Steve Nash, retired NBA star turned coach and entrepreneur, recognizes the crucial link between physical and mental well-being. With the launch of his innovative app, Block Training, Nash revolutionizes the way we approach fitness and mental health, offering a comprehensive approach that empowers individuals to achieve their full potential.
Tell us about the Block App that you co-founded?
Block Training was created to show people how adding quality movements into their lives can extend their healthspan, which is the good health years where we’re active, pain free, and avoiding chronic disease. Our team believes in the importance of working smarter and not harder when it comes to building a daily, repeatable habit of movement. We have full-body workouts, sport-specific prep and recovery classes, and an 8-minute mobility and stability routine. This class is called the Daily 8 and demonstrates our core belief: You don’t always need high-intensity or high-impact work to make a difference. You just need purposeful, quality movement.
Why did you want to create this app?
I am passionate about improving people’s quality of life through movement. I learned a tremendous amount during my career that helped me play until I was 40. These lessons made a huge impact on my life, and they can make the same difference in others, too. I wanted to democratize that knowledge. You don’t need to be a professional athlete to improve your quality of movement, or to see positive results from that change.
What does the mantra “MOVE BETTER, FEEL BETTER, LIVE BETTER” mean to you?
Each BLOCK routine is designed by my own team—including Dr. Rick Celebrini, the Director of Sports Medicine & Performance with the Golden State Warriors—to be an accessible introduction to movement training. Movement Training is what I used during and after my NBA career to build mobility, stability, balance, coordination, and strength. Life can be unpredictable, and it’s only through improving these that we’re able to better address that unpredictability. We were adamant about including different intensity levels so that no one is left out and everyone can build their quality of movement.
Why should Canadians prioritize physical activity in their daily life?
Besides movement, our healthspan is also determined by our quality of sleep, diet, mental health, and social interactions. Science tells us that moving our body daily in a meaningful way can drastically improve these factors. Starting every day with quality movement helps me have a better mood, which improves my relationships. I am more likely to eat better, exercise smarter, and make other healthy choices, which results in better sleep.
As a retired athlete how do you stay in shape and healthy?
I LOVE to play sports, but I had to retire from basketball because of a bad back. In my retirement, I’ve made it a point to stay active and play tennis or soccer 3-4 times a week. The only way to keep playing has been to keep up a healthy habit of daily mobility and stability work. Doing 10 minutes of low-impact work after my morning coffee has kept my back mobile, prevented other injuries, and guarantees I’m able to stay competitive. I also mix up my workouts with resistance training and different types of cardio. Physical activity helps us enjoy life more. For me, I get joy from staying young, playing as long as I can, and keeping up with younger athletes. For others, joy might come from taking walks with friends or helping loved ones around the house. These are precious moments, moments that make life worth living, that can only be bolstered with physical activity.
