49ers' Christian McCaffrey turns to former trainer of Conor McGregor to retain edge beyond 30 (paywall)
"McCaffrey did the usual physical exercise, too, but Portal does not so neatly identify as a strength and conditioning coach and especially not a football trainer. This appealed to McCaffrey as he searched for a new layer to his training and recovery regimen.
"It's almost too much to even give you an answer with words," McCaffrey said, "but it was a heck of an experience. … He's a brilliant mind when it comes to movement, the body, the mind, everything."
49ers' Kyle Shanahan built a career on quick decisions. A concussion makes lunch feel impossible (paywall)
"Shanahan occasionally closed his eyes when he spoke because doing so, he said, felt better when there was too much stimulus. It can be disorienting when multiple people speak to him, and he said the music that pulsates when he observes part of practice was "killing" him. He's dealing with regular headaches and fatigue and, of course, there's his indecisiveness: His lunch decisions can require as much thought as how to plan the 49ers' schedule in the week before their regular-season opener in Melbourne, Australia.
The team's doctors have told Shanahan his injured brain needs to push through pain — to a point. He has a numerical scale to judge the intensity of his headaches — from 1 to 6 — and that's served as a guide as he's watched practice film and tackled other duties before leaving the facility far earlier than he's accustomed.
"The whole thing that I used to think was you lay in a dark room and rest — and that's not it," Shanahan said. "When your pain's a 2, they want you to do something to bring it up to a 4. But as soon as it gets there, you're supposed to stop and let it come down. And then just keep building that muscle.
#shanahan
"McCaffrey did the usual physical exercise, too, but Portal does not so neatly identify as a strength and conditioning coach and especially not a football trainer. This appealed to McCaffrey as he searched for a new layer to his training and recovery regimen.
"It's almost too much to even give you an answer with words," McCaffrey said, "but it was a heck of an experience. … He's a brilliant mind when it comes to movement, the body, the mind, everything."
49ers' Kyle Shanahan built a career on quick decisions. A concussion makes lunch feel impossible (paywall)
"Shanahan occasionally closed his eyes when he spoke because doing so, he said, felt better when there was too much stimulus. It can be disorienting when multiple people speak to him, and he said the music that pulsates when he observes part of practice was "killing" him. He's dealing with regular headaches and fatigue and, of course, there's his indecisiveness: His lunch decisions can require as much thought as how to plan the 49ers' schedule in the week before their regular-season opener in Melbourne, Australia.
The team's doctors have told Shanahan his injured brain needs to push through pain — to a point. He has a numerical scale to judge the intensity of his headaches — from 1 to 6 — and that's served as a guide as he's watched practice film and tackled other duties before leaving the facility far earlier than he's accustomed.
"The whole thing that I used to think was you lay in a dark room and rest — and that's not it," Shanahan said. "When your pain's a 2, they want you to do something to bring it up to a 4. But as soon as it gets there, you're supposed to stop and let it come down. And then just keep building that muscle.
#shanahan
10 hours ago
