior load.

Then I would add clock lunges. Picture yourself standing in a center of a clock right where the hands are right where the hands meet in the middle. With your right leg step to 12 step to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 which involves a full pivot again the transverse plane. Then bring it back to 12 and then with your left leg, go to 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 and back.

Then I would say, single leg deadlifts and if you need that, do it next to your dresser, counter or a willing family member so that you can stabilize. You want to hinge at the hip and have something in your hand, something weighted whether it’s the water bottle or a dumbbell – whatever you have and down to your hip and then come up so that you have a stretch in your hamstring. Push through your heel and your big toe as you stand up so you fire the glutes and continue through that – you’re a lot stronger. A lot of people say, “aww my back.” Don’t worry about your back. You’re going to go in that position through your life so many times, you have to strengthen it. You’re doing yourself a disservice to not strengthen it.

And for glutes, I would say a lateral lunge. A deep lunge out to the side and really getting low on that because you want to hit gluteus medius and power through back to the starting position and alternate sides.

I would say a hip bridge, you can do that single leg or double leg. So put one foot up – one foot off the ground. You’re lying on your back, create a triangle between where you’re up from the ground and where your heel is on the ground and then bridge up by driving into the heel on the floor which is a single leg version. The double leg version, obviously both of your heels are on the ground.

Then I would add something explosive and plyometric. A tuck jump and you can do those in place. The goal is not to drop down super low into a squat and jump. Think about when you see someone jumping at a volleyball net or when they’re getting a rebound from a basketball – they don’t drop their hips all the way to the floor, they literally hinge at the hips and explode upward. So think of that kind of jump.

For arms, I would say something in a curl and I would spice up the curl a little bit and do it in a split stance. I like to create the offload, I like to make the core fire even more and do whatever your scheme is half of it with your right leg bag and left leg forward and then you drop down relatively low and then switch the split and repeat the same number of the reps of the curls.

That’s 1 the 2nd one would be a close grip push up. So keeping your hands relatively narrow and more importantly than that, tuck your elbows into your sides so you can feel your ribcage slide down against your forearm on the way down. If it’s too hard to do them on the floor, instead of doing them on your knees – I’m not a huge fan of that, I would say do them off of something. Elevate the hands versus just staying on your knees. So you’re still getting that fully planked position whether you come up and do it on an ottoman or at the end of a bed or on the end of a couch depending on your fitness level right?

Back in the day, Zsa Zsa Gabor did a workout video (Editor’s Note: of course we had to check out this video which is 30 mins of Zsa Zsaisms, working out and is worth watching) and she actually had 2 body builders come out and she just leaned back and did the push up off their chest. So she was still standing at a 5° incline but you can work backwards to any level of fitness. I want to say that she was in her 70’s when she did it so kudos to her for still doing the work.

AM: That’s pretty amazing!

GP: I know, when I saw it, I thought, “you have to give her credit for that.”

The 3rd one would be a press overhead. And that’s not for your arms, biceps, triceps, but it’s for your shoulders. If you look at the side view of the arm, almost half of that is the cap of your shoulder. So overhead pressing of any kind whether you alternate, palms forward, palms in – you just want to make sure that you get the shoulders. Especially since a lot of clothing in the summer time is exposing the shoulder.

AM: I know on your Instagram, that you created quarantine courses for your family to do. How important is it for your to incorporate movement especially with children and what do you suggest to do to keep them engaged?

GP: For us, it’s a priority. It’s not for everybody but it is for us. The kids learn how to move and use their bodies, how to work through things that are difficult and I think that that’s a life metaphor and you get to spend real quality time with them and I would suggest mixing in things that you know that they like as well as things that they need. That’s the challenge of being the parent. You challenge them and then you reward them with something that is good for them. My kids love Propel, they love the electrolyte water and there are 0 grams of sugar and I know that post workout, they need the electrolytes so it’s such an easy reward and sometimes I will put it at the end so right when he comes off the course, they’re there. They can pick the flavor and you’re empowering them with that.

AM: In addition, you have been participating in a number of IG Lives doing various workouts during this time of quarantine, how important is that to you to do those things and let people across the internet to have people workout with you and also engage with you?

GP: It’s important for me because A it keeps me sharp on the selfish side. I like doing anything that I can with the fitness community and the fitness industry as a whole. If I can add to that collective, then count me in. It’s not like I am putting on the Propel fitness stuff in my backyard, but if I am giving something that can approximate that during a time when we may have to push that back in a calendar then I’m all for it – sign me up.

AM: Across the US, we have various levels of openings on city and state levels. A lot of gyms and studios are doing that as well and a lot of people are excited to go back to their favorite spaces, but there is a lot of apprehension to in terms of whether the gyms themselves are actually prepared to be opened. What are your thoughts on how we can return to them safely and what we should be looking for when we enter? Should we be bringing items with us?

GP: You said it first – safety right? Be smart and be safe. Make sure that you’re doing the right thing and if you see someone who isn’t, instead of tattling and being condescending – I would share with them what the right approach is and be open if they share with you. We can all get better together. Remember we all heard a lot of information in the last 5+ months and we all process it differently. There are a lot of beliefs, so it’s better to be open and tolerant until we have all the facts locked down. I know I said lock down, but I said that on purpose!

As far as what you bring, I am a big fan of bringing my towel and water to the gym. I bring my towel and my Propel. You might want to double up and bring gloves, I don’t know the science on that one yet, but I’m OCD enough that I’m taking my towel and Propel with me for sure. I’m not going to be needing water fountains for a little bit if I can help it.

AM: For sure! You’re the Director of Strength & Endurance Training for the Lakers, our favorite team!

GP: Ah I love that!

AM: The Lakers have been our team since the 80’s.

GP: Not a fair weather fan, I like that!

AM: With the NBA completing their season and getting closer to the Playoffs, what has this time been like for you in terms of working with the team, preparing them prior to going to the bubble in Orlando and during this season?

GP: So our Strength Staff, a guy named Chattin Hill (Lakers’ Associate Head Strength & Conditioning Coach), Ed Streit (Lakers’ Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach) and I put together a Fit Kit and we sent the Fit Kits to the players early on. I don’t think that we got the jump on as early as you did, but we were a couple of days behind. We sent those to the players and we also emailed and texted them daily individualized workouts and all that was done within days of the lockdown. We also held and this ended up being great, but there was an element of comedy to it, we held Zoom workouts a couple of times a week to maintain the interaction, to keep the camaraderie up, trash talking – that was the great job of our GM Rob Pelinka and it ended up being great. There were times when the strength staff were a little disjointed and disconnected in doing it all on Zoom, but it created a moment of levity during some of those uncertain times. I’m sure you guys went through it too! There were times when the lockdown felt super annoying and there were times when it felt super scary! Like it was legitimately, “let’s not poo poo this guys. This is real.” Then you just develop a system. I’m sure that there is a psychology there of numerous phases that we all went through and having those workouts allowed those guys to keep connected and also allowed them to keep connected to us allowed them to keep connected to us which was key.

AM: Wow! When we did our last photoshoot it was with Rachel Nichols from ESPN. It was literally the day after the NBA announced that they were postponing the season. We’re literally sitting with her coming off of ESPN, doing the shoot and we’re looking at each other saying, “is this the last time that we’re going to be doing this for awhile?”

GP: I know Rachel and I like her. She’s very smart and she’s not taking any chances. If she did that then she did the right thing and hats off to her! I’m not surprised actually that she did it the right way.

AM: She is amazing and she was an awesome cover for us in March.

Obviously, the word “typical” feels like a very strange word right now, but what is a typical day or week like for you right now in terms of all the stuff that you’re doing?

GP: The only thing typical is that everything changes every day. I make sure to get some kind of workout in for myself, call it selfish, call it self preservation. I use the down time to connect with my family as well as a lot more Face Time calls with my brother, my parents and I think that it’s probably fair to say that our house as well as my sock drawer has never been neater! I have a lot cleaned up – everything is clean!

AM: You’re always working on so many things, is there anything coming up that we should know about or that your happy to announce with everyone?

GP: Lots of irons on the fire, that’s the way that I like it. I’d rather do than talk so let’s see what actually materializes after this. I will say that I have not been idle, definitely not going to sit around and do nothing. There’s definitely good stuff coming up though – definitely! More than just Instagram obstacle courses. Although I did enjoy those I’ve gotta say!

AM: As someone who is working with your clients whether it’s in person or virtually, doing things with your family and you have all of these different projects, how are you taking time for yourself just to make sure that you have the time that you need?

GP: So, I emphasized and the things that I struggle with the most – sleep and recovery. I’ve been working on that for the past 4 years and I’ve really made that a concerted effort to bump those up. I’m far from perfect for sure but it is still a focus and I have been able to improve it. I make sure that I get my workouts in which keeps me sane and it also makes me less of a jackass around my kids and my wife so that’s a priority ha!

AM: Haha I know they appreciate that! So we love asking our changemakers who inspire so many people who are 3 people that inspire you that have gotten you to where you are now?

GP: My parents and I have to put them together. A, for no backlash and B, because it’s the right thing. My parents for just the way that they weather storms. They have been married for over 60 years and I’m sure it hasn’t been perfect, but they just finish what they start kind of thing. My brother who is a super successful business man and all around greatest most generous guy going and I’m going to keep it in the family and say my wife and kids. They really inspire. It’s those days that you get up and go, “I’m getting up today because I know my purpose.” Obviously, you know that it supports your family, but they make me better!

Years ago, I worked for Jennifer Lopez for a long time and that’s not name dropping a lot of people know that. I wrote her a note one New Year’s morning. It just hit me that I was so thankful to have had the opportunity – I was still working with her, but I wanted to acknowledge it in real time. The opportunity to work with her – my working with her made me want to do my job better because I saw how well she did her job and how hard she pushed. I wrote her a note and I just said, “I want you to know I recognize this. I was always going to push myself and I was always going to strive for greatness, but being around you for this many years and watching how you do it has just made me A, be a representation of you at the same level, but also just to hold myself accountable because I see how hard you go and the standard to which you hold yourself.”

IG @GunnarFitness

PHOTOS COURTESY | Propel

Hear Celebrity Fitness Trainer and LA Lakers' Director of Strength & Endurance Gunnar Peterson on our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag #56 and see Something You Should Know with Gunnar Peterson in mag.

ZEROING IN WITH DWYANE WADE

We're excited that we're in the midst of the playoffs for the NBA season, whether your team is playing or you're just happy to have basketball back on TV! Even though we're socially distancing, it's a way for us to feel like we're together. We caught up with Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers veteran, 3 X NBA Champion Dwyane Wade who is also commentating the games for TNT in 'Inside the NBA'. In addition to number of projects that he is working on, Dwyane is the Co-Founder of Budweiser Zero which is a non-alcohol alternative to enjoying a beer solo, with friends or after a great workout.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to the launch of Budweiser Zero, tell us about your initial work with Budweiser and your synergy with the brand?

DWYANE WADE: I started working with Budweiser a little over a year ago when they did the “This Buds For 3” film for my retirement. Most recently, I was part of the Whassup reboot that came out a few months ago with DJ D-Nice, Chris Bosh, Candace Parker and my wife, Gabrielle Union, focusing on checking in on your friends when COVID first hit. I’ve always respected what Budweiser has built and their continued work with athletes. Entering the non-alcoholic market has always been of interest to me and this project seemed like a natural progression of my relationship with Budweiser.

AM: There has been a rise in the beverage industry for zero alcohol beers. Why is this important for those that are athletes or are focused on their fitness endeavors to have this as an option for their celebratory moments?

DW: The non-alcohol category of beer is rapidly growing and with Budweiser Zero, we are able to bring some familiarity into the category. Budweiser’s brewing heritage alone helps redefine pre-existing expectations and associations with non-alcoholic options.

Oftentimes, people feel like they are giving something up with a non-alcoholic option, but we are trying to change that perception and create more opportunities to celebrate life’s moments, both big and small. A focus for me when helping to develop the product was thinking about the athlete’s experiences during the season. Being in the game for so long, I can understand the need for a drink option that lets a player stay on their game but still enjoy social moments and celebrations.

AM: You are the Co-Founder of Budweiser Zero, what drew you to being involved in this and to take on such a role with the brand?

DW: It’s important for me to work with brands who have similar values and priorities that I want to accomplish. When I sat down with Budweiser to start talking about what Budweiser Zero would become, the synergy was there and felt like a great use for my platform, post-basketball.

AM: What can we expect to see for roll out of this launch and how will you be involved?

DW: Budweiser Zero started rolling out in the US in March, but officially launched at the end of July, and will soon be available in Canada and the UK. Budweiser Zero will play a huge role in the sports world, for both athletes and fans. Athletes who are in training or in season, but still want that classic, refreshing beer flavor without compromising their game now have that option. Once fans are able to return to stadiums, Budweiser Zero will become the beer of the ninth inning and fourth quarter. While alcoholic beverages can’t be served at this time, fans can continue to enjoy Budweiser Zero till the last moment of the game. Beyond athletes, I think this product will resonate with consumers looking to cut back on sugar or alcohol and those looking to participate in social occasions without feeling the effects the next morning.

Budweiser and I worked together on this from the start to bring Budweiser Zero to life and I’ll also be sharing the beverage with my friends currently playing in The Bubble.

AM: Tell us about Budweiser Zero as well as elements that you had a direct impact on in terms of bringing the product to market.

DW: Budweiser Zero is Budweiser’s first zero-alcohol product with zero-sugar and only 50 calories. Budweiser Zero is light and crisp and has the same refreshing full-flavored taste people know from Budweiser. I worked with Budweiser from the inception of the idea and helped design the attributes and packaging of the product.

IG @DwyaneWade

PHOTO COURTESY | Budweiser Zero

Read the Aug Issue of Athleisure Mag #56 and read Zeroing in with Dwyane Wade in mag.

S2. E7 | #TRIBEGOALS WITH 3 X TEAM USA SWIMMING GOLD MEDALIST RYAN MURPHY

On today's episode of #TRIBEGOALS, we had the honor of having 3 X Team USA Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist, Ryan Murphy as Athleisure Mag's 55th cover. Known as a decorated backstroke swimmer who also has a world record in the men's 100-meter backstroke, we talk with Ryan about how he got into the sport, transitioning his interest to going pro, his experiences at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio as well as being part of that riveting 4 x 100m medley. As Ryan looks forward to the Olympics in Tokyo that's slated for next year, we talk about how he trains and modifies his routines as we all navigate COVID-19, the importance of mental health and how he is approaching his goals. He also shares how he is focused on impacting the sport of swimming whether as a competitor or simply enjoying water activities. He also talks about how he gives back to others and how this changemaker has been inspired by others.

Read the latest issue of Athleisure Mag.

9LIST STORI3S | AMANDA ANISIMOVA

Read the July Issue of Athleisure Mag #55 and see 9LIST STORI3S | Amanda Anisimova in mag.