A lot has been posted about Hilary Knights Puck Naked feature that appears in the current issue of ESPN the Magazines Body Issue. Of course most people will hardly get past the incredible photos of this elite athlete (and lets face it, they are amazing). But thats not the point. Ive posted just the text of the article as it appeared on the magazines web site. Take a few moments to read and digest what Ms. Knight is saying here. Yeah, shes got an amazing body... but it just didnt happen and look what she can do with it. From July 11 edition of ESPN the Magazine: Hilary Knight Gets Puck Naked, by Morty Ain ~ Its amazing what a little button can do. When youre younger, youre always slipping, and if you could make it across the ice sheet and back, youd get this little button which you fasten to your laces. So I remember being like, OK, I really want all the buttons. Its this bulldozer effect on the ice. I noticed that if Im 185 pounds or more [as I was for the Olympics], I get this crazy power-forward mentality and no one can stop me. I definitely still felt feminine at 185. I just jumped right in and took hold of being proud and happy with being a female athlete. I caught someones sunglasses on a roller coaster once. It was somewhere in Ohio -- Cedar Point or something like that -- one of those thrill rides. A few cars up, someones sunglasses had fallen off, and we were on one of those corkscrew parts, and I saw sunglasses and just instinctively grabbed them right out of the air. I was like, Oh, my reaction time is really good. This is going well. I want to be a player that you have to watch. I think it speaks volumes when you are able to be in the back of the other teams mind. Knowing that every time No. 21 steps on the ice -- thats a player youre going to want to watch because something great is going to be created. I developed this monster presence mantra. Its this power force thats super strong and is something that the womens game hasnt seen for a few years. I had this idea that muscular isnt feminine. There is this image of athletic women as small and petite -- the yoga body type. Women in general, we tend to shrink ourselves and not have as much confidence as we should in presenting ourselves and our body types. Its OK to be fit and healthy and comfortable within your body, whatever frame you have. Since gaining 15 pounds to be at the top of my sport [for the Olympics], Ive tried to shatter the body image that muscular isnt feminine. Im totally different off the ice. I almost think of it as a transformer. Youve got this normal car, and then all of a sudden you have to transform into this monster car complex in order to save the world. I like the superhero analogies. Goblet squats are probably my favorite thing to do for training. For a goblet squat, you hold either a kettlebell or dumbbell with your palms facing up, so youre sort of cupping it palms up and youre in a squat position and youre literally just bending down and pretending as if youre sitting in a chair and youre going to explode up with your feet still on the ground. Im big into fire-cupping. The benefits, both physically and mentally, got me addicted. Think of just a jar, almost like a goldfish jar, on your skin. It looks like a pockmark because its pulling your skin into the jar. You may have a bruise or it might just be swelling in the muscle, and by cupping that area, it picks up the tissue and lets more blood flow to the area, more oxygen, and cuts your recovery time. After you pull the cups off, it looks like you have a bunch of hickeys all over your body. Its an interesting kind of look -- kind of like a leopard. I love being a part of a team sport. I know my responsibility to each one of my teammates, and they know theirs to me. Its sort of this symbiotic effort of trying to work together to achieve whatever goal were trying to achieve. You have to be selfless in your training because youre a part of something thats bigger than yourself. Being surrounded by great women and amazing role models and good teammates allowed me to unfold and evolve into the person that I am today. Women in general, we tend to shrink ourselves. Ive tried to shatter the body image that muscular isnt feminine. I think its pretty cool to be an elite athlete. Im able to be able to achieve certain things that others arent -- whether its a reaction time or the idea of a coffee thats about to be spilled and Im able to grab it before anyone else or whatever it is. So I think thats a pretty unique and cool thing. I dont have to grow up. I wear yoga pants and get to work out all the time -- its my job. I feel a little bit different when I go into what I call the real world. Its cool to be able to train as a full-time job, and its something that I love and will continue to try to make work for the next however many years. One time we had to swim in a pool with sweat suits on. Its a lot harder than it sounds. With the water weighing you down, you feel like youre going to drown ... youre swimming for dear life. But somehow everyone survived. If one of my teammates gets roughed up, Im going to step in. I have this protective mentality. I think just being bigger, some of the other girls are definitely intimidated by that presence. Its this physical presence but also this emotional, mental sense as well that Im able to bring to the table. Im a huge believer in leading by example. If you see someone battle in the corner and come up with the puck, you get really excited as a teammate, knowing that theyre giving their all. I hope that inspires other teammates and motivates them for the next shift.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 15:50:42 +0000