Youd think a 17-year Hall of Fame NFL career would mean you get to coast into retirement. But not Tony Gonzalez. The legendary tight end has spent the six years since his retirement cultivating a regimen of healthy habits that feed off each other, all cohering to help him get the most out of his body. On top of an intermittent fasting schedule, a hyper-efficient 15-minute daily workout routine, and a few sessions a week in his infrared sauna, Gonzalez spends a large chunk of his day meditating, which he says has been helping him since his football days, before he even knew the language for what he was doing.
But the key to unlocking this holistic lifestyle, Gonzalez says, is a practice that feels appropriately relaxed for his post-NFL career: sleep. Gonzalez talks about sleep with an almost religious awe, recalling how he learned to maintain a solid sleep schedule when he was playing because it helped his game thrive and his body recover. But in the past few years, hes read up on exactly why sleep is so important, which has only led him to strengthen his commitment to getting enough of it. As he prepares to return to a socially-distanced Fox Sports studio as a commentator on what will surely be one of the strangest football seasons ever, his top priority is sticking to his eight hours and maintaining a zen-like devotion to staying in the moment.
Gonzalez talked to GQ about learning to eat right 10 years into his career, playing off-season basketball with the pros, and why hurdling his mental roadblocks was the key to getting his game on track.
For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in between about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.
GQ: What is your routine like as you gear up for returning to the studio?
Tony Gonzalez: The first thing I do in the morning, before I open my eyes, is my meditation. I do about 20 to 30 minutes of meditation daily, which helps get my day started great. And then I'll go downstairs, cook the kids breakfast, and have 2 measured-out cups of coffee.
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How long have you been meditating?
I've been doing that in some way or another for 20 years. I did these intense visualizations before every game, and I always felt way more calm. I'd see the plays, I'd put myself in that moment where I'm looking up at the stands and hearing the crowd and seeing the quarterback and the huddle, feeling the dirt, smelling the grass. And then I started doing that with my day. That's what I do in the morning: I see my day going exactly how I want it to go from an emotional perspective.
It did not come naturally. It took me a year to get really good. I followed a 6-stage meditation by Vishen Lakhiani for 3 weeks with headphones, and then once you get the hang of it, you can start to do it on your own. I've done it where I've looked up and all of a sudden it's been 45 minutes.
Do you eat breakfast with your kids?
I've been intermittent fasting for a couple years now, so I only eat twice a day, between 1 and 7 oclock with a snack around 4, like pistachios or a smoothie. I want to make sure that between my last meal and going to bed, I've had at least 3 hours. If you eat right before you go to sleep, it crushes your sleep.
It took a while to get used towhen I first started, I wouldn't eat until 10 o'clock, and then I moved it back to 11, then 12, and now 1 o'clock is easy. You can have more freedom in what you eat when you get the proper rest and you're not taking in so many calories. That's why I love the intermittent fasting. It's like a cheat code to stay in great shape, and you still get to eat sensibly without denying yourself. I'm a big foodie. Some days, I'll go all out and eat whatever the hell I want. I just don't do it that often. I try to be sensible and smart and consistent.
Did you do any special regimens like intermittent fasting while you were playing football?
I became a vegan while I was playing, and...I ain't gonna lie, it didn't last that long. I enjoy meat. But too much of that animal protein is not good for you. My body felt worse the first 10 years of my career because I was eating so horribly. You name it, I ate it. Once I changed my diet up, my body started feeling even better. I wasn't getting the soreness and the muscle aches and the injuries. I wasn't getting tired in the fourth quarter anymore. After the games, I felt better the next morning. I just had energy.
I was that guy on the team that would bring my own little trail mix in. I brought smoothies to Kansas City. Nobody did smoothies before. I would put spinach and kale and carrots in there along with my blueberries and banana. I remember guys on the team were looking at me crazy. It worked great for my body, and I could immediately feel the difference. And it changed my career. I thought I was only going to play another two years after year 10, and I ended up playing another seven years.
How are you working out right now?
I do a stretching workout routine every morning. My workouts last ten to fifteen minutes and its nonstop. I do kettlebell swings, kettlebell stretches, and then 40 to 50 pushups, like burnout sets. Then some bicycle kicks or bicycle sit-ups.
I don't enjoy working out, I'll be the first one to admit. I like moving my body, so I always loved basketballthat's the type of exercise I like to do. But my whole life, going into the weight room was like, "Okay, shit, I have to do this." So I like to get in there and get it done as quickly as possible.
Twice a week I'll do my Tonal workoutit's one of those home workout gym things. I dont pick a trainer anymore. I don't like people barking at me. I'm not a big class workout guy. You'll never see me go to a spin class or bootcamp or one of those. I can't stand those things. I do have an exercise bike, and I'll get on there and do some sprints.
I also do an infrared sauna probably 3 days a week. I started that around five years ago. It helps you sleep better, it helps your skin. It helps me from a stress reducing standpoint, it helps with fatigue, my muscles, my joints. I feel so much better when I come out of there. And then I have a little cold plunge.
But a lot of the time, I like to go for walks. I've just started doing that because I had Ryan Holiday on my podcast and his book has a good section on walking. I do that as often as I can, for 45 minutes. Get outside, get some sun, get that vitamin D, and then clear your mind. I walk in a meditative state. Kind of like that morning routine, except my eyes are open now, trying to be as open as I can be to what's coming, where I'm at. Analyzing myself with no judgment. This isn't a stress time, this is a free your mind time. A little solitude along with my daily meditation.
What made you get really serious about sleep?
I've always been a fan of, like, biohacking. How can I get the most out of my body? I geek out on that. Sleep was the next step in my evolutionary process. I got really, really into it maybe two years ago. A buddy of mine sent me a book by Matthew Walker, Why We Sleep. I was like, Oh my god, this is the fountain of youth. This is how you stay healthy. It helps your scoring percentage go up, it helps your defensive percentage go up, it helps you recover faster, it helps you solidify memory. That's a big reason why I was able to play so long in the NFL, I did this without even knowing. I was just a stickler for sleep because I felt better. I've structured everything around it, and I tell everybody it's the biggest performance enhancing thing you can do with your life. You can eat right, you can exercise, but if you're not getting enough sleep, all that stuff might be for nothing. This is gonna really help you prolong your life.
Do you have any pre-bedtime routines to make sure you get a good night's sleep?
I meditate before I go to bed, a quick 5-minute wind-down, going over my day, what I'm thankful for, what's coming. It's kind of affirmation-esque. Building myself up in a humble, compassionate, open-hearted way and telling myself to let go of stress helps me fall asleep really quickly.
They all work off each otherit's like a circle. When you're eating right and you're exercising, you will sleep better. Taking the walks and meditating calms your stress, then you're able to sleep better. It's that holistic approach.
You only missed two games throughout your entire career. Do you attribute that to being vigilant about habits like sleep and nutrition that help keep your muscles in good shape and prevent injury?
Luck and genetics, I ain't gonna lie. There are so many really good athletes out there that just have the injury bug. I tried to make sure that I would stretch, get good sleep, and nutrition.
As far as athleticism, basketball helped me tremendously in football. You need to spread yourself around and train those different muscles to avoid injuries. The greatest athletes of all time, like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, they played a bunch of different sports growing up. These guys are considered the greatest athletes of all time because they hardly ever get hurt. And the reason you don't get hurt is because they've always been cross-training all their muscles, so everything is strong. I also did volleyball, surfing, skateboarding, growing up, and it made me a better athlete. So when I finally did choose football, I had that advantage over most people that just play one sport.
Did you play basketball consistently throughout your NFL career?
Basketball was my off-season workout program every year. I never touched a football during the offseason. Id play in the summer pro leagues against guys like Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, all the NBA pros that would come back to LA to train during the off season. I played for the Miami Heat summer league team for Pat Riley and Stan Van Gundy.
You had a tough first few years in the NFL, leading the league in dropped passes and almost quitting football. How did turning that around help you handle stress and hardship beyond your football career?
Adjusting to the physicality of football wasnt a problem for me. I didn't have the confidence. I didn't believe in myself. Genetically, I was better than everybody else, but I just did what was required of me and got by on talent. I had to learn the hard way that that's not how it goes. You have doubt, but you go right through that. You have fear, you go through those fears.
Part of my morning meditation is getting joy and fulfillment and being where you're supposed to be in life, from a spiritual and emotional perspective, and owning that. My tricks now are to find joy in doing what I'm doing. Slowly but surely, I'm getting better and better and better at...getting better.
Going into this season, were seeing a lot of athletes take a firmer stand than ever against racism and pressuring their leagues to work towards real change. Does that give you hope as a Latino player who joined the NFL before activism was really a prominent part of sports?
It gives me tremendous hope. I always felt like sports has set the tone for what America should be. Sports is a good teacher on how to keep evolving. In football, for instance, with the concussions. What did the NFL do? They changed the rules. Some people didn't like the new rules. And we moved past that. We did what's better for the player, and the product is just as good. There's going to be people that say athletes shouldn't have an opinion, just shut up and play sports. That's ridiculous. What do you think, just because we play sports that we don't have opinions on things? We have an influence and we have a right to speak. So I love seeing what's going on.
Have you given any thought to how things might play out if there is an NFL strike?
I'll deal with that if it happens. One of the biggest things that stood out to me in The Last Dance was that Michael Jordan has an unbelievable ability to be present. That's what makes him so great. People would ask him about the pressure that he feels in the games to make the last shot. He said, "Why would I worry about a shot that I haven't taken yet?"
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Originally Appeared on GQ
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The Real Life Diet of Tony Gonzalez, Who Thinks Sleep Is the Fountain of Youth - Yahoo Lifestyle
