Alexander Zurn

Huntington Beach, CA (Reading Rockets Basketball)

 

I play professional basketball in England and had the good fortune of being trained by Jesse for a total of 8 weeks through the summer to the beginning of my preseason. During the 8 weeks, Jesse provided me and another athlete with 4 personal workouts per week and instructed us to come to his boxfit workouts at his gym, Newport Boxfit, on the other days.

 

Each workout, whether personal or in a boxfit class (which ranged from 2-12 people per session), Jesse always seemed to be able to push me better than I could push myself. I, personally, take pride in being able to push myself to work harder than the next but Jesse really got me to a level I hadn't been to before. Each workout would be different but always focused on the same fundamental attributes that we were looking to improve.

 

Our sessions, for the most part, focused on stamina (through sand sprints with a parachute, normal sand sprints, boxfit, track workouts, plus many more), fast-twitch muscles (through plyometric work, boxfit, up-hill burpee's, up downs), core (army crawls through sand, planks with weights on our backs, boxfit), and leg power/explosion (through running through the waves of first beach, track outs, plyometric work, really all of the above).

 

When I arrived at preseason, I was far and away the most in shape player on my team. And since my season started, I have remained this way. I have seen improvements in all of the areas we focused on. I don't get tired on the floor, last game I played every minute through overtime never once thinking I needed a break. My legs are the strongest they have ever been, both in terms of power and endurance. I am able to stop on a dime and explode to the rim at faster, more consistent speed than I have before. And, most importantly, my core strength (not just abs but lower back down to my legs) is the strongest it has ever been, which any basketball player knows is the most important muscle group to maintain.

 

The point is that Jesse clearly understands how to do what he does. He makes it better than your average trip to the gym. He gets you outside, pushing your limits, and at the end of the workout you genuinely feel like you accomplished something in the short amount of time you spent working out. Jesse has all the answers too. He knows what workouts to do and, more importantly, will tell you why you are doing them. As an athlete, him specifically telling me how a workout will help me on the basketball court and in what situations I will feel a difference in power, strength, and endurance pushed me to do each rep the right way. You can't ask for much better than that. I fully plan on doing a similar regime with Jesse in the coming summers because I know it will make me much better at what I do.