I interviewed Mocha Lee, TV personality and entrepreneur and owner of Mocha Lee Fitness, a fitness company that provides exercise and wellness services to individuals and companies. Our discussion covered her experience in the fitness industry, injury prevention and recovery for athletes, and fitness tips from David Vanterpool, Assistant Coach of the Brooklyn Nets.
Mocha started her business in 1999, but she has been in the fitness industry since 1992, the year she graduated from college. Mocha has been around sports and fitness her entire life; her father was a high school football coach and she ran track in college. The most rewarding aspect of her career is the fact that she can get paid to do what she loves to do while making a difference in the lives of others.
Throughout her career, Mocha’s target customer has evolved. Originally, her target clients were younger, elite athletes. However, once she became a mother, her target clients became other busy mothers who strived to stay in shape. Due to this evolution, her workout routines changed as well. Mocha has trained several elite athletes that needed extreme workouts as well as individuals in physical therapy; this ability to adapt and evolve is what makes her a self-proclaimed guru.
The most challenging aspect of Mocha’s work is running a business and keeping people motivated to accomplish their goals. In order to run the business successfully, she has to ensure she has a sustainable income. To keep people motivated, she has to help them break down their main goals into smaller objectives that can be accomplished over time. Another challenge is dispelling myths surrounding nutrition and exercise and helping her clients distinguish fact from fiction. Mocha has to stay educated on new trends in fitness and nutrition in order to help her clients navigate these areas successfully and accomplish their goals.
Mocha frequently sees athletes suffer knee and lower back injuries. These lower back injuries are most commonly from deadlifts or squats and can be prevented by a focus on core strength. Additionally, using proper form is important when exercising in order to prevent injury. ACL injuries are very common and could even go unnoticed depending on the severity of the injury. Mocha experienced an ACL tear while training for a fitness competition that involved an obstacle course. She had knee surgery to repair the tear and it took about 10 months for her to fully recover from the injury. In order to prevent injuries, Mocha stressed the importance of athletes sufficiently warming up and stretching prior to physical activity. Also, cross training can help avoid overuse of a particular joint or muscle.
In order to recover quickly from a workout, athletes must eat properly as good nutrition keeps the body fueled. Additionally, athletes should drink a lot of water to stay hydrated, flush out toxins, and break down excess lactic acid. Sleep is also very important as the body recovers during sleep. Some supplements are also helpful for recovery such as BCAA (Branched chain amino acids), omega fish oil is good for the joints, and multivitamins help fill any gaps in the diet that an athlete may be missing.
As a basketball player, I wanted tips that were specific to improving my performance on the court. Mocha reached out to Assistant Coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Coach David Vanterpool, to get some tips she could share with me on what basketball players should do to improve their performance. Coach Vanterpool suggested working on the following five areas:
Hip Mobility: This is important as a basketball player needs to be able to move and change directions quickly. Hip stretches, butterfly stretches are good exercises.
Core Exercises: A strong core helps players with balance and stability and makes it easier to do most exercises.
Functional Exercises: These are basic skills a player should always work on such as passing the ball, rebounding, shooting etc.
Fast Twitch Muscles:These help with sudden bursts of movements and explosiveness, so exercises like sprinting, plyometrics, strength training are good for these muscles.
Soccer Drills: These help with footwork necessary for effective offense, defense or rebounding while playing basketball.
One of the key things I learned during this interview is the importance of core strength. A lot of players experience back injuries because they lack core strength. It is important that athletes strengthen their core muscles both in the back and abdomen in order to avoid injury. I was also very appreciative of the fact that Mocha reached out to an NBA coach to specifically get advice for me as a basketball player. I intend to continue to perform the exercises recommended in order to excel in the sport.
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