I don't ever take an extended period off between minicamp and the start of training camp.
Young pitchers don't throw enough in the minor leagues, and when they get to the majors, they don't have the stamina; their arms haven't been built up.
The way strength and conditioning has helped me now is that I make it a point to go to the gym everyday if I can.
I work with a trainer called Ruben Tabares. He's a nutritionist, strength and conditioning coach, and an athlete. So I literally just train like an athlete.
Women's tennis is getting faster and the girls are getting more athletic, so I need to push myself to become a better athlete. I think 2013 showed me, like a few other years how important being healthy is and how I must listen to my body. During this off season I have been a little smarter on how I train and how I treat my body.
When I travel I have a full-time physio that I pay for myself. He also handles strength and conditioning.
I decided to work really hard in 1987. I hired Matt Doyle, a former pro player, and he helped me with my physical training. Lendl was the first to focus on that. He used to be weak, physically and mentally.
And when I went to Houston, they had a conditioning coach by the name of Gene Coleman. And that was the first time I had gone to an organization that had a program with a weight room and designed specifically for pitchers.
If you take guys who have been off who have had very limited opportunity to work out and train and haven't skated in months, you can't just throw them back into games. Everyone's going to get hurt.
It's really nice to be able to go into the offseason and attack the training as soon as possible.
I think I rushed and I needed more time with my comeback. I needed more time to get my legs stronger to be able to handle the workload. You can only train for that by pitching innings. You can't simulate pitching off a mound in a game inside a weight room.
If you are used to going five innings and then go six or seven, you won't have your good stuff. They need to start that from the minor leagues and give pitchers strong arms.
With my runners now, they get two month-long breaks during the year.
I wasn't in the best shape when I came to Tottenham, and the manager let me know that. Within six months there, I was in great condition.
