Tag: Wellness

MY MONDAY MORNING

“The infrared sauna is next in my game-day routine, usually 15 minutes. During that time, I’m usually listening to reggae music.”

How Devin Booker’s Life Was Changed by Kobe Bryant

The NBA guard, who chugs a glass of water every morning and always brings a Diptyque candle on the road, says this is the year for a Phoenix Suns championship.

By Lane Florsheim | Photography by Lyndon French for WSJ. Magazine Updated March 8, 2022 11:04 am ET

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Breakfast, especially on Mondays, is when Devin Booker gets organized. Over a smoothie and a plate of pancakes, eggs and greens prepared by his private chef, the Phoenix Suns guard, 25, reads an email from his agent/business partner containing everything he has to do for the week. On the days he doesn’t have a basketball game, he takes meetings for his businesses, which include the sports drink company Coco5 he co-owns and several startups in which he’s invested. Game days, on the other hand, are scheduled with practices and routines from the minute Booker wakes up in the morning until after the game, when he usually does a heavier workout than he did leading up to it. “The reasoning behind that is to work while your body is already fatigued,” he says. “I like to train when my body is at that level.”

Booker was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he grew up with his mom, Veronica Gutierrez, and two siblings until high school, when he moved to Moss Point, Mississippi, to live with his dad, Melvin Booker. Melvin, a former NBA player who had been playing overseas, became a mentor to his son. Booker went to the University of Kentucky in 2014 and left after one season at age 18 after being drafted by the Suns in the first round. Three years later, he became the youngest player in NBA history to score at least 60 points in a game. (He scored 70 against the Boston Celtics.) In 2018, he signed the largest deal in the Suns’ franchise history, worth $158 million over five years, and last year, he and teammate Chris Paul led the Suns to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Off the court, Booker—who goes by DBook or simply Book—is also known for his romantic relationship with Kendall Jenner. Here, he takes WSJ. through a typical Monday game day.

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The NBA star has been in the spotlight for his romantic relationship with model Kendall Jenner. He’s used to it, he says. “I’m in a good place right now.”

What time do you get up on Mondays, and what’s the first thing you do?

We really don’t do days of the week in the NBA. We do game days, we do practice days, and we do travel days. [On a] Monday game day, 8 a.m. wake-up is usually my time. The first thing I do is chug water. That’s something I’ve been doing for a long time. I feel like it gets me going. [Then] 8:30 a.m. breakfast.

Then what comes next?

We have a shootaround at 10 a.m., which is like game-day prep. We go in there and we go over the plays of what ever team we’re playing against that day and just get a few shots up, get the blood flowing early in the morning. That’s usually an hour, from 10 to 11. Around 11:30, I get on my LightStim bed. It’s an infrared light bed. I sit on that for usually 40 minutes: 20 on my back, 20 on my face. The infrared sauna is next in my game-day routine, usually 15 minutes. During that time, I’m usually listening to reggae music. Then right at noon is what we call my pre-game snack. It’s usually something lighter, just try to get some fuel in the body before I go play. After my snack, it’s a one-hour nap. I’ll turn everything off in my room, light a candle and sit in the bed and try focusing on my breathing and separating myself from the madness that’s been going on that day.

That sounds restorative.

It’s why I love game days, getting the hour right there. After that I get my coffee and start my shower, which is when I switch from reggae music, and now I’m getting ready for the game. The music’s a little more aggressive. I do my pre- game meal at 4 o’clock, usually three hours before the game. I usually get to the arena two hours before the game. Right when I get there I hop on table work: activation treatment, good stretching, making sure everything in your body is moving right. Then I do 15 minutes of an actual lift with some real weights to get the body ready. Six o’clock, the hour before the game, is my court time when I go out and get shots up. We’ll do our team meeting at 6:20, and then we run out as a team at 6:40 and we do 20 minutes of warmups out on the court before the game.

Are you one of those “four hours a night is all I need” people with sleep, or do you need a minimum to recharge?

I try to get eight. But it varies. No less than five though. My problem is I play videogames very late at night, so that usually cuts into my sleep time. I’m usually asleep at 1, wake up at 8.

Do you take any vitamins?

I do. They’re tailored to me, prescribed by our team: just an advanced probiotic, vitamin C packs, and that’s pretty much it. Vitamin D once a week.

What do you do to pump yourself up ahead of games? Do you have any superstitions?

Usually music. I block everything out on the outside and really just focus on the task at hand. That’s the biggest thing about my routine, trying to stay focused

Preparations on game day require a mix of nutrition, physical warm-ups and mental fortitude. “I block everything out on the outside and really just focus on the task at hand,” says Booker.

Have you learned any life hacks being on the road so much—packing secrets, keys to a great sleep?

I use a Barefoot Dreams blanket. I don’t want to sound like a little kid, but I have a consistent blanket I bring with me on the road. I travel with sage and a Diptyque candle everywhere I go, so I’m kind of getting my home vibe on the road. And I bring a gaming laptop; it’s easy access to connect with my friends.

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You’ve also become an investor and businessperson in the past few years. Who do you turn to for business advice? Do you have a mentor?

Jim Reynolds—he’s an uncle of mine, a private banker out of Chicago who owns a company called Loop Capital—put me in touch with Magic Johnson, who’s been a great entrepreneur to follow, especially as someone who’s been in my shoes and been in the NBA and understands the business of this league. I’ve had a lot of older teammates I’ve been inspired by, Chris Paul being one of the current ones and Tyson Chandler being one of the good vets for me in the past.

How are you feeling about a Suns championship this year?

It’s time. I think everybody on our team has the same goal and is on the same mission, especially after a deep playoff run last year and a heartbreak loss in the finals. We’re not trying to have that feeling again.

What makes you feel productive?

A clean space, when my room is locked in. That’s my therapy, too, sitting in my closet and organizing and going through drawers and making sure I know where everything is.

You’re in the public eye as an athlete but also because you’re dating Kendall Jenner; is it hard having the spotlight on both your professional and private life?

I wouldn’t say hard. Honestly, I’m enjoying life to the fullest, and that came off my tongue so easily because it wasn’t always this way, but I feel like I’m in a good place right now. I love my family, I love the people around me, and I love the impact that I get to have on this world, the younger generation under me and the kids who look up to me.

What’s one piece of advice you’ve gotten that’s guided you?

“Be legendary,” the advice that Kobe had left me with in the short time I got to spend with him in our last game playing against each other. He left it with a mark on my shoe and he wrote it out, Be legendary. And not only did he write it on the shoe and sign it for me, but just talking me through it and talking through the steps that it’s going to take to get there. Kobe’s always been an inspiration, so hearing it in his voice and seeing it in his handwriting on the shoes keeps me motivated.

And you got it tattooed too, right?

My first tattoo. Any glimpse I can see of it, any photo where I look and I’m shooting the ball and I see it, it’s a perfect reminder for me.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

5 Monday Must-Haves

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PHOTO: APPLE

Apple AirPods Max Headphones

“I even wear them in the house, which my partner and my mom don’t like.”

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF LIGHTSTIM

Lightstim LED Bed

“It reduces inflammation, improves circulation.”

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF CONVERSE

Converse Sneaker

“Those are my dailies. As classic as it gets.”

Coco5

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF COCO5

“It’s my hydration company. Arizona, where I live, is a dry climate, so you’ve got to stay hydrated. I’m downing it daily.”

Infrared Sauna

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF CLEARLIGHT INFRARED SAUNAS

“I go straight from the LightStim bed to the sauna, which is just getting beaten by red light for an hour straight.”

Devin Booker credited former NBA player Tyson Chandler as a source of inspiration. Due to a transcription error, the name that originally appeared in his response was Tyshawn Taylor. (March 8, 2022)

Corrections & Amplifications

https://www.wsj.com/articles/devin-booker-interview-kobe-bryant-11646659758 11/11

Explore what’s next for well-being and mental health.

Clearlight Infrared of Berkeley, Calif., has taken inspiration from Murphy beds to produce one-person prototypes that can collapse from 4 feet wide to 2 feet, says company president Andy Kaps. 

By Jen Murphy, March 9, 2021 at 1:00 pm ET

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Helsinki’s Löyly complex has three saunas that accommodate 96 people and are linked by walkways to locker rooms, lounge areas and a restaurant. PHOTO: KUVATOIMISTO KUVIO OY

Saunas offer a medication-free way to relax and socialize, and recent studies show health benefits too: sitting in an enclosure where a wood stove or electric heater has pushed temperatures of 195 degrees or higher can ease chronic stress and muscle pain and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and other serious ailments. 

“Chronic stress leads to inflammation, poor sleep, high blood pressure,” Christopher Minson, a cardiovascular physiologist at the University of Oregon, says, adding that infrared saunas, which use light to heat the body, deliver similar benefits at lower temperatures. “When we go through heat therapy, we boost antioxidant activity in the body and enter a parasympathetic, or rest and digest state.”

Though saunas may be a mainstay of high-end gyms and spas, their space requirements and high cost—which can exceed $10,000—have put them beyond the reach of many Americans. A host of innovations, including electronic controls and space-saving designs, promise to make saunas more popular and easier to integrate into our daily routines.

A look at how innovation and technology are transforming the way we live, work and play. PreviewSubscribe

Thinking Small

German manufacturer Klafs designed a one-person sauna that with the push of a button collapses to the size of a bookcase. PHOTOS: KLAFS GMBH & CO. KG(2)

Some manufacturers are developing compact saunas to meet the needs of those who lack a backyard or basement big enough to hold a conventional home sauna. Klafs, a manufacturer in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany, designed a one-person sauna that with the push of a button collapses to the size of a bookcase. When it goes on sale in the U.S. later this year, it is expected to retail for about $15,000. 

Clearlight Infrared of Berkeley, Calif., has taken inspiration from Murphy beds to produce one-person prototypes that can collapse from 4 feet wide to 2 feet, says company president Andy Kaps. The company has no time frame yet to market the saunas, he says, as the cost would likely be 50% higher than a typical model.

Corey Smee, manager of Health Mate, a sauna maker in Buena Park, Calif., sees a trend toward even more compact saunas. His company’s $2,900 infrared half-sauna—essentially a chair within a red cedar box that encloses the legs and torso of a single person—has sold well during the pandemic. “You can rest your laptop on the top and Zoom while saunaing,” he says. “It’s perfect for a work-from-home lifestyle, and it’s mobile so it can be pushed around and easily stored.”

Greener Heat

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Finland-based Harvia recently introduced a stove that uses a special air control system to cut particulate emissions. PHOTO: HARVIA

If the physical footprint of saunas is shrinking, so is their carbon footprint—with the development of low-emission stoves. Researchers in Finland estimate that sauna stoves are the nation’s biggest single source of fine particulate and black carbon emissions. Harvia, in Muurame, Finland, recently introduced a stove that uses a special air control system to cut particulate emissions by 20% and carbon emissions by 70%. 

Another Finnish company, Tampere-based Lytefire, last year debuted what it calls the first zero-emissions sauna—a five-person enclosure that runs on solar energy. Located atop a 6,500-foot-peak at the ski resort of Heuberge in the Swiss Alps, the sauna was erected alongside a panel of 48 mirrors on a wooden platform that rotates to keep the mirrors facing the sun throughout the day so they can direct sunlight onto the sauna rocks. And Harvia is now working with Lytefire on the development of home saunas that use solar energy that can charge batteries to provide more consistent sauna stove heat, according to Harvia executive Päivi Juolahti.

Playing the Game

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Sunlighten, a manufacturer in Overland Park, Kan., is making a sauna that can be controlled remotely via an app. PHOTO: SUNLIGHTEN

Some electric sauna heaters can be controlled remotely via an app or a voice assistant like Amazon’s Alexa so users can order up the heat even before they arrive home. Remote control is just part of a nascent high-tech makeover that sauna makers envision. “We have a patent out on technology that allows our app to interface with other devices, like your Garmin or Whoop,” says Aaron Zack, co-owner of Sunlighten, a manufacturer in Overland Park, Kan. “The idea is that an embedded glass control panel on the sauna will allow you to personalize your experience to settings like muscle recovery based on biomarkers such as heart rate and blood pressure.” 

Mr. Zack also envisions the use of mobile notifications to remind users of sauna time and even gamifying the experience, with users awarded badges for fitting in a certain number of sauna sessions a week.

Hot Entertainment

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Löyly, an 11,500-square-foot sauna complex on Helsinki’s waterfront, opened in 2016. PHOTO: KUVATOIMISTO KUVIO OY

In the U.S., sauna time is often viewed as a private experience—even though studies suggest that chatting with others during sauna sessions amplifies the health benefits, according to Dr. Minson, the University of Oregon physiologist. “Most Americans don’t think of the sauna as a place to socially interact in the way Europeans do,” he says. 

What health benefits have you found from sauna use? Join the conversation below.

Europeans are taking sauna socializing to the next level. Finns can watch hockey games at Helsinki’s Hartwall Arena from a 20-person sauna skybox. Also in Helsinki is Löyly, an 11,500-square-foot pyramid-shaped sauna complex on the city’s waterfront that opened in 2016. Its three separate saunas accommodate 96 people and are linked by walkways to locker rooms, lounge areas and a restaurant. Anu Puustinen, co-founder of Avanto Architects, the Helsinki-based firm behind Löyly, says there is rising demand for such venues.

Another hot trend is Sauna Aufguss, which mixes high temperatures and live entertainment in which performers wave towels to circulate the steamy air. “The younger generation is really gravitating to Sauna Aufguss,” says Lasse Eriksen, development manager for Oslo-based Nordic Hotels & Resorts. “For 15 minutes you are entertained by a ballet dancer or musician. The heat and steam enhance the excitement of the performance and you get a good sweat in the process.”

Eriksen designed a 100-person, 700-square-foot sauna amphitheater that opened in 2018 at Farris Bad Resort in Larvik, Norway, and is now consulting on the first U.S. sauna amphitheater, set to open later this year in Las Vegas.