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fitness from iM ON THE SET on Vimeo
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In the beginning, there were dings. As in, “Back when I was coming up, it was like the Dark Ages,” says NHL Hall of Fame center Pat LaFontaine. “You get a ding, you clear the cobwebs, and you skate right back out there.”
As in, “I figure I suffered between 15 and 20 concussions during my career,” says retired NFL middle linebacker Harry Carson, “half of them full-blown, the other half dings.”
As in, “I took about five or six major concussions,” says former NHL defenseman Jeff Beukeboom. “And another 10 or so dings.”
As in the story Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Artie Donovan once told me, back when I was ghostwriting his book, Fatso: “I break my leg one time when we’re short of defensive linemen. [Baltimore Colts head coach] Weeb Ewbank has the trainer tape it up real good and tight with a little splint and sends me back out there. I tell him, ‘Jeez, Weeb, I can’t even walk.’ He says, ‘Listen, Fatso, just crawl out there and fall down in front of somebody.’ So on the next play, that’s what I do, I fall down in front of the ball carrier. And about three people step on my head. I’m dinged up real good, almost blacking out. So they toss a bucket of ice water in my face and give me some smelling salts, then send me back in. Sure enough, I fall down again and a couple more guys land on my head. Now I can barely see. But I can’t tell Weeb. He wants me to play on a broken leg. What do you think he’d do if I begged out because of a couple of little dings?”
Roger Staubach laughs when I tell him this story. “It’s true,” says the former Dallas Cowboy and Hall of Fame quarterback, taking a break from running his Texas-based, multimillion-dollar real-estate consulting firm, the Staubach Company.
“I had a few concussions in college, a few in high school,” he says, “but back then they were, indeed, just dings. You shook them off, didn’t really worry about them.”
Now Staubach, 63, whose multiple concussions forced him into early retirement in 1979, counters with a story of his own: His first game as a Cowboy, September 1969. Green Bay Packers. Staubach is scrambling. The Packers’ monster middle linebacker, Ray Nitschke, lays him out cold.
“Instead of running out of bounds,” says Staubach, “I tried to cut back inside. Nitschke made me wish I hadn’t. I was knocked out. I couldn’t function. The next thing I knew, I was in the locker room. The typical ‘How many fingers do I have up?’ Then they gave me the smelling salts. It took me a while to get normal again.”
On the drive home that night, Staubach’s wife, a registered nurse, noticed with quiet alarm that his pupils were still dilated. Staubach told her, “If I die tonight, be sure to get hold of a good lawyer, because they sure didn’t check me out very well.”
Staubach laughs again. “Back then, you didn’t get a second opinion on a concussion. Nobody knew how serious they could be.”
This is truth told. But times change. Slowly.
Physioball Pikes
Assume a pushup position with your arms completely straight (your hands should be slightly wider than, and in line with, your shoulders). Rest your shins on a physioball, so that your body forms a straight line from your head to your ankles. Without bending your knees, roll the physioball toward your body by raising your hips as high as you can. Pause, then return the ball to the starting position by lowering your hips and rolling the ball backward. Do three to four sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Reverse Crunches
Lie face up on the floor with your palms facing down. Bend your hips and knees 90 degrees. Raise your hips off the floor and crunch them inward. Pause, and then slowly lower your legs until your heels neatly touch the floor. Do three sets of 15 reps.
Physioball Leg curl
Lie on the floor with your calves on a Swiss ball and your arms at your sides. Squeeze your glutes to raise your hips off the floor so your body is in a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles. Pause for a second, and then bend your legs to roll the ball toward your butt. Straighten your legs to roll the ball back out away from you, and then lower your body to the floor. Do three to four sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Hanging Leg Raises
Grab a chin-up bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip (or use elbow supports, if available), and hang from the bar with your knees slightly bent and feet together. Simultaneously bend your knees, raise your hips, and curl your lower back underneath you as you lift your thighs toward your chest. Pause when the fronts of your thighs reach your chest, and then slowly lower your legs back to the starting position. Do three to four sets of 8 to 12 reps.
Prone Cobra
Lie facedown on the floor with your legs straight and your arms next to your sides, palms down. Contract your glutes and the muscles of your lower back, and raise your head, chest, arms, and legs off the floor. Simultaneously rotate your arms so that your thumbs point toward the ceiling. At this time, your hips should be the only parts of your body touching the floor. Hold this position for 60 seconds, then rest one minute. Repeat three times.
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Joe Francis lost 165 pounds
"I've added years to my life"
