THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME

Monday, April 29, 2013.

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In one of the gyms at the Lerkendal Idresspark, the home ground of Rosenborg BK, Zachary was entirely focused on his training. Salty droplets rolled down his face dripping onto the gym floor as he pushed his body up, completing his 50th press-up. Down his back ran a dark stripe amid the light-grey color of his sleeveless Nike top—a spreading map of perspiration showing the hard work he'd been putting into his workout that morning. Coach Bjørn Peters stood at the side, watching him like a hawk and shouting instructions at the pace of a machine gun.

There was no other soul in the gym. The other players had been—given the morning off since they had played a Tippeligaen match against Sandnes Ulf the previous day.

"Keep moving, don't slow down," Coach Bjørn Peters yelled, clapping his hands as he moved around Zachary's position on the floor. "You can do it. Up and down, up and down..."

Zachary felt dog-tired. It felt like his energy reserves had gone the way of the buffalo. His vision was hazy as his entire being screamed at him to let loose and relax—to take a moment and lie supine on the floor.

At that juncture, the hard floor looked as welcoming as the comfiest of bed in Zachary's eyes. But, he knew he couldn't stop before finishing the entire set of sixty press-ups. If he gave in to the exhaustion, the effectiveness of the whole routine would be—diminished. So, he squeezed out more steam from the depths of his being and forced himself to complete the 51st press-up that morning.

It had been almost two months since the day he'd signed the professional contract with Rosenborg. He hadn't made it into the club's starting eleven yet. He had spent most of his time working with Coach Bjørn Peters on his fitness. He had gone through various drills in a progressive overload regimen to enhance his body control simultaneously with his balance and coordination.

He had followed Coach Johansen's advice to utilize the time before he made it onto the starting line-up to improve his fitness further. He wanted to assure the club management and coaching staff that his growth spurt wasn't an issue and wouldn't prevent him from performing in Norway's top-tier league. The only way to achieve that was by going through carefully planned training drills to improve his fitness in the shortest time possible. That way, the coaches wouldn't have to worry about him being prone to injuries due to his changing physique.

With that in mind, Zachary had maintained a strict schedule of training with Coach Bjørn Peters during most of the day times he wasn't training with the rest of the Rosenborg squad. Bench presses, yoga, knee tuck classic planks, press-ups, sit-ups, hip-flexor stretches—he'd done them all over the two months under the watchful eyes of the fitness coach.

"Don't slow down," Coach Bjørn Peters yelled. "Endure. Just nine more to go, and then we can stop for a water break." He added, clapping his hands at a steady rhythm, maybe to cheer on Zachary.

Zachary, on his part, didn't reply since he had no strength to mouth even a simple yes. All his focus was on completing the remaining nine press-ups.

His black hair, tied into a loose bun, was soaking wet. He looked like he'd just pulled himself from a pool. Yet there was no water around, but only the expansive well-equipped gym of Rosenborg. He didn't mind the sweat in the slightest and continued with the press-up routine until he finished the entire set of sixty.

"Okay, you did great," Coach Bjørn Peters said, smiling. "Let's take a five-minute break before we continue." He handed him a water bottle.

Zachary received the bottle and chugged down some water. It tasted like the rarest elixir in the world. So, he drunk it with abandon, trying to recover his stamina in the shortest time possible.

"Next," Coach Bjørn Peters said after a few minutes. "We shall begin the knee tuck classic planks using a Bosu fitness ball. I'll explain it to you once again. Keep your eyes on me so that you don't miss a thing." He added, picking up a blue Bosu ball from a nearby shelf and placing it on the floor.

Zachary took a few steps back to give the coach enough room for the demonstration. He then watched the coach settle into a full plank position, with palms resting on the Bosu ball and hands in line with his shoulders. From his posture, Zachary could tell that Coach Bjørn Peters was as fit as a fiddle. He could even give some professional footballers a run for their money.

"While doing the knee tuck classic planks, the most important thing is to form a straight line from your shoulders to your heels," he said, turning to cast a glance at Zachary while still in the plank position. "Then, all you need to do next is brace your core and drive your right knee across your body toward your left elbow." His words came out of his mouth at a stable rate even though he was in an unnatural stance.

"Pause at the top point for about thirty seconds—and then reverse direction back to starting position," the coach continued, still demonstrating the exercise atop the Bosu ball. "Continue alternating between legs for a total of fifty repetitions. Are we clear?" He asked, picking himself up from the floor.

"Yes, coach," Zachary replied, nodding.

He could easily follow the coach's explanation since he had been doing the knee tuck classic planks over the course of the previous month. That was after failing to make the Rosenborg squad at the start of the season. He'd channeled all the fury he felt at that time, using it as motivation to improve his fitness as he awaited a chance to join the starting eleven. The training was a form of therapy for him. With an intense workout, he could overcome any anger episode easily without causing a scene.

Over the previous two months, Zachary had lived only for training. He'd neither socialized with friends nor spent any time doing anything that wasn't related to football. He'd even declined invitations from both Kristin and Marta to have dinner together during the Easter weekend. All his focus had been on the prize—gaining a spot on the first team as quickly as possible. All the other things could wait until he was a regular on the Rosenborg squad. He didn't intend to keep watching the Rosenborg Tippeligaen matches as a spectator in the stands.

So, he had exercised like a mad man—utilizing every single moment to train with the help of the physical conditioning elixir. He'd even added several simple fitness routines in his everyday living to make the most of those otherwise stationary few seconds to work in his favor.

When the microwave was on, he would do jumping jacks.

When water was boiling in the kettle, he would do squats.

When the adverts were on between his TV programs, mainly sports and music shows, he would lift hand weights.

After washroom breaks, he would do different kinds of plank exercises.

Thanks to those routines, he could feel his fitness improving gradually once again. The previous year, it had almost plateaued, with none of his physical attributes experiencing any remarkable growth. However, with the two months of dedicated training, he could feel that he'd entered a period of rapid improvement once more. He had a feeling that one of his attributes could break into the S-grading very soon—that was if he kept up the training.

"Zachary, are we together?" Coach Bjørn Peters said, his voice rising slightly. "Why are you spacing out when I'm busy explaining the exercising routine to you? Does this seem like something easy to you?" He frowned, seemingly annoyed.

"Sorry, coach," Zachary replied, his voice humble. "It won't happen again."

Coach Bjørn Peters nodded, his facial expression relaxing a bit. "I was saying that you're going to have to focus on stabilizing more because you'll be on one leg at a time. You've got to maintain that balance on one leg for more than thirty seconds. And don't relax your abdominal muscles while you're at it. Otherwise, the exercise will be ineffective. Are we clear?"

"Yes, coach."

"Okay, since you've rested enough, go down and give me 50 sets of the knee tuck classic planks," he said, looking at his watch. "You need to hurry and finish this in maybe twenty minutes. Coach Johansen has already informed me that he needs you to attend the match video review meeting at 11:00 AM. So, you'll need some time to prepare before heading to the tactics room."

"He wants me to attend the video review meeting?" Zachary asked, feeling his heart start to palpitate with expectation. Coach Johansen had not called him for such meetings for the previous two months. That was because only the players on the previous or following match squads could attend those meetings.

"Yes," Coach Peters replied, smiling. "Don't think that all your hard work has gone unnoticed by the coaching staff. I have also already submitted a report to the guys in charge of your medical, telling them that you're fully fit and ready for action. They should be calling you for another assessment within the next few days."

"Thanks, coach," Zachary replied, reflexively bowing slightly at the waist. He could hardly contain his happiness. Rosenborg would be facing off against Strindheim IL in the second round of the Norwegian Football Cup in two days. If the head coach had called him for the video review meeting, he was most likely part of the squad for that match.

"You're welcome," Coach Peters replied, smiling. "And this was all because of your hard work. So, keep at it and give me fifty of those knee planks right away."

"Aye, coach," Zachary said, nodding in assent. He then settled down in the plank position on the dome-shaped upper side of the Bosu ball.

He then drew his knee forward and started the knee plank routine right away. Since it seemed he was going to get a chance to join the match squad, after all, he was more motivated than usual to complete the workout.