09/09/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14jdNZqAdvC/
Chad and I were discussing cardio and the balance between cardio and muscle gain. I'm of the belief you need both. I tend to put on more muscle when I can recover better because it makes my work with weights more productive. I recover between sets and go harder on sets because I'm not trying to catch my breath.
What is your resting heart rate? If it's not
John Stockton's Resting Heart Rate Was 35 Beats Per Minute. Half of a Normal Healthy Male. His Former Gonzaga Teammate Said He Didn't Even Sweat. 19 Seasons. 22 Missed Games. The Numbers Are Impossible.
John Stockton played 1,504 regular season games over 19 seasons.
He missed 22 of them.
In his first 13 seasons he missed four games total. Four. The most physically punishing era in NBA history, hand-checking and all, and a 6'1" 175-pound point guard showed up every single night.
The reason wasn't luck. It was biology combined with obsession.
A journalist covering the Jazz put the medical reality into writing.
"From a purely clinical standpoint, he is a marvel even to doctors. His resting heart rate is 35 beats per minute — half that of a relatively well-conditioned male. That trait alone allows him to recover while standing at the free throw line; other players must take timeouts or sit out to catch their breath."
35 beats per minute. Elite marathon runners average around 40 to 50. Stockton was recovering between free throws while everyone else was sucking wind.
His trainer Steve Delong explained what was actually happening inside that body.
"His body is, well, very efficient. His capillaries, how the oxygen exchanges through his lungs, his heart rate, blood pressure — he's taken that and fine tuned it. He's a hell of an athlete as far as the human body is concerned. His body is very efficient."
Then came the detail from his former Gonzaga teammate Jeff Condell that said everything.
"He doesn't sweat."
He doesn't sweat.
The postman wanted to go to work and go home. His body was built to make that as easy as humanly possible.
15,806 assists. 3,265 steals. 22 missed games in 19 seasons.
The most boring superstar in NBA history was running on an engine nobody else in the league had.
