The Denver Nuggets play their home games in one of the most difficult environments in pro sports. Playing in the thin air of the Mile High City tends to wear opponents down and for years has been a distinct home court advantage for the Nuggets.
This offseason the Nuggets took a different approach to getting in premium condition to play at 5,280 feet above sea level. As training camp and the start of the season looms, 11-year veteran Jameer Nelson got the majority of his teammates together last week for a series of unofficial workouts and team bonding activities
Nelson who joined the Nuggets late last season, talked to denvernuggets.com about one of the training methods the Nuggets went through and in particular, a Navy SEAL experience likely none of the Nuggets will forget anytime soon.
“We had a Navy SEAL come and talk to us. He explained the anaerobic threshold, meaning you always have more left in the tank. You have your nervous system shutting you down listening to your brain saying you’re tired and you can’t do it and you’re frustrated. He put us through a workout. It was intense. It wasn’t easy. It was one of those things that we did the same exact thing over and over and he wanted to see who was going to break. It was unique because in the middle of the workout he made us do certain things with our eyes closed so we wouldn’t look at each other. You want to get the best that you can get out of your workout and not look at the other guy and say keep pushing because you need to learn how to push yourself.”
You can read the full interview with NBA.com here where Nelson also talks about his decision to re-sign with the Nuggets, new head coach Mike Malone and expectations for the upcoming season.
