Ville Magazine l Insider Access for City Lifestyle May/Jun 2016 / Health & Fitness Issue | Page 31

SOUNDERS FC
CM: How does your in-season fitness differ
from your off-season fitness?
TM: The reason why I have had so many injuries
in my early career is because I went too hard in
the off season. I felt, because we are getting 6
or 7 weeks off, that I really had to work hard.
So I was coming back in unbelievable shape,
but probably mid-way through the season my
body would break down because it had done
too much high intensity work. Now, I stay off
running. If I do a cardio session, probably once
a week, it’ll be the bike to, like I said, rest the
joints from all the pounding work. Then I’ll just
be lifting. This is my second time of doing that,

and in season I feel great.
ZS: During the season, it’s a lot less lifting
weights. It’s some from a maintenance
standpoint, but not from a “you need to get
strong” standpoint because that’s when you
get sore and could potentially have muscle
injuries. In the off season, you are really trying
to gain strength, maybe lay off the pounding
on your joints, so not as much running. As you
transition into playing again in the preseason,
you start to taper off the weights and ramp up
the running. Our fitness coaches are great at
setting us up to be successful.
NV: If I have a holiday, I try to give two weeks to

do nothing and just recover. Then I start running
and exercising. 10 years ago it was easier, and
now I have to do a little more. I enjoy working
hard, because if you don’t do anything during
the holiday it’s very hard to start up again.
CM: What is a cheat meal or activity you like
every now and then?
TM: I love Italian. It helps because through
the week I won’t eat many carbs, but when it
comes to Thursday, Friday, then the game on
Saturday, I’ll load up. But, I would say a cheat
meal would probably be like a burger. I like a
Kobe burger with sweet potato fries.

zach scott

#20 - DEFENDER

CM: You’ve been with the Sounders FC since
before their first game in Qwest field. What
changes have you seen in their fitness program
since the beginning?
ZS: It’s night and day. We would travel with
15 players. And at times, if we needed a 16th
player, we would just ask our medical guy not
to come. Instead, one of the players who could
tape ankles would take care of you. That’s
definitely not the case now. It’s everything
from keeping track of our fitness stats, making
sure we’re as fit as possible, to team meals
before a game. They do everything they can to
help us be better and are readily available.
CM: You grew up playing soccer in Hawaii,
then Gonzaga University and now Seattle. How
did temperature affect your game play?
ZS: Right off the get go it was summer in
Spokane and overpowering hotter there than
in Maui. Fall was cooler, but it was the winter
soccer that was the worst. You’re playing on
snow and working out when it’s 10 degrees.
photo credit Seattle Sounders FC Communications

HEALTH & FITNESS ISSUE l VILLE l 31