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Comment by samlevine | Hacker News Reader

> The Kobe Bryant workout routine features a hefty mix of track work, basketball skills and weightlifting. His off-season workout has been called the 666 program because he spends 2 hours running, 2 hours on basketball, and 2 hours weightlifting (for a total of 6 hours a day, six times a week, for six months).

This seems disingenuous, given that Kobe does a lot more than just work out.

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In a way I think this particular example actually hurts his argument. 6 hours of physical training a day is pretty damn high for an athlete. In college (soccer team) we had two-a-days 2 sessions of training (2-3 hours each) for about 2 weeks before the season started and that was an absolute killer, by the end your body would be ripped to shreds, and we'd have one week of a much lighter load and ball work to recover. Doing this six days a week for six months is almost the classic definition of overtraining, and shows the freakish nature of Kobe's physical ability.

Totally agree with his overall point though.

I think it's hyperbole. I don't see how it's possible, even for a super athlete. I'm sure it's highly inflated numbers, there would also be not benefit for Kobe to come out and say, Na that's wrong... I train half that.

What are you talking about? Kobe studying tape?

Point is that even one of the best players of all time was not out there practicing for 12 hour days every day. Resting the body was key to having a long and successful career.

I would imagine that brand management work would take up quite a bit of his time.

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