Taylor Adams and Levi Greenwood are elite AFL Players for the Collingwood Magpies and UBX Athletes. We asked Taylor and Levi about their careers as professional footy players, their relationship as teammates and friends, and what they love most about training with UBX Training.
What do you love best about playing AFL at an elite level?
TAYLOR: For me, the most enjoyable part about playing footy is being around your team-mates. We spend every minute of every day in each other’s pockets, and create these amazing bonds where, if Levi or one of my other team mates does something excellent on the ground, it gives me that goosebump feeling, where you’re just so proud. I love sharing those moments with my teammates more than anything, it’s something pretty special and we’re really lucky and fortunate to be doing what we’re doing.
Why did you decide to pursue AFL as a career?
LEVI: We both had come from very similar beginnings where football was all we knew. I started playing football when I was maybe 8 or 10, I was very similar to Tay where I was one of the best guys on the team and you had everyone telling you how good you could be; it wasn’t until I was maybe 15 or 16 where I actually started believing it.
What is it that drives you both together as mates?
TAYLOR: From a football point of view, Levi’s work rate and his intensity at which he trained, and just his ability to get the best out of himself within any session.
LEVI: We’ve been really close ever since I moved across to Collingwood and we started playing football together. Tay is one of the best trainers that I’ve ever trained with, he sets a standard throughout the whole pre-season. I guess that’s our connection that we’ve got together, we’re very similar in the way we go about things with trying to get the most out of our bodies, we’re as driven as each other, and then you put us together, we’re best mates and you can’t separate us.
What motivates you to work as hard as you do?
LEVI: I just want to be the best I can, Tay’s exactly the same. Our whole life we’ve just tried to be the best that we can possibly be.
TAYLOR: I think there’s a focus on being the best possible player just to help the team, and make sure every weekend you go out there and contribute towards team performance…it’s like, what do I need to do this weekend to ensure we win as a team… that winning feeling, there’s no substitute for it
Why do you train at UBX Training?
LEVI: There’s just so many similarities to what we’re doing here (UBX), to what myself and Tay do out on the footy field and in the AFL lifestyle. I guess one of the biggest ones is, in AFL you’re striving towards a common goal, which is premiership, and you’re doing everything you possibly can to get there, and that means being the best team player that you possibly can be, so then we all work well as a unit, and hopefully get as close as we can to the pinnacle. What we’re doing here, at UBX, is everyone is working towards that common goal, and it’s generally to get fit, and to get healthy.
What was it like training at UBX for the first time?
TAYLOR: My first impression of a UBX studio was ‘state of the art’. It felt like a full-body workout, that wasn’t just strength training, it wasn’t just cardio training, it was skill acquisition. Working together with Levi in our first session, that was also something I was really drawn to, that you were able to work with somebody and help motivate somebody through a session. I was super impressed, I really loved my first workout.
How does the UBX workout help you in your performance on the footy field?
LEVI: I find that it’s super good for my reflexes, especially with the boxing and hand-eye coordination, being light on your feet, and also that functional strength training as well. To have that quick reaction time, which you can develop in boxing and on the speed ball, and with one of the trainers whose got the pads on, it makes you think as well as you’re working out, and thinking under fatigue is something that we need to be really sharp at.
TAYLOR: It’s just a great way for me to get a really solid blowout without necessarily having to go down to the oval, run around and exhaust my body. The fact that I’m able to burn 700-800 calories in 45 minutes, getting my heart rate close to 190BPM, sort of emulates what we’re doing on a weekend when we go out and perform. I love the aspect that there’s always someone else on the floor, you work with a trainer or you might be training with a training partner, or another member, where we’re all competing against each other, and you’re pushing each other, working together to make sure you get the most out of that session, it feels really similar to what we do at the footy club.
