We’ve heard him talk about it in the past, and we’ve talked about it here on the ShaqFu Radio blog. Our man Shaq wants to be a little less of a “big man.”
No matter how you judge that sort of thing, O’Neal is a BIG man. During his NBA playing days, he was one of the biggest, most dominant players on the hardwood. Now in his “regular” life – whatever that means for a former NBA superstar – Shaq is still the biggest guy in the room, no matter where he goes. OK, maybe not when he’s talking with other NBA players and other sports figures. Still, big man by any stretch.
Still, as we said, O’Neal wants to be a little smaller. To take off a few pounds and to add a little muscle to his oversized frame. On a recent podcast episode, he talked about the motivation he’s using to keep him motivated.
Not surprisingly, another familiar name came up as Shaq talked about what he wanted – and more importantly didn’t want – for his own personal health. Hats off to “NBA on TNT” co-host, Charles Barkley!
Shaq on the podcast: “I like to create crazy motivation… I was looking at myself and I had that Charles Barkley retirement body.” Have you seen Sir Charles lately? Looking a little paunchy, for sure (pic below).
As Shaq says: “I didn’t want my stomach to be over the belt anymore. So I was just like, ‘Let me go ahead and get slim.’ After that [picture] went viral, now I’ve got to live up to it. I was 401 pounds. Now I’m 365,” Shaq shared. “I’m trying to take it back to 345. I want to have muscles everywhere, and I want to do an underwear ad with my sons [for] Fruit of the Loom, baby.”
What’s he doing for workouts these days? There’s 30 to 40 minutes of cardio per workout, then weights for chest, arms, biceps, triceps” In an interview with GQ Magazine earlier this year, O’Neal said it was “A simple old man workout. I can’t do all that CrossFit stuff.”
Shaq’s ongoing interest in his health came after a doctor’s visit a couple years ago discovered he had sleep apnea and other concerns. He had taken painkillers for a time, but said he’d never gotten hooked. Now he’s ditched them. “Certain days when I couldn’t move, I just popped one or two, just to get me going. But I’m off that now.”
Shaq summed it up this way: He wants to “become a sex symbol.” Will he do it? Stay tuned!