MEDIA BLITZ:
TERRELL OWENS TALKS FITNESS

One of the NFL's fittest receivers discusses his new book on that very topic.

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Well, he is jacked.

Say what you will about Terrell Owens, but these are irrefutable facts: (1) The Dallas Cowboys star has been the NFL's most productive wide receiver for the better part of the century, (2) he works harder than most and (3) dude's got a pretty tight body.

That's right, I'd give four of my ten toes for a body like his, and that was before I'd caught his inspiring half-naked runs on the beach in Hard Knocks. So, it was with great interest that I recently cracked open a copy of Owens' new book, T.O.'s Finding Fitness: Making the Mind, Body, and Spirit Connection for Total Health. Written with Buddy Primm and Courtney Parker and on sale now from Simon & Schuster, the book reveals the fitness and diet plan that gave the formerly scrawny teen, and now future Hall of Famer, one of the most impressive physiques in football.

Here's another T.O. fact, also irrefutable: 4) The man is quite handy at the scene of an accident. For the first time since I introduced my shoulder to a Honda Civic's windshield outside an ESPYs after-party, I caught up with the man who lent me a hand to talk about his new book, glean some fitness tips and, you know, thank him for the other thing.

MEDIA BLITZ: I sent you an email but we haven't had a chance to talk. So, first off, thanks again, Terrell.

Oh, no worries, man. Anytime. You all recovered?

Yeah, just dealing with a hairline fracture in a finger, which is only a problem if you type or catch balls for a living, you know?

Well, after seeing that windshield, if all you got was a broken finger, you got a good deal. Just be careful around those cars. And look at this way: You're now in a great situation where you can give people tips on how to cross the street, and why you should look both ways.

Maybe I should write a book like yours: SA's Finding Cars. Which brings me to the point: T.O's Finding Fitness. Now, Terrell, we all saw your half-naked jogs on the beach in Hard Knocks. Dude, your man-breasts were jangling! Are you the right man for this job? I mean, if I follow your advice, will my breasts jangle too?

(Laughs) Hey, that's genetics, man! For me, everybody knows I have a decent physique. Depends on who you ask, but I take pride in what I do. I take pride in my workouts, and how I eat. And I guarantee you, if you put yourself in slow motion, I'm pretty sure your pecs will jiggle too.

Boil down the book.

People ask me all the time, what do you do, what do you eat, to stay in such great shape. Around '99, I was introduced to this trainer while I was playing basketball in a gym. He asked if I had a personal trainer, and I was like, 'No, not really.' Basically, I had an athletic build and obviously I was tall. For a receiver to be my size was unheard of. You think of Sterling Sharpe, Herman Moore, Jake Reed, and that's it. But, see, my first three years in football, I used to eat fast food every day and night, and I used the same workouts I used in high school and college! Once I started working out with the trainer, I reconstructed my body. I cut out the excess fat, kept myself in better shape, and every year that I've come into camp since, everybody marveled at what kind of shape I was in. Once I got on that playing field, dude, it was refreshing. Lungs seemed to expand more, lighter on my feet, production went up. It was tough at first, eating egg whites in the morning, oatmeal, eating small meals every 3-4 hours. It was tough, but once my body adjusted to that, I saw a world of a difference.

Courtesy Simon&Schuster

Get your copy now.

Talk to me about your workouts.

I've come across a couple of things that have helped me along the way, and mostly due to some of the injuries I've had. Had a slight hamstring injury when I came to the Cowboys. Right before I left San Francisco, I had a groin injury that plagued be for two or three years. So I started out with elastic bands that my trainer in SF introduced me to, and from that, I came up with my own bands. A guy contacted me, we put our heads together, and we came up with my own little home gym. It's made by Bodylastics, and it's called the Terrell Owens Super Strong Man Edition, and it consists of workout bands that go from 5lbs to 30 lbs of resistance. Made for everybody from little kids to 80-90 year olds. They're color coded, and very user friendly for somebody older in age. I've done some great things the last couple of years with those bands.

OK, I get the body. Talk about "mind." How does that fit?

You may be on a routine, and things happen throughout the course of the day that prevent you from working out. You may be sick, or some other excuse deters you from doing your workout. But the thing is, you have to have in your mindset that every day is going to be different. Every workout is not going to be the same. You have to mix it up. It can become boring or mundane. You have to find a workout that works for you, and stick with it mentally.

And "spirit" comes in where?

The mind and spirit go hand in hand. My mindset, along with my faith, brought me back from that injury in Philly. I rely on my faith, my spiritual belief, to know that I can come back, I can do more, and I can be more than what people expect. The spiritual connection applies to everything.

Do you have any driveway sit-ups in your routine?

(Laughs) No, not exactly, but I'm pretty sure that you can take those exercises to the driveway. And if you do my routine in the driveway, maybe you can get a tan.

Final question: The Ravens, Chiefs and Dave Campo's Cowboys all had poor season after their Hard Knocks experience. Having said that, you guys are off to a good start. So what do you think of my theory?

Actually, Hard Knocks was great. Everybody had a good time with it. There were times where we hammed it up, but for the most part, it was the same routine, just with extra cameras. I mean, you saw the camaraderie of the team, and you saw the fight in Denver, so obviously we didn't care about the cameras. It was all fun. Audiences and fans got a kick out of it, too. Whenever I walk around, fans are like, "Dude, I really liked you in Hard Knocks." Even some of the HBO guys were like, "Dude, you need to have your own show." It's a different side of me. It'll probably put me in a better light because they can see me in a different setting rather than reading the reports and the commentary about me. People keep judging me on what they've read, so stuff like this is good.

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