Servin' It Up: One-on-One with Ty Loomis

Interview by Luis Olivares

As anyone familiar with his BSN blog is well aware, Ty Loomis is not shy. So we decided to take advantage of this and catch up with the AVP beach pro as he gears up for the upcoming 2009 season. Fresh off his victory at the March 15 USA Volleyball International Development Qualifier in Long Beach, CA, Ty had plenty to say about the win, the direction of USA Volleyball, and his favorite supplement company’s award-winning products, among other things.

Alright Ty, first off thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions.

Yeah, no problem.

I wanted to begin with your impression of the 2008 AVP season. How do you feel you guys did?

Last year? Well, last year I was a little bit injured. I was lifting so hard in the offseason, doing a ton of legs and lunges and Romanian deadlifts, and I was just getting super strong. I was pounding N.O.-XPLODE™ and everything, and I was just getting jacked. But I wasn’t doing enough stretching or enough yoga, to kind of loosen up my hips and my hamstrings as I was strengthening and getting everything tight, and that got my hamstrings a little too tight. And of course when your hamstrings get tight it kind of leads to tightness in the hips and tightness in the lower back, obviously cause it’s all connected. I learned a lot about my body last year, let’s put it that way.

So you played through it?

Yeah I played through it, but I was a little bit injured. We still had some really good results, but it was frustrating because I was injured, and I know that I was playing at a really high level when I was feeling good. I had to miss a few events because the back was a little too tight. But I have been working with an awesome massage therapist and doing a lot of therapy for it and I feel great this year.
The thing about the AVP is, the AVP consists of the top players in the US. This is where volleyball originated, in the United States, so we kind of have the biggest and best domestic tour, you know, just like England has the best soccer tour. So every weekend we’re competing against the world’s best. It’s super hard.

OK, well how about this Hot Winter Nights schedule that they started for January and February that I just read about? Did you take part in that?

Yeah I did actually. This was my first year doing that. We ended up playing in the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut; it’s the closest casino to New York, so a lot of the New Yorkers come down. That was unbelievable; it’s like setting up one sand volleyball court in like the MGM Grand. We set up one volleyball court in their big basketball arena, which could probably fit like 12,000 people in there. And we had the whole lower level filled with fans, and that was an unbelievable thing. It was really cool; it’s a lot different ‘cause a lot of the elements that we normally deal with like dehydration, and the sun, the wind and rain, none of that was there. So that kind of tournament is all about pleasing the crowd, going for the spectacular plays, going up for the really hard hits and the really big blocks and tough serves. It’s kind of like an exhibition. So it was more or less to entertain the crowd.

So you think indoor beach volleyball is a good innovation?

Oh I think it was unbelievable. It’s a really good business model for the AVP to do that. They can charge a lot more for the tickets, it’s only a one-night show, you know, they have all the JumboTrons playing with instant replay and all the player profile videos…yeah it was great. They hand out the thundersticks, and really get the crowd involved. It’s kind of an alternative sport, so they encourage everyone to yell the whole time – you know, people are drinking Bud Lights, and it’s kind of like a hockey game, a really fun crowd. And the players really try to entertain the crowd as well, it’s kind of encouraged. Yeah that was really fun actually, besides the 5-degree weather in Connecticut. It was like 75 in California in January, and we went there and it was like 5 degrees. But it was cool – I grew up in Wisconsin, and I haven’t seen snow in a while, so it was actually good going back and throwing some snowballs at my roommate and putting some ice cold snow down his back when he wasn’t looking. So it was a lot of fun.

Alright, well let’s talk about the March 15 IDQ. Congratulations on winning that.

Yeah that was a good little tournament. It was kind of a pre-tournament to kick off the AVP season. We really wanted to play in that, obviously so we could represent the United States in traveling around the world to other international events. So now USA Volleyball basically sponsors us to go represent the United States in all these other competitions, so it’s kind of a good break. Sometimes playing on the AVP tour, weekend after weekend after weekend, it’s kind of the same players, you know, it’s kind of the same setup, it’s kind of the same thing. I mean it’s incredible, but it’s nice to go play against other international competitors, to kind of create like a new fire and motivation. Plus you’re wearing the USA gear – it’s a little bit different than just wearing your board shorts and sunglasses and stuff, so you definitely take a higher level of pride in representing your country, and that’s an incredible feeling.

It seems that USA Volleyball is making a concerted effort to expand international awareness of the game. I mean that seems to be what these IDQs are about right?

Yeah definitely. In 2007, me and my partner at the time, Hans Stolfus, we got selected to represent the United States to play in the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro. Actually on my YouTube page (youtube.com/tyloomis) I have a video of the finals that we played in at the Pan-American Games. But that was the first time we got to represent the United States. And the Pan-American Games is like the biggest international tournament next to the Olympics, and most other countries take it just as seriously as the Olympics. In that tournament we actually lost in the finals to the Athens Olympics gold medalists. They were the number one team in the world for like six years straight, and we got to play them in their home country of Brazil, in front of like 7,500 people heckling us. It was kind of like our Super Bowl moment, you know, like our one shining moment, that was it, ‘cause we got to play them in their home country, with everything against us.

But to get back to the story, since we did really good in that tournament and won the silver medal, and the women’s team that was representing the United States did really well as well, it kind of opened the eyes of USA Volleyball that we have the best players in the world in the US, and we need to start showing people that. So USA Volleyball is making a big push to get all our other top teams out to as many international tournaments as possible. And it really helped that all of our teams did really well in Beijing. So thanks to us winning all these medals at all these different international events, it’s kind of helped USA Volleyball rationalize sending more teams all across the world. So luckily we’re one of those teams, and we get to go travel for free, right?

Absolutely, you can’t beat that deal. So this win qualifies you for some NORCECA events in Mexico and the Caribbean?

So basically when we won that tournament this past weekend, there’s a list of tournaments that we qualified for. So we can kind of pick and choose which ones we want to go to from the list. And also on that list there’s a couple FIVB events. The FIVB is the Federation of International Volleyball, and that tour is what gets you to the Olympics; they have the qualification process on that tour. That tour is just as big as the AVP, but instead of domestically, they travel to all the sickest spots all across the world, so that’s a really fun tour. And they have a little bit more money than the AVP does as well. Every player’s dream is to play on that, with the world’s best.

Have you chosen where you want to go?

It’s kind of hard because a lot of the NORCECA tournaments conflict with our AVP schedule, but I think we’re gonna pick a couple of the NORCECA events. We’re not really sure what the second one is gonna be yet, but the first one we did select is the Manzanillo, Mexico event. We have to miss the Houston, TX AVP event to go to that one, but we kind of looked at the schedule and were like, “OK, what AVP event could we miss?” And usually the Texas ones are kind of average turnouts, so we figured it would be a great time to go down to Mexico instead of Houston, TX and represent the United States in that tournament. So we’re gonna head down there and go hang out with some cool international players, and hopefully win that tournament down there. Then I’ll be calling you for another interview.

Definitely, that would be great.

Usually the US teams that are selected to go to those tournaments are like the number one or number two seed, so I think we’ll have a pretty good chance of making it at least to the semifinals or the finals. So hopefully we can pull that one out and win that little tournament. I’ll bring my little camcorder down there and give you guys some creative stuff to work with.

But we haven’t figured out other tournaments on the AVP that we want to miss yet. It’s kind of unfortunate that all these beach volleyball tournaments all across the world all happen within the same six months, so you kind of have to pick and choose some weekends. And it’s kind of a long season. Luckily sometimes we have a lot of California events, which kind of helps with the travel. The thing about traveling is, it’s hard to stay in a rhythm, you know, with physical therapy, your trainers, chiropractic work, maybe if you do like a yoga stretch class, which I like to do to kind of keep a balance between lifting hard and staying flexible as well. Sometimes when you go to Georgia, you can’t get anything but, you know, fried food; you can’t really get any good fish or chicken or anything, so you always have to deal with the elements of where you are. That’s kind of the good thing with the California events, you get to stay home. But sometimes you actually like a weekend off as well, to kind of rest and recuperate, and sit in the ice tub for a day and let the muscles get back to normal, you know?

Of course. And at the same time, no one’s trying to miss Manhattan Beach.

Yeah absolutely. The Manhattan Beach for us is kind of like Wimbledon in tennis. It’s like winning a major for us, but like the best major for our sport. For us it’s almost the equivalent of winning a medal or being able to go to the Olympics as well. If you win the Manhattan Beach Open, you get a plaque, and it’s engraved in the Manhattan Beach pier. So you know, you get a nice gold plaque that sits on the pier forever, so it’s a nice little monument you can kind of show your family and kids and friends. If you win the Manhattan Beach, it’s the ultimate respect from all players, and it’s definitely the prize token. Plus it has the most money in it, so that’s the big one.

As you gear up for the 2009 AVP season, what’s your training regimen like right now?

We usually practice on the beach Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Most tournaments we play are two- or three-day events, so we try to push ourselves in like a tournament format. So we try to push ourselves really hard for two days, then we’ll take a day off, then try to push ourselves really hard for another two days, and then we usually take the weekend off. My beach volleyball partner is married, and he’s having a newborn that’s coming soon, so his life is fulltime, so I try to let him have his time with his wife on the weekend.

But usually on those days that we train, we get down to the beach at like 9 o’clock, and we usually go through a series of little footworks, kind of running around the court, you know, sidestepping, doing a little karaoke to kind of warm up the hips…

Did you say karaoke?

Yeah, like a little karaoke where you kind of cross your feet, not the actual singing karaoke – though we’re pretty good at that as well, haha. But you know, we’ll do lunges, and some fast-foot movements to kind of warm up, and we basically practice for like three hours straight on the beach, and it’s super strenuous ‘cause usually we play in the deepest sand possible. The purpose of it obviously is it’s a better workout for us, like cardio-wise, and jumping, and all the lateral movements are good for building all the muscles around the ankles and the knees and the hips and everything. Also it’s a lot easier on your body…if you play on hard surfaces it kind of wears and tears at your knees and your back and your shoulders, you know, towards the end of the year. Towards the end of the year we’re definitely taking a little bit of Aleve, you know?

I bet. On that note, what supplements are you taking right now?

Oh god, what am I not using? Well every morning when I wake up, before I go practice, I’m on such a routine – not a routine maybe like Ronnie Coleman or anything, but I’m on a routine where I’ll wake up, I grab an ENDORUSH®, you know, whichever flavor. My whole fridge is just lined with different flavors of ENDORUSH® on the top shelf, so I start off the morning with ENDORUSH® instead of, you know, like a coffee or something. I usually take it in the shower with me, and by the time I get out of the shower I’m ready to go. So I definitely use my fair share of ENDORUSH®. Usually when I get down to the beach I have like a little shaker of N.O.-XPLODE™, I usually drink half of that before I work out and then I kind of sip on it throughout the workout.

But I also use the new VOLUMAIZE®; I kind of sip that all throughout the practice as well. That’s a really important product for me, I’m really glad they came out with that. It’s really important for me ‘cause I lose a lot of nutrients when I’m sweating in the sun, and it’s really hard to keep those nutrients in my body when I play a long tournament. And it’s hard because we only have x amount of time before our next match, so we really have to try to get as much fluids and nutrients back in our body before the next match – and you know, plain water and some of the sports drinks on the market, they suck. I mean, it just fills you up and it doesn’t really do anything for you. But the VOLUMAIZE®, with all the electrolytes and everything in it that I really need, that’s really a huge product for me. So I use that, and of course right when I come back from practice, I have a big ol’ shake of SYNTHA-6™; the Chocolate Peanut Butter is by far my favorite. I actually like the Mochaccino one as well, it kind of reminds me of like an iced mochaccino. I usually don’t have any coffee, but that flavor is actually really good. I always put a little bit of ice in the shaker as well, it keeps it really cold and it helps break it up, and I find that the colder it is the better it tastes, you know? That is, if I don’t blend it up in the blender and get crazy with the creations, the peanut butter and bananas and stuff. But I definitely have a big double-scoop protein shake right afterwards.

You know, then I usually sit down and eat lunch, and I take a big batch of NITRIX® and AXIS-HT™. I don’t take the NITRIX® three times a day like it tells me to, I just take it in two big batches. I find it kind of hard to consistently take pills all throughout the day, so whenever I have the time, I just sit down and swallow as many as possible.

And during the preseason, to kind of help give me a little bit of energy and like a mood boost, and to kind of lose the excess water weight to get me in my beach volleyball body mode, I definitely use ATRO-PHEX®. I use that mostly in the preseason, but usually during the season I’m so lean anyways, that I really don’t need it. But it is definitely a good little energy boost; and it’s a really smooth energy boost, you know, it’s nothing like some crazy diet pills. So I’ve definitely noticed a good benefit from that as well. It’s got me all cut up right now man.

And then at night, I am taking the CELLMASS® as well. It has a lot of the glutamine and stuff that I need to help my muscles recover, so I do take that throughout; and towards the end of the night I take some more NITRIX® and AXIS-HT™.

With beach volleyball, it’s more or less being super lean and athletic and fast and quick, and being able to jump high and kind of stay strong as well. So that’s kind of the goal with my supplementation, and also my training, you know, a lot of core, a lot of shoulders, and really keeping my legs really strong, a lot of plyos and fast-twitch movements – trying to be the fastest white boy out there, right?

No doubt.

Yeah, that’s kind of everything that’s going on. Also, after a long beach day, and coming home and writing my BSN blogs, usually later in the day I try to take a yoga class, maybe three to four times a week, to kind of stretch out. I find it to be a really great stretch for my hips, my hamstrings, which obviously leads to my back, and my shoulders; and I’m starting to really appreciate the fundamentals of yoga and how it can really complement my game and my flexibility. And, you know, even the mental state of it, it allows you to control your breathing, and kind of forget about all the stressful things in your life, and kind of keeps you humble as well I think. I never thought I would be into it, until last year when my hamstring was really tight, and then my massage therapist recommended it and I tried a few basic classes and it really helped loosen me up, so now I’m a big believer in it. Whatever keeps me going for the long run is what I’m going with.

Excellent. Well this was great stuff, Ty. Thanks for taking the time to do this, and good luck in 2009!

Oh no problem man, good stuff. Hit me up anytime.

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