Keeping Body and Image in Shape
By ROBIN FINN
When the N.B.A. Hall of Famer Walt Frazier, the loquacious Knicks analyst on the MSG network, is not on the road with the playoff-bound team, which he led to its first N.B.A. championship in 1970, the focal point of his Sundays is his bedroom. There Mr. Frazier, a k a Clyde, multitasks by exercising in bed, napping or surfing the cable channels. When he does go out, he works in a stop at Clyde Frazier’s Wine and Dine, the restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen where he is a partner, acting as host and in-house celebrity. Mr. Frazier, 67, lives in a condo in West Harlem with his son, Walt III, 45, a forest of foliage (he is a plant freak) and 200 flamboyant suits. He also owns a bed-and-breakfast on St. Croix.
RISE AND CRUNCH I wake up around 8. One saying I live by is “My health is my wealth.” So I usually start the day by doing exercises in bed; I work my obliques, do three or four sets of crunches, do the bicycle thing where you lie on your back and pedal your legs in the air. Sometimes I listen to a Motown station; sometimes I just want silence. I also do yoga stretches. Doing yoga is like breathing.
FORTIFICATION After I’m warmed up, I go downstairs and make a protein shake with water, protein powder, honey and soy milk. And I take my vitamins: cod liver oil, brewer’s yeast, vitamin C, kelp, calcium, wheat grass and glutamine. No coffee, just herbal tea. I only drink goldenseal, the panacea of all teas.
BACK TO BASE I might get back in bed and watch some TV until the vitamins kick in and I’m ready for a real workout. I’ve got my own gym, so I don’t go to the spa anymore. While I’m working out, I listen to jazz or oldies on the iPod. I never watch the clock. I let my body tell me when I’ve had enough, and then I take a shower, shave and maybe go back to bed again and watch more TV. I may watch a little basketball if there’s a team on that we’re playing in the near future. But I can OD on basketball.
CHURCH, SOMETIMES On some Sundays I go to the 9 a.m. service at the Abyssinian Baptist Church on 138th and Seventh Avenue. The 11 a.m. service takes too long. And it’s crowded with all the Harlem tourists. When I go at 9, I can come home and have the rest of the day to laze around or work out.
COOKING FOR ONE If I’m hungry, I’ll cook up a salmon steak or chicken on my George Foreman grill, and steam some broccoli and carrots or brussels sprouts. I have plain yogurt with pecans and honey for my sweet tooth. Then I might jump back on the bike. Part of it is my vanity. I kind of spend Sunday perfecting what people expect me to be when I’m out in public: in shape, stylish and a personality.
SUITING UP If we don’t have a game on Sunday night, I head down to the restaurant at 3 and stick around for meet-and-greets with the early diners. If we have a game, I get to the Garden by 5 and stop by the restaurant after the game. I pick out my suit and tie the night before and hang it on a hook so I can look at it and see if I like it. Sometimes I wake up the next day and the sunlight’s hitting it and I say, “Whoa, that’s ghastly!” When I find a combination that works, I keep it all hung up together; it saves time.
WEATHER CHECK If I get some late energy, I work out again. But if I’m feeling lethargic, I just watch TV: 150 channels and nothing on. I do check the Weather Channel, because that determines my wardrobe. I hate it when they’re wrong. Last week I put on my leopard suit, went outside, and it was 63 degrees; I had to come back in and change.
Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.
- Will Rogers
