Miami Marlins’ Ichiro Brought Secret Gym to Spring Training

Oct 1, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (51) prepares to bat against the Washington Nationals in the seventh inning at Nationals Park. The Nationals won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (51) prepares to bat against the Washington Nationals in the seventh inning at Nationals Park. The Nationals won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Miami Marlins outfielder and baseball legend Ichiro Suzuki was spotted working out on his personal exercise equipment imported from Japan.

Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki exists on a whole different level of cool. Mike Trout is cool because he’s a modern day Mickey Mantle, a guy who can do everything on the baseball diamond and look good doing it. Noah Syndergaard has the cool hair and the cool “Thor” nickname. Jose Altuve has Little Man Cool. He’s a 5’6” hitting machine. Ichiro, though, is on a different level of cool. Even his coolness is cool.

A week ago, the amazing and talented Ichiro was injured in an outfield collision. The totally uncool Brandon Barnes was playing right field and didn’t hear Ichiro, who was in center, calling for a ball that was falling between them. They collided and the resulting injuries to Ichiro sent him to the trainer’s room for the first time in his career. That was not cool.

Ichiro’s outfield collision with Barnes resulted in a tweaked back, some knee pain, and soreness in the quad above the right knee. Also not cool. Ichiro had to miss a few days with the injuries, but the 43-year-old, who has long been known for his strong work ethic and commitment to his health, should be back in the swing of things shortly.

Ever since he came over from Japan in 2001, Ichiro could be spotted during games doing toe touches and deep knee bends in the outfield and at the plate. It’s his trademark, like Nomar Garciaparra’s elaborate ritual with batting gloves and toe taps. It’s become such a part of Ichiro’s persona that the Miami Marlins should give out an Ichiro bobblehead that does knee bends. That would be cool.

Along with the constant calisthenics, Ichiro has a secret weapon to maintain his superior level of fitness. He regularly uses workout equipment to stay in top shape. In fact, during Friday’s workouts Ichiro was spotted by USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale, who tweeted a picture of Ichiro working out on his own in a storage trailer.

As noted by Nightengale, Ichiro was working out on his own personal equipment transported to spring training from Japan. That’s because when you’re Ichiro, you don’t use typical workout equipment. You don’t use free weights or Pilates or a Bowflex Trainer. When you’re Ichiro, you have your own special, top-secret workout equipment. Ichiro is Batman.

Four years ago, the Japan Daily Press published an article about Ichiro’s “Secret Gym.” At the time, he had never been on the Disabled List for an injury (he was on the DL once, back in 2009 with the Seattle Mariners, when he had a bleeding ulcer). He hasn’t been on the DL since either. Ichiro credits his “secret gym” in keeping him healthy. Presumably, his father would like to put in a word for genetics, but the elder Suzuki could not be reached for comment.

Many people go to the gym to get swole. You see the workout bros doing the bench press, arm curls, triceps extensions, and leg presses so they can get bigger and stronger and look good on the beach. Ichiro shuns such things. He’s not about big muscles; he’s all about strong and flexible muscles. For him, flexibility is cool.

Ichiro focuses on the shoulder blades, pelvis, and hip joints and his “secret gym” equipment is designed specifically to build strength and flexibility. Traditional weights can shorten and tighten muscles. Ichiro’s equipment is designed to avoid the shortening and the tightening. He wants the strength while remaining limber.

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The “secret gym” equipment Ichiro uses comes from a Japanese company, World Wing Enterprise, that specializes in advanced training concepts. They usually provide their equipment to organizations, not individuals, but they made an exception for Ichiro because he’s basically a rock star in Japan. He’s like James Bond and they are Q Branch, maker of gadgets. Only the gadgets they make for Ichiro are specially designed workout equipment. Very cool specially designed workout equipment.

Ichiro has used his “secret gym” equipment for many years and has set-ups in different locations around the world, including his parents’ house in Japan. The trailer he’s working out in during spring training is likely the most barbaric of spots in which the equipment has been used, but what do you expect from a team owned by Jeffrey Loria? Jeffrey Loria is not even remotely cool.

If you’d like to see the results of Ichiro’s “secret gym” equipment, you’re in luck. A picture of Ichiro made its way around Twitter last week showing the incredible muscle strength and definition of his lower legs. They look like steel cables. In fact, it looks like his upper body and lower body are a mash-up of two different people fused together. It’s like he has the upper body of a wide receiver fused with the lower body of a fullback.

While we don’t know the specifics of Ichiro’s “secret gym”, we do know that it consists of seven specially designed machines. We also know what one of them looks like while in use. Another player from Japan, Yu Darvish, demonstrated one of the machines he and Ichiro use in the YouTube video below.

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That doesn’t look like an exercise machine; it looks like a torture device. It looks like something the Six-Fingered Man would use to punish Wesley in The Princess Bride. But, hey, it works. It most obviously works. Ichiro is 43 years old and has over 3,000 career hits. That’s pretty cool.