Thirty Minutes With Mike Morrison: Part 2
The Pro AVP Volleyball Player and Team Fuel Athlete Discusses His Workouts, Diet and the Road to the 2012 Olympic Games.
TL: What kind of diet do you maintain?
MM: Personally I like to eat a lot of basic meals like meat and rice with a little bit of green. I’ve tried the whole no gluten thing, which I believe has a lot of validity to it, but as an athlete who needs a lot of calories, that got really challenging with the whole no bread and wheat products, so I’ve kind of steered away from that. The rest is just trying to get relatively healthy food in my body and really focusing on making sure I get a lot of natural protein in my body, because with American diets it’s really difficult to do. It’s very easy to get unhealthy. I just try to watch it, and if I’ve just had a tournament I make sure, whether it’s through supplementation or diet, to refuel and regenerate all my glycogen stores and all that good stuff to be ready for the next workout or competition.
TL: What are your favorite supplements?
MM: My number one is Glutamine Fuel®. I take that before and after I exercise. I know that there are numerous benefits but for me my major use for that is recovery.* I have also been taking Endurance Fuel® in my drink while I play and a little bit after. It is a heavier carbohydrate drink but I need those and I think it’s a good way to get the healthy version of it instead of having high-sugar carbohydrates. Also, playing volleyball and being a blocker, I jump thousands of times a week. Fortunately it’s in the sand so that helps a little bit, but my joints and my knees take the brunt of it. My shoulders as well because of the hitting, but the knees are the only things that get really broken down so I also take Joint Fuel® in liquid form and I really like that, either drinking a shot of it or mixing it with a beverage. I really think that taking glucosamine is one of the best ways to support cartilage and help my joints.* Those are the top three that I take.
TL: You’re also a trainer. Do you create your own workouts?
MM: For the physical side of it I am essentially writing my own workouts. I didn’t grow up playing the sport and the training side is what has really allowed me to go ahead of people who have played much more volleyball than me. I do train myself, but it really took the last five years to dial in the best routine and type of training for me. I went from bodybuilding-style lifting in college to no lifting some years and now I’ve finally found a happy middle ground with a touch of lifting, the right amount of core training and a lot of the anaerobic, sports specific movements in the sand. But I train myself on all those and kind of found the right balance on my own.
To read part 1 of this interview, click here.
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