Ron Artest talks to Men’s Fitness in their March issue about changing his bad boy image, his love of fitness and even spills the beans on one of friend and fellow laker Lamar Kardashian Odom’s, bad habits. Look under the hood for the goods.
After his infamous on-court fight in 2004 while with the Indiana Pacers, Ron Artest was dubbed one of the NBA’s most controversial players. Now, six years later, Artest says that he has moved on and is more focused now on becoming the best that he can be both on and off the court. “When I got to the NBA, I always made a conscious effort to never change and kept my hood mentality,” he says in the March issue of Men’s Fitness. “It was erratic to a lot of people from the outside. So I had to find a way to stay true and not be so erratic. People know I’m a good person, so they take me for what I am now. I just want them to see somebody that they can always relate to. That’s real important.”
On Why he Made a Rap Song About Working Out…
“I’m an athlete, and I rap. People ask me ‘Why [did] you make a song like that?‘ Because that’s what I do. I workout.”
On His Strength and Agility On The Court…
“My game is hard to appreciate because it’s totally different from other players’. I like to use my body to battle. I work on my body more than I work on my game, sometimes.”
On His Love of Fitness and Pushing his Body to the Extreme…
“I love getting tired,” he reveals.“ It’s important to push yourself to the limit that you’re tired. That’s when you do a couple more. I used to do nine weight-training sessions in a week, but as you get older you realize that you need more recovery. If you don’t recuperate, it makes no sense.”
On Tackling America’s Overweight Issue…
“Sometimes we get so much [oversize portions], we don’t know what’s necessary. You can train your kinds to eat efficiently rather than just an abundance of food.”
On his Childhood Friend Lamar Odom’s Sweet Tooth…
“It’s cool for me to see him eating candy because it reminds me of when we were young, but it’s not healthy at all.”
On his eating habits growing up…
“I grew up not having a lot of money, so I ate no-frills brand fried chicken. Everything was no-frills brand oils, butter, lots of salts—the cheapest way to make it. Luckily I ran a lot.”
Now that Gilbert Arenas has plead guilty to gun charges, can’t we retire calling Artest the NBA’s bad boy? Just sayin’!
Pick up the Men’s Fitness featuring Ron Artest on newsstands January 25th
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