Basketball player turned coach now a fitness guru

CEBU CITY, Philippines—  Former Cebu Gems basketball star Leode Garcia is not taking things slow during this whole quarantine period.

The basketball player-turned-coach is keeping himself busy by staying fit thru daily exercises at home, which he shares online to inspire more people to get up and get active.

Garcia, who was a player for 30 years and also coached a collegiate squad in a local league here, told CDN Digital that sharing his exercise routine is his way of keeping his players in shape as basketball games or even team workouts aren’t still allowed due to the coronavirus health crisis.

Since March, he has been doing his daily workouts and sharing it online through Facebook.

“Gusto ko ma disiplina ako self. Gusto sad ko makatabang or maka inspire sa uban tawo nga nakaila nko or wala, maski edaran, nga maka exercise gihapon kada adlaw bisan pa sa panahon sa pandemic,” said Garcia.

(I want to discipline myself. I also want to help inspire others who know me or even don’t know me, even the older ones, to exercise everyday even during the pandemic.)

According to Garcia, staying fit and active is important these days because it boosts our immune system and helps prevent us from getting sick.

During his fitness exercise videos, he also shares some other strategies to lose weight.

“Naa koy segment nga gitawag ug BIB F&F or Food &Fitness 28 Days Shred Weight Loss Program sa amo BIB Community and everyday na cya except Sundays,” he added.

(I have a segment called the BIB F&F 28 days Shred Weight Loss Program in our BIB Community and this is done everyday except Sundays.)

Garcia was a member of the Cebu Gems team that played in the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA). When he stopped playing, he turned to coaching and landed a job with the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) collegiate squad in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi). /bmjo

Read: USJ-R coach: Team still lacks maturity