Grant Hill spends summers doing a lot of non-basketball workouts.
All photos by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images

By NBA.com
Posted Jan 7 2010 6:47PM

After 15 years in the NBA, Grant Hill just reached a major milestone — he completed his first calendar year without missing a game. Quite a big deal, considering it appeared Hill was on the brink of retirement due to ankle injuries earlier in his career, playing in only 47 out of 264 games during a five-year period.

Perhaps no NBA player understands and appreciates the importance of healthy living and physical fitness than Hill, who went six for six in All-Star appearances with the Pistons and Magic before the injuries struck.

To commemorate NBA FIT Week, Hill, 37 (but who says he feels like 30), spoke with NBA.com’s John Hareas and discussed how his approach to working out, diet and nutrition has evolved over the years and why it’s important to him being an NBA FIT member.

NBA.com: You just completed your first year without missing a game in the NBA. How much has your approach to physical fitness played a role in being more durable as you’ve gotten older?

Grant Hill: I think it’s played an important role. For me, it’s been an ongoing discovery learning about your body and what it takes to stay healthy and certainly that was tested during some of those challenging years when I was hurt.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself at that time — I’m a seeker by nature — I really used it as an opportunity to learn more about the body, more about nutrition, more about health overall in general, not just in regards to getting back and playing on the court but having an active, healthy lifestyle as I get older in life.

NBA.com: What did you learn during this time?

Grant Hill: Learning to listen to your body. Your body talks to you and you have to learn how to listen to it. When you’re young and your ego is involved, you think you can overcome or override anything.

Also, understanding diet and nutrition and the role it plays and constantly trying figure out what’s best and what works for me. I think diet plays an important role. Managing your body, little tricks, such as using ice, massage theraphy, sleep, stretching, how you work out — all of these things, you become smarter and you figure out sort of what works and what doesn’t work.

I’m constantly trying to learn as much as I can. I don’t feel like I know it all but I certainly have learned a great deal over the last five or six years.

NBA.com: How has your diet and food choices evolved over the years?

Grant Hill: I think early on you learn the importance of cutting out fast food. As you get older, you stay away from sugar and a lot of the sugary drinks and drink nothing but water. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, fish, occasionally chicken.

I think the thing for me is that it’s not so much what works for everybody but what works for me. I think certainly there are some things that are consistent. I think a lot of the bad foods, the heavy foods, the fried foods, I think those are things everyone can learn from, stay away from or at least in moderation.

I don’t pretend to know the answers necessarily or pretend to have the perfect diet but I know certain foods that are good for you or are healthy don’t necessarily work well with me. I don’t feel as good when I eat those foods. Everybody is different. Everybody reacts differently to different foods.

NBA.com: How different is your offseason now than earlier in your career?

Grant Hill: When I first came in, the offseason was an opportunity to play a lot. I played a lot of basketball. I played year-round, whether it was pick-up games or playing with some of my teammates in the NBA. Whatever the case may be, I was always on the court.

Then I spent many years in the offseason doing rehab and trying to get back out onto the court, recovering from injuries, surgeries and things of that nature. Now, I’m at the point where I’m healthy, which in the last few years has been kind of uncharted waters.

What I’ve found is that cross training is a neat way to stay in shape, staying away from the physical and mental grind of playing basketball every day. What that consists of — and I try to do a lot of recreational activities outdoors — kayaking, standup paddle surfing, tennis, cycling — fun, outdoor activities that you can’t do during the season.

Living in Florida in the offseason exposes you to the sun, which I think is good. Things that I’m getting a workout in but it doesn’t feel like I’m working. It feels like I’m going out and having a good time.

Sometimes, you can just go out for a nice five-mile walk, going out for a walk with my wife. I think the important thing is to try to get the body moving every day. Obviously, I will lift weights and I will use the elliptical machine. If I don’t have access to weights or if I’m in a hotel room, I’ll do push ups, sit ups. The main thing is really trying to get a sweat every day, get the body moving.

The body is meant to be moved. If you don’t move it, you certainly lose it. I know it’s a bad cliché but it really hit home for me when all of those years I’m in a cast and the muscles in the cast around the ankle atrophy and that’s because they’re not being used. Seeing the visual of that really reinforced the importance of getting a sweat every day, getting out and moving and getting some exercise. You don’t always have access to a bike or a health club, but as long as you have a little bit of room, you can get a work out right in your hotel room or right on your living room floor and that’s what I try to do.

NBA.com: Is working out year-round a motivating factor to end your career on your terms opposed to an injury?

Grant Hill: It doesn’t drive me necessarily. Freak things can happen and obviously I’ve been through a lot and I don’t want to go out that way. I would like to be able to say you know I’ve had enough, it’s time to move on. I do understand that as you get older, it’s more important how you train. You can’t not do anything for two months and then expect to pick it back up and be able to play or work out at an intense level and not risk a chance of getting hurt. You really have to be smart. You don’t necessarily have to work long but you have to work smart at what you do. My motivation is, I want to be healthy. I want to fit in my clothes when I’m 50 (laughs). I figure by then whatever’s in fashion now will be back in fashion at that time.

As you get older the one thing that you have to fight is gaining weight and certainly weight gain has a lot to do with a lot of the diseases that are out there. How you eat, how you move and exercise, your attitude toward life, how you train, how you get your rest — all of these things are factors, I think, in how you age. Not that I’m vain or anything like that but hey, I’m an athlete, something that’s been great to me my whole life. Up until now, I’ve benefitted greatly having a father as a professional athlete — being one myself — and I would like to continue to be active as I get older in life.

If there is one thing I’ve learned throughout the ordeal of my injuries was how to take care of myself and how to hopefully prepare myself as I get older.

Look, retirement is going to happen. Injuries — you can do everything right and something freakish can happen. I certainly lived that, actually my colleagues have told me that as well, but the main thing is that it’s not a sprint but a marathon and life is a marathon and hopefully I can be as active as I can and be healthy as I get older in life.

NBA.com: Why is it important to you to join the NBA FIT cause?

Grant Hill: I think anything that spreads the message — I like to say that the NBA is one of the biggest PR firms in the world and the fact that they are putting their name, their brand behind the idea of staying in shape and being fit is important.

Look at the issue in our country with healthcare — certainly that’s been very polarizing. Even childhood obesity — you look at a lot of the problems in our country as it regards to health, wellness and fitness and certainly getting out, eating right, staying in shape, being fit, studies have shown reduced the chances of all different types of diseases and so forth.

So, if we can get young people, older people to get out and do that, then that’s great. The fact that the NBA’s doing it, I’m so excited to be a part of it and hopefully with more and more interviews, we can continue to spread the message.

Water is extremely important to the bodies ability to function correctly.This ultimately leads to the body becoming dehydrated. Dehydration happens when the amount of water leaving the body is greater than the amount coming in. By the time you are thirsty, you are dehydrated. At this point your body has begun to suffer from dehydration. A majority of people don’t consume enough water and suffer many consequences as a result of dehydration. As a rule, you should drink half your body’s weight in ounces of water per day.
These are just a few of the many benefits to drinking water:
-metabolism raises
-healthy skin
-flushing out of toxins
-loss of weight
-increase in energy

Phoenix Suns forward Grant Hill has enjoyed a marvelous career throughout his entire life. He has reached great heights and achieved many honors throughout this time as well. From a stellar high school career at South Lakes High School in Reston, VA which led to him to being named to the 1990 McDonald’s All-American Team. From there he went on to attend Duke University. Hill played four years at Duke, winning national titles in 1991 and 1992. Despite losing key contributors on those championship teams, Grant led Duke to the national championship game once again in 1994, but ended up losing to the Arkansas Razorbacks. During his collegiate career, Hill became the first player in ACC history to collect more than 1900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots. As a result of his successful college career, he became the 8th player in Duke’s history to have his jersey number (33) retired.

Grant was drafted 3rd overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He entered the league to high expectations, where many expected him to be the future face of the league in a time when Michael Jordan was retired. In his first season, he averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.77 steals per game, and became the first Pistons rookie since Isiah Thomas in 1981–82 to score 1000 points. Hill ended up sharing NBA Rookie of the Year Award honors with Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, becoming the first Piston since Dave Bing in 1966–67 to win the award. After signing a lucrative free agent contract with the Orlando Magic, Grant was hampered by career-threatening injuries. Overcoming adversity, Grant worked his way back through strenuous workouts and rehabilitation. In 2007, Hill signed a free-agent contract with the Suns. Since being with the Suns, Grant career has been turned back around. In the 2008–2009 season, Hill appeared in all 82 games for the first time in his career, and averaged 12.0 ppg, 4.90 rpg, and 2.3 apg, scoring 27 points and 10 rebounds in the Phoenix Suns season finale.

Off the court, Grant’s life is equally interesting. He is the son of former Dallas Cowboy Calvin Hill, a 3-Time All-Pro running back and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1969. His mother, Janet, was a Wellesley College graduate who shared a suite with Hillary Rodham when both were freshmen there. Grant Hill has been married to R&B singer Tamia since July 1999. They have 2 children: Myla Grace, 5, and Lael Rose, born August 9. Along with being a 7-time All-Star and a 5-time All-NBA selection, Grant is also known for being active off the court. He won the NBA Sportsmanship Award in 2005 and 2008. Hill also has a great love for the arts. He owns a substantial collection of African-American art, centering on the work of Romare Bearden and Elizabeth Catlett. A selection of 46 works from the collection was featured in a touring exhibition at a number of American museums from 2003 to 2006.

Living a healthy lifestyle is important to Grant as well. Recently, Grant sat down with NBAFIT.com for a Q&A to discuss fitness, nutrition and tips on living a healthy and active lifestyle and how fitness and nutrition has played a major part in his career.

Read the Conversation

Next time your in the mood for a healthy snack, grab a handful of almonds. It is well known that one of the best ways to maintain a healthy weight is to eat plenty of almonds. This super-food has the ability to give the body a great sense of satisfaction from hunger.