Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 121 Yao Ming's Bone Density
Gabriel pointed to his face.

"What?"

Rivers was unaware of the situation.

Gabriel said speechlessly, "Do I look like a genie?"

Rivers shook his head instinctively, then realized what he meant.

“So that’s why.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

I'm not a genie, so why are you making wishes here?

Can we get Gary Payton over here? Does he want to hear what I'm saying?

That's Gary Payton, the Glove, a superstar. Unless you trade McGrady and Brown for him, what are you thinking?

Rivers rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that he didn't have to be so sarcastic.

After a slight hesitation, Rivers asked again, "What do you think of the Hornets' Baron Davis?"

Standing at 1.91 meters tall, this full-size point guard weighs 95 kilograms, possesses tremendous impact, and plays an explosive game.

His defense is also solid, averaging 2.1 steals per game last season, and he often uses his physicality to overpower opponents.

Gabriel continued to roll his eyes and said, "Doug, he was the third overall pick and had already secured a starting position with the Hornets last season. It's only been two years. Bob Buss would only trade him if he had dementia."

"Doug, I know you want the best players, but can we be realistic? This isn't the offseason."

If you're in the offseason, given Brown's outstanding performance and the team's competitiveness, you might be able to recruit some star players.

But this is a transaction; without enough substantial leverage, what can you offer to sway the other party?

"Then you do it." After two suggestions were rejected, Rivers spread his hands, indicating that it was up to him.

Since you've already made your request, and you, as the general manager, pride yourself on having a good eye for talent, then bring me the players I want.

Otherwise, if the results aren't good later, don't blame me.

Gabriel sensed something was off about Rivers' tone and quickly reassured him, "Don't worry, we'll have a meeting to discuss this after the game tomorrow when you get back."

Rivers then gave up and got up to leave.

After seeing Rivers off, Gabriel picked up his wine glass, swiveled his chair, and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.

The night is alluring.

Looking down from a high vantage point can also inspire a sense of pride.

He suddenly turned around, grabbed the keyboard, and wanted to draft a promotional plan.

Thoughts came rushing in, and my inspiration flowed like a spring.

He feels almost there.

They are second in the East, just one game behind the leader, and now they have the youngest player in history to score 50 points.

So, it's time to shout that sentence!
But after typing the first sentence, he suddenly froze.

I feel I shouldn't be too cocky.

Based on my own past experiences, not to mention the distant past, just looking at the recent past, last year when I recruited Hill and McGrady, they were also very ambitious, shouting that they wanted to compete for the championship.

and then?
We still need to be more humble, like that kid Brown, who said before the game that it was just a normal game, and he didn't care about scoring, he just wanted the team to win.

As a result, they scored 51 points.

That's how it has to be, constantly saying we're the bottom of the East and our only goal is the playoffs.

And guess what? They fought their way into the Finals and shattered the Lakers' dream of a three-peat.

When that time comes, just imagine the reactions from the media and other teams; they'll probably be completely taken aback.

Yes, that’s how it should be!

Gabriel decisively shut down the computer.

get off work.

……

Gabriel apologized, but the media didn't have that concern.

The next morning, Tang Sen saw the Orlando Sentinel's report and exclaimed, "Wow!"

The title is: "Youngest player in history to score 50 points, how far are we from the championship?"

Having lived in Orlando for so many years, if Townsend remembers correctly, it was only around 95 that the Sentinel seriously discussed the NBA championship.

That year, they made it to the finals.

As a result, they were completely wiped out by Hakeem Olajuwon's Rockets.

Tang Sen remembers that after Game 4 of the Finals, the Sentinel's headline was "Orlando, don't cry, come back next year."

As a result, the following year they ran into a returning Jordan and were swept in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Then there is no more.

With the disbandment of the original Orlando Twins, magic, like a salted fish caught in a hurricane, briefly soared to great heights but ultimately had to fall back to earth.

Tang Sen picked up his coffee and began reading the main text of the report.

He started by showering us with praise.

They directly compared Brown to O'Neal.

Shaquille O'Neal in his rookie season was far less dominant than Brown is today.

Tang Sen simply glossed over this subtle and euphemistic writing style.

The rest of the content is similar; we'll analyze it point by point.

The Magic are currently second in the Eastern Conference, only one game behind the first-place Nets.

Their current record would place them among the top four in the Wild West.

Therefore, we should stop calling magic a pushover; we've turned our fortunes around!

They also said the Orlando dual-core engine is powerful.

Let's take a look at the score leaderboard.

McGrady is third, Brown is tenth.

Of the 29 teams in the league, only the Magic and the Lakers have two players in the top ten of the scoring list.

The Lakers, on the other hand, are the defending champions.

Therefore, it can be simply assumed that the Magic are already on the same level as the Lakers.

They even brought up the previous game between the Magic and the Lakers, saying that the duo of Brown and McGrady held their own against the OK combination.

If we really make it to the finals, we might just be able to put up a fight.

Tang Sen himself found this kind of analysis and praise unbearable to look at.

Not long ago, the Sentinel newspaper betrayed Brown, saying that Brown had hit the rookie wall.

Looking at other newspapers, it's pretty much the same; they're all full of praise.

After all, Brown genuinely scored 51 points, and no amount of praise is too much.

But Tang Sen still wanted to be more pragmatic.

Let's talk about the championship after we reach the finals.

In the morning, Tang Sen received a reply from Tedsky.

He studied the experience report provided by Tang Sen.

They believe their various physical indicators are fine.

Data such as the urea nitrogen-creatinine ratio, which reflects the level of protein metabolism, and indicators such as growth hormone are all within reasonable ranges.

However, he also pointed out some problems.

For example, this player has such a large weight, but his bone density is relatively low.

This is direct evidence that the urinary hydroxyproline level is too high.

He also believes that at Yao Ming's age, it would be quite difficult to completely change his bone density.

He reminded Tang Sen that if Tang Sen were to take over training this player, he should first try to increase bone density before training muscle size and strength.

He attached a paper to the email.

It's from last year, so it's pretty new.

The study found that if athletes do not receive sufficient training during their adolescence to achieve the necessary bone density, it will be detrimental to their development.

As we age, after reaching our peak bone density growth around age 20, further training to increase muscle size and strength will put greater stress on the low-density bones because muscles are attached to them.

This paper comes from the ACSM, the internal journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Tedsky seems to be a senior member.

Tang Sen had tried to apply before, but it was not approved.

Now, Tang Sen doesn't need that membership card anymore.

The paper came from a lab at UCLA, by a professor I'd never heard of before, but UCLA is a prestigious university, so the paper's credibility is fairly high.

Simply put, Yao Ming has missed the best time to increase bone density, which is when he was young and laying the foundation for his future.

Performing muscle training at this time will put greater pressure on the body's bones, especially for heavyweight inside players like Yao Ming, which will increase the risk of stress fractures in the lower limbs.

Therefore, before increasing muscle mass, you should first consider increasing bone density.

Bone density peaks around age 20, and Yao Ming, at 21, could barely catch up.

According to Tang Sen's experience, while calcium supplementation can improve bone density, strength training is the most effective method.

However, strength training carries the risk of muscle gain. Yao Ming is currently losing weight to reduce the muscle mass in his lower limbs.

At this time, performing weight-bearing strength training on the lower limbs is actually not conducive to reducing muscle size.

The two are contradictory.

However, after consideration, Tang Sen felt that he should refer to the paper and prioritize improving bone density.

At the same time, there is a key point here.

Building muscle and building strength are not the same thing.

Tang Sen has a basic piece of experience: for strength training exercises like deadlifts and squats, if you want to build muscle, you need to do high-repetition low-weight exercises, focusing on the number of repetitions.

To increase strength, you need to practice with the highest weight more often and reduce the number of repetitions.

Yao Ming's case clearly applies to the latter.

Of course, medication is also essential.

In the afternoon, Hall arrived as agreed.

He was originally a weightlifter, so strength training was his forte.

And bone density.

According to Wolf's Law, there is no doubt that weightlifters have incredibly high bone density.

Hall can offer a lot of professional advice in this regard.

For example, if you want to supplement calcium, calcium acetate is more efficiently absorbed than calcium carbonate.

It's also important to control vitamin A intake, as excessive vitamin A can accelerate bone loss.

Based on Yao Ming's current situation, he helped Tang Sen make some adjustments to his diet plan and strength training.

Tang Sen also used the system to conduct a simulation based on Yao Ming's physical condition, which had been scanned in China previously.

The study found that it can significantly improve bone density, even better than a self-designed strength training plan.

All I can say is that Hall really knows how to do strength training.

There's also the use of medication.

He devised a supplementary medication plan for Yao Ming, even specifying which brand was better.

Tang Sen wrote him a check with satisfaction.

I definitely can't cover this expense myself; I'll have to ask Tamiflu for reimbursement later.

After seeing Hall off, Tang Sen organized his thoughts and began writing a reply email.

As Tang Sen was finishing writing and about to send it out, he thought of Yao Ming's head-on confrontation with the team.

Tang Sen wanted to give Yao Ming a reminder.

It's appropriate to challenge the team and express your stance.

But it shouldn't be excessive.

After all, if you want to play in the NBA, you need the team's approval, and it's not good to strain the relationship.

While this kind of situation is common in the NBA—if you don't offer a big contract, you immediately turn your back and leave—different leagues have different circumstances.

However, after writing it, Tang Sen thought about it and then deleted it.

It has little to do with me, so why bother with it?

Finally, Tang Sen added a message that he respected Tang Sen's personal choice, but reminded him not to neglect training because of the suspension and to review his performance later.

It was already evening when the email was sent.

Because of the time difference, it's 5 a.m. in China.

Yao Ming has woken up.

hungry.

He is now on a diet, not only changing his diet but also eating only about a third of what he used to.

With his physique, his energy consumption is astonishing.

I'm so hungry right now, I barely managed to sleep for a few hours before waking up early from hunger.

I groped my way to the kitchen and found two boiled corns.

This stuff fills you up, is low in calories, and is also high in dietary fiber, which can promote bowel movement that has decreased due to hunger.

So Yao Ming used it to stave off hunger when he was starving.

Afraid of disturbing my parents' rest, I turned on the desk lamp and ate two ears of corn before I felt a little better.

I couldn't sleep, so I thought about playing some games. But when I turned on the computer, I remembered Tang Sen's advice and pulled out a book on learning English in 100 days.

After flipping through a few pages, Yao Ming remembered the email he had sent the day before yesterday.

I opened my email and was pleasantly surprised to find that Tang Sen had already replied!
Moreover, it wasn't a perfunctory reply; it was several thousand words long, and the training plan was adjusted based on the individual's physical condition.

It was replied in Chinese, so there was no reading difficulty at all.

After reading it carefully, Yao Ming gained a completely new understanding of Tang Sen's professionalism and dedication.

I was even somewhat moved.

Because he saw Tang Sen's postscript at the end of the email.

"Respect your own choices."

Muttering these words to himself, Yao Ming was overwhelmed with emotion.

Just like the saying goes, Yao Ming felt respected.

But Li Qiuping, what about the team?

From childhood to adulthood, they always mechanically tell themselves what they should do and what they shouldn't do, as if what they say is the golden rule and is always right.

They never asked themselves what they thought.

And parents.

Yao Ming knew his parents meant well, but when he chose to go head-to-head with the team, they still worried and tried to persuade him that it wasn't a good idea.

But they never asked themselves why they did it.

Only Tang Sen.

This stranger, with whom I'd only known for three days, never told me what to do.

The first thing Tang Sen will ask himself is what he wants.

He told me I wanted to be like Sabonis, but he wouldn't tell me I should become Shaq or Olajuwon, because they were the strongest and best suited for me.

When he chooses to go head-to-head with the team, Tang Sen will only say that he respects his own choice.

Yao Ming felt that this kind of equal respect and communication was what he needed most.

Yao Ming picked up the keyboard, consulted his English book, and tried to reply to the email in English, expressing his gratitude to Tang Sen.

Tang Sen quickly replied to the email.

"Good, it seems you're seriously studying English. Very good, keep it up."

Yao Ming closed his computer with satisfaction, rubbed his stomach, and began to read seriously.

Around 6 a.m., my parents got up one after another.

Seeing Yao Ming showing off his leafy greens, his mother felt very sorry for him and said, "You can eat less, but you can't really not eat any at all. What good is eating some boiled meat and leafy greens?"

As he spoke, he pushed a bowl of breakfast noodles toward Yao Ming.

Yao Ming pretended not to hear.

Like this, I know my mother is worried about me and wants what's best for me, but she just won't support me. I ask myself why I insist on this.

After dinner, Yao Ming picked up a ball and started dribbling it against the wall.

Tang Sen believes that because his hands are small, it is necessary for him to strengthen his fingers.

Yao Ming initially thought this training was simple, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even maintain the minimum standard required by Tang Sen for five minutes.

Just as I was practicing, there was a knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, they were surprised to find Li Qiuping and Li Yaoming.

The two men carried gifts, saying that it was a perk from the team since it was almost New Year's Day.

Upon seeing Yao Ming practicing, Li Qiuping immediately praised him.

Yao Ming kept a straight face; he had already made up his mind to fight to the bitter end.

After the pleasantries, Li Yaoming spoke up, saying, "Yao Ming, even though your parents are here, I still feel I have to criticize you a bit. Why can't we discuss things together? Why make things so tense, as if the team is trying to harm you?"

"We're not enemies."

He pointed to himself and Yao Ming, and seeing that Yao Ming was unmoved, he sighed and said, "As for your idea, Mr. Bai and I have also discussed it, and we think that we should prioritize the game. The team agrees with your idea in principle."

As if nothing had happened, he asked Yao Ming when he could return to the team to play.

Yao Ming didn't say anything, but silently clenched his fist.

Indeed, my choice was right, and I should have been more assertive.

Constantly giving in will only make others bully you more.

This time it's a training plan; next time it'll be releasing players for the draft.

Yao Ming felt he had found his direction.

The NBA seems to be just around the corner.

(End of this chapter)