Lowry looking 20 pounds slimmer

[MadDogSHWA]

Watching games from earlier last season and also playoffs and definitely a tale of two Lowry's.

Early season Lowry had that little bit of burst to finish around the rim, be an agitation on D and had his legs in his shot.

Playoff Lowry not so much.

[MEDIC]

Lowry making sure the hometown boy doesn't steal his starting spot.

[MadDogSHWA]

Does anybody realistically think CoJo is a threat to Lowry's spot?

I see him as a guy that does just a few things but does them well.

[Courtside]

Does anybody realistically think CoJo is a threat to Lowry's spot?

I see him as a guy that does just a few things but does them well.

ANY young backup is a threat to the starter, or at least should be.

Lowry has been on 3 teams and seen enough scenarios where other guys were favored over him for one reason or another, so I tend to agree that proving himself as the clear cut Alpha guard would be at least smaller part of his motivation. It's not a contract year, so it's not like that has anything to do with it.

[MadDogSHWA]

I don't see CoJo as that young (4 yrs NBA). He is what he is at this point in the NBA. I hope I'm wrong.

[freddiebutch]

[instagram]https://instagram.com/p/6AskPFmAhC/[/instagram]


That's the slimmest I've ever seen him. No more fat jokes.

Celtics fan over here. I just saw that picture in a thread on our board and man, respect to Kyle Lowry. Guy is putting in work and transforming his body - AFTER signing his contract last year. He deserves to have a career year. Love seeing that kind of dedication from a player - not some contact year motivation stuff. Respect to him. If only Jared Sullinger could join him....

[ontnut]

He lost the weight he gained last year.

[Sherlock]

I tried to lose weight once by simply ramping up my cardio. All it did was make me extremely hungry all of the time & I consumed more calories. My cardio stamina improved substantially, but there was no real weight loss.

As you get older, calorie consumption plays such a pivotal role in weight loss & maintenance. I can actually lose/ maintain body fat more easily by controlling calorie intake & weight training (rather than doing tons of cardio).

This has been shown to be pretty much the norm. There was a study out that showed how distance runners gained weight with age. Guys running marathons into their 50s, even there, they were on average gaining weight. The idea that exercise loses weight isn't quite accurate. Exercise is also key when a person is inactive and has a lot of fat (much more than a guy like Lowry), but after a point, the body simply has to eat to recover and the result is weight gain no matter how much you work out. Diet, far moreso than exercise is the key to weight control. And for Lowry in the season, maybe tweaking his diet would help, but that's pretty damn tough to do, and he's simply going to need calories to recover from the brutality that is a season of NBA games and practices. An offseason to ease up on his body a bit likely helps Lowry a lot.

I second this.

I'm a small guy, who made a new year's resolution to get fit this year and dropped 20 pounds from Jan to April (went from about 150 to 130). Previous attempts at cardio hadn't helped at all. This time, I did no cardio, but started the StrongLifts 5x5 routine (lots of squats, other compound exercises like deadlifts, rows, bench). I also heavily cut my calorie intake (took it down to <1800/day). The weight basically didn't move for the first month, and then just suddenly came off really quickly. I've held steady since then at ~130 and I don't think I'm going to go down any further than that no matter what I do (and nor do I want to get any smaller).

But I started with a lot of excess fat which was ripe for coming off w/ a bit of time and work. Lowry looks to be in the same boat. Just excess fat that can be easily chopped w/ calorie restriction plus weights.

It'll be interesting to see if he can maintain it.

[Sherlock]

Anyway, Lowry is an offseason weight loss guy. He always comes into October trim and then gains his natural weight back during the season.

I actually think there is some truth to this.

I hope the weight loss was done in conjunction with intense training. If he simply lost the weight through a drastic cut in calories, it isn't going to help him perform & he will simply gain the weight back when he has to eat more calories during the season.

I tried to lose weight once by simply ramping up my cardio. All it did was make me extremely hungry all of the time & I consumed more calories. My cardio stamina improved substantially, but there was no real weight loss.

As you get older, calorie consumption plays such a pivotal role in weight loss & maintenance. I can actually lose/ maintain body fat more easily by controlling calorie intake & weight training (rather than doing tons of cardio).

He's a naturally bulky guy. Getting skinny does not necessarily mean his performance will improve.

Anyhow. Hopefully he's putting lots of work in. That is all you can ask for. It's more important than his weight.

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

Good on Lowry for putting in the effort over the offseason -- but it'll be even more impressive if he can keep from reverting as the season wears on.

[Naysorn]

Lowry, Derozan, and JV will be all-stars next year.

The time is now.

[Son Goku 25]

Weight has never been issue with Lowry, I don't know why everybody making it big deal. Lowry struggled last year because of minor injuries and fatigue ..

Yeah, because he got fat. Back issues often correlate to weight, fatigue obviously too.

Lowry has always played hard but imo it's pretty unprofessional to not take care of his body as a pro-athlete who just inked his biggest contract. No excuse really.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcbj8BBsWSA[/youtube]

[TheGoodDoctor]

What RealGM really wants to know....did he keep the booty?!

[I_Like_Dirt]

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

Good on Lowry for putting in the effort over the offseason -- but it'll be even more impressive if he can keep from reverting as the season wears on.

Absolutely agree with this. I think the amount of physical effort that goes into all the practices and games over the course of an NBA season, or any professional sports season, tends to get understated by fans. For major pro leagues, we're talking absolutely incredible efforts at this point - this isn't something for fun or even like college. There has been a sports revolution in terms of physical conditioning that has happened over the past few decades. The NHL used to be able to roster players who could barely skate, but that really isn't the case anymore. The NBA has moved to a league where practice, mental preparedness and conditioning is far more important than it ever was. Even golfers went from being a bunch of jolly fat guys players who trained and worked out year round.

This added emphasis on conditioning and preparedness has put a lot of added strain on athletes. So where the NBA is concerned, players will naturally tend to revert to their normal body types over the course of the season. Avoiding that type of thing is incredibly difficult and very few players manage it.

[hype_2004]

Lmao this weight loss is dramatic. He legit looks 20-25 pounds slimmer. Probably photoshopped :p

He looks dehydrated, probably went on a carb free diet, very hard to maintain and drains the energy. i dont think this kind of diet is entirely sustainable for high calibre athletes who need a lot of calories/energy supply from fats and carbs.

[J-Roc]

JJ Reddick believes.

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/2015/08/raptors-kyle-lowry-debuts-slim-new-look/

[Yosemite Dan]

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

Good on Lowry for putting in the effort over the offseason -- but it'll be even more impressive if he can keep from reverting as the season wears on.

Absolutely agree with this. I think the amount of physical effort that goes into all the practices and games over the course of an NBA season, or any professional sports season, tends to get understated by fans. For major pro leagues, we're talking absolutely incredible efforts at this point - this isn't something for fun or even like college. There has been a sports revolution in terms of physical conditioning that has happened over the past few decades. The NHL used to be able to roster players who could barely skate, but that really isn't the case anymore. The NBA has moved to a league where practice, mental preparedness and conditioning is far more important than it ever was. Even golfers went from being a bunch of jolly fat guys players who trained and worked out year round.

This added emphasis on conditioning and preparedness has put a lot of added strain on athletes. So where the NBA is concerned, players will naturally tend to revert to their normal body types over the course of the season. Avoiding that type of thing is incredibly difficult and very few players manage it.

LOL what??? So what some of you guys are saying is because Lowry works so hard during the season that all this calorie burning leads to him gaining weight. That's basically impossible. Losing weight is very simple. More calories burned than taken in leads to weight loss unless you have some medical condition that slows your metobalism to a crawl ( which Lowry doesn't have, geez he's only 30 not 50 years old)

The reason Bosh got skinny is he burned more calories than he took in and of course less weight training but that same course of events would not lead to Lowry gaining weight, he would just lose muscle mass. Muscle mass does not turn into fat. It's not even debatable. This sounds like an excuse fat people use as to why they are fat. Lowry had to have a horrible diet because it is one difficult feat to gain weight DURING a season when you are constantly burning calories.

There's a long list of players who were skinny early in thier career and bulked up later with pure muscle and kept the same body type for years. Guys like MJ kept it on because they continued to work out. Bosh didn't.

[EarlyRaptor]

That's called self pride at its finest. The man knows he ended the season and playoffs poorly, and is doing something about it.

I've never been a huge fan of Lowry, but I can appreciate when someone does something to try and better them self for the teams sake.

[lolwut]

Anyhow. Hopefully he's putting lots of work in. That is all you can ask for. It's more important than his weight.

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

I have never heard this at all.

[Sherlock]

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

Good on Lowry for putting in the effort over the offseason -- but it'll be even more impressive if he can keep from reverting as the season wears on.

Absolutely agree with this. I think the amount of physical effort that goes into all the practices and games over the course of an NBA season, or any professional sports season, tends to get understated by fans. For major pro leagues, we're talking absolutely incredible efforts at this point - this isn't something for fun or even like college. There has been a sports revolution in terms of physical conditioning that has happened over the past few decades. The NHL used to be able to roster players who could barely skate, but that really isn't the case anymore. The NBA has moved to a league where practice, mental preparedness and conditioning is far more important than it ever was. Even golfers went from being a bunch of jolly fat guys players who trained and worked out year round.

This added emphasis on conditioning and preparedness has put a lot of added strain on athletes. So where the NBA is concerned, players will naturally tend to revert to their normal body types over the course of the season. Avoiding that type of thing is incredibly difficult and very few players manage it.

LOL what??? So what some of you guys are saying is because Lowry works so hard during the season that all this calorie burning leads to him gaining weight. That's basically impossible. Losing weight is very simple. More calories burned than taken in leads to weight loss unless you have some medical condition that slows your metobalism to a crawl ( which Lowry doesn't have, geez he's only 30 not 50 years old)

The reason Bosh got skinny is he burned more calories than he took in and of course less weight training but that same course of events would not lead to Lowry gaining weight, he would just lose muscle mass. Muscle mass does not turn into fat. It's not even debatable. This sounds like an excuse fat people use as to why they are fat. Lowry had to have a horrible diet because it is one difficult feat to gain weight DURING a season when you are constantly burning calories.

There's a long list of players who were skinny early in thier career and bulked up later with pure muscle and kept the same body type for years. Guys like MJ kept it on because they continued to work out. Bosh didn't.

Different body types man. Genetics matter.

Jordan had a totally different body type than Bosh. Jordan looked like a mesomorph.

A better comparison for Bosh is another ectomorph like Garnett. Garnett has a similar skinny/wiry build like Bosh, and early in his career, Garnett had similar issues where he'd look significantly skinnier as the season wore on. As guys get older, it's easier to put on weight, but if you're a natural ectomorph, gaining and keeping muscle is pretty tough.

Compare that to Lowry, who's clearly more of an endomorph. Guys like him, Charles Barkley, Jarred Sullinger, Boris Diaw, etc. have that softer/fatter build which makes it harder to lose fat / prevent weight gain.

I'm not arguing that the way these guys behave and treat themselves doesn't impact their body, but even simple things like: do you or don't you drink gatorade during a practice or a game can influence your body shape over the course of an 8-month season. If you're Bosh, you can drink all the sugar/electrolytes you need to maintain peak performance during a game and not worry about it. If you're Lowry, it's not that simple, because that kind of thing can lead to weight gain over time. So do you trade short term in-game performance for longer term body composition and performance later? Or not? It's a harder question for these guys.

To suggest it's equally easy for every player to maintain their weight/build over the course of season and that those that aren't able to are just lazy and uncommitted is just not a fair statement. I'd propose that Lowry probably works a lot harder in the weightroom and diet department than does someone like Terrence Ross, but T-Ross' body type allows him to be lazy and it doesn't show. Lowry's doesn't. Does that mean Ross is a better professional than Lowry?

[Kenyon009]

Remember back when Bosh was here and we'd always see the offseason threads about how Bosh had gained 10-15 pounds of muscle, and he'd come into camp ripped, and then as the season wore on, he'd gradually get skinnier?

I think all athletes will tend to revert back to their natural body structure over the course of a season. It's hard not to -- given the intensity of the season, there's not enough time to do the type of heavy lifting and equally importantly resting that's required to either gain or lose a bunch of weight.

Good on Lowry for putting in the effort over the offseason -- but it'll be even more impressive if he can keep from reverting as the season wears on.

It's a lack of consistency. He wasn't eating enough food and/or working out as often, even if they don't lift as often they should be able to maintain strength levels or even gain weight throughout the season as long as they are consistent with their diets. Gaining weight isn't that hard pack down some donuts after every game and replenish your glycogen stores.