Ray Lewis talks about his new fitness routine.For Lewis, who recently expressed disappointment that the Pro Bowl won’t be in Hawaii next year, the game is “always special.” He loves everything about spending a week in the islands with family and friends. He especially loves being part of an ultra-elite group of players.
“When you find yourself over here, you always greatly appreciate it because it’s (an indication) of people really watching you saying, ‘Wow! He’s still there and still doing great things,’” Lewis said. “So it’s always a great honor.”
Lewis, 33, and Gonzalez, who turns 33 later this month, take exceptionally good care of themselves. They also know they’ve been fortunate to be healthy enough at the end of each season to play in the Pro Bowl. In most cases, players who don’t participate usually are recovering from an injury.
Lewis, who played a vital role in helping the Ravens reach the AFC Championship Game, said he has never felt better physically in 13 NFL seasons. He largely credits that to changing his approach to physical conditioning during every offseason. Lewis’ theory: If you do the same thing, you’ll get the same results.
Lewis’ newest routine includes a program called P90X, which operates on the principle of “muscle confusion.” The concept is to constantly introduce the body to new movements and exercises so it won’t plateau.
“I just incorporated it in a lot of different places in my workouts, and it’s given me the challenge that I needed,” Lewis said. “Greatness is not just one big thing — it’s a lot of small things done well. So whether it’s Tony working out the way he’s always worked out or he’s catching a number of passes he catches each day, or whether it’s me sitting down for film study for hours and hours and hours, whether it’s the crazy workouts, these are the things you can look back on in your career (as reasons for individual success).”
