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[ultimate_modal modal_title=”Reggie Hearn” btn_bg_color=”#af1e2c” modal_on_align=”left” btn_text=”Read Reggie’s Full Testimonial” modal_size=”medium” modal_style=”overlay-slideup” overlay_bg_opacity=”80″ header_bg_color=”#af1e2c” header_text_color=”#ffffff” btn_txt_color=”#ffffff” css_modal_box=”.vc_custom_1458521789914{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]I’ve known Tom since my senior year at Northwestern University, where I got the privilege to play Big Ten basketball. At the time, Tom was an intern on staff with our squad. Over the course of my career, we had several interns who worked with us in the weight room, but Tom always stood out to me because of his passionate, energetic personality and genuine desire for my improvement.

I didn’t truly get to know Tom, however, until this past summer. As I am still playing basketball, now at the professional level, I was using the Northwestern facilities to train for this season. Tom was also using the facilities, and we began working out together. The thing that struck me the most was that he could put together workouts that were unconventional in my experience but that really challenged me. For example, one day our entire upper body workout required no more than a weight vest and an agility ladder—we proceeded to do a variety of push-ups and movements using the ladder, and afterwards I felt like the Incredible Hulk. We also frequently performed a finisher that involved battle rope work, battle rope pulls of a sled, and sled pushes. Sometimes we even did this from a plank position! These finishers were incredibly comprehensive, working every major muscle in the body while simultaneously providing a cardio workout.

We also employed some excellent stadium training that helped to improve the quickness, speed, and athleticism that is crucial to a professional basketball player. An array of hops, sprints, and lateral shuffles, often with resistance, were used in order to build up strength, power, and explosion in my lower body. Now one would think, at least I would, that a stadium workout would consist of and focus on strictly lower body work—but not with Tom. No, the upper body wasn’t meant to be left out of the fun. Each workout would also involve walking down the stairs on all fours, doing a push-up on each stair. It was brutal, but it definitely made for a great full body workout each time we did it.

Tom’s work with me also extended onto the court. One day after our workout in the weight room, I began my own basketball workout in the Northwestern gym as I usually did. I very rarely had a rebounder so when Tom volunteered, I gratefully accepted. Soon after, though, he started making some suggestions. At first I was skeptical—to my knowledge, he didn’t have much experience playing the game, so how could he really know what he was talking about? Nevertheless, I was tired of repeatedly doing the drills I had been doing all summer and tried doing some of his. To my surprise, he had me doing drills I had never thought of to hone skills that definitely needed some improvement. We worked on ball-handling, one and two-ball dribbling, situational passing (using different types of passes depending on the spacing of the offense and defense), rebounding, different types of finishes at the basket, and, of course, shooting. In many of the drills, including the ones focusing on rebounding, dribbling, and finishes at the basket, Tom used a pad to simulate the contact I would get from opposing players in games. I’d thought I’d found a rebounder in Tom, but what I’d actually found was a quality basketball trainer!

Overall I’m incredibly grateful for Tom’s work with me and impressed by his versatility. He is incredibly knowledgeable about the human body and how it can be maintained, strengthened, and utilized for maximum performance. He is also creative, needing very little materials or resources, if any, to come up with workouts that are taxing and thus quite rewarding. When he has resources, though, look out! You can’t know what type of workout he will put together, but you can know that it will be inventive and challenging. His company, T.R.U.E. Fit, is thus rather aptly named, as I consider Tom to be an expert regarding The Resourceful Use of Exercise. After spending the late summer and early summer under his supervision, I can say with conviction that I was T.R.U.E.ly fit to undertake my second season of professional basketball!

Reggie Hearn
NBA Development League
Northwestern University (2009-2013)[/ultimate_modal]

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