A Proper Guide

At the age of 50, I decided I wanted to dunk a basketball. Something I had never been able to do before. If I was going to do this, I would need help. A personal trainer, someone to help get my legs--and the rest of me--in the proper shape to get me airborne. Now, I’ve always been reasonably athletic--Little League, Pop Warner football, my high school tennis team, that sort of thing--and I’ve always worked out. At least ever since 8th grade gym class. At the beginning of that year we were introduced to weight training, and the coach arranged us in groups of four according to our strength. I ended up on a mat with the violinists and the bug collectors. Needless to say I went straight home, retrieved my oldest brother’s weight set from the garage and started lifting. I was determined to get pumped up and bumped up to a beefier group. And thus began a lifetime of three-day-a-week workouts.
Nonetheless, I was in no shape to dunk. Luckily, right around the time of my 50th birthday, the Health section of the Los Angeles Times featured just the man who could help make me fly: Gilbert Thomas, proprietor of a little enterprise he calls Dunk Dreams.


Gil Thomas

In the article, Gil claimed to have the wherewithal and the know-how to turn any average Joe into a bona fide slam-dunking machine. Still, I hesitated calling Gil because at age 50, I thought I might be more of a below-average Joe. I feared that as soon as I revealed my advanced age, he would say, “Take another look at that picture of me in the L.A. Times. Am I wearing a sorcerer’s hat?” As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. At my first workout with Gil, not only was I the tallest, but among the other dunk dreamers were two lovely college girls from Hong Kong, a couple of Korean fellows from UC Riverside and a 30-year-old from Bangladesh. A handful of Asians and a 50-year-old white guy. Clearly, Gil is not a man who shrinks from a challenge.
Indeed, Gil is relentlessly upbeat. But he’s not all cheerleader about it. Gil just likes to tell people what’s possible. “In two more months, you’ll be squatting 300, 400 pounds.” “By the end of summer, you’ll be grabbing the rim.” And then before you know what’s happening, he’ll lift up your shirt, poke at your stomach muscles and tell you how close you are to a six pack. He’ll even summon one of his nephews over to take a look and verify the prognosis. The overall effect is remarkable. I often find myself leaving workouts with Gil feeling as though I could do anything. His knowledge of workout machines and regimens is encyclopedic, and his passion for the dunk infectious. Lately, Gil has been tell me that if--pardon me, when--he gets me to dunk, the two of us will end up on Oprah. And I’ll be damned if he doesn’t have me believing it, too. Gil Thomas and his amazing 50-year-old Dunking Man. Stay tuned.

[check out these videos of Gil: on the CBS evening news (cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/15/eveningnews/main2483713.shtml?source=search_story) and on public television (on YouTube, search for "dunk dreamin"].