Game Plan: A Proven Approach to Work, Live, and Play at the Highest Level Possible―for as Long as Possible

From the trainer and high-performance expert behind LeBron James and other superstars, a blueprint to achieving peak physical and psychological well-being—and sustaining it for the long haul. With a foreword by LeBron.

“Mike Mancias is more than a teacher or trainer, his approach to health and wellness is an approach to life. If you stay ready, you ain’t gotta get ready.” —Usher

Mike Mancias has spent two decades developing and refining a winning blueprint for athletic excellence. He’s worked with countless professional athletes, sports franchises, and the US Olympic Program. And his methods have propelled the rise of LeBron James, arguably the best-trained athlete in the world, and the gold standard for elite longevity. In Game Plan, he shares those secrets with the rest of us.

Over the course of three parts—the first focused on nutrition (“Eat with performance first and foremost in your mind”), the second on physical training (“We find the best ways to keep the body in constant motion”), and the third on recovery (“Recovery doesn’t start after performance but during performance”)—Mancias guides readers on their own journey to tiptop performance.

Revelations include the precise time to eat before an athletic pursuit, the hidden pitfalls of stretching, the right temperature for sleeping, therapeutic breathing techniques to turn off stress, and why naps are not just for babies. Throughout, Mancias makes the case that excellence must begin with the mind before it can manifest in the body—and shows you how to cultivate it.

Game Plan offers an actionable, holistic, and comprehensive roadmap to peak performance.

Mike Mancias has spent the last two decades training athletes at the highest level, including 18 years as the personal trainer to LeBron James. Mancias currently holds the position of Athletic Trainer/Athletic Performance Liaison for the Los Angeles Lakers, and has previously worked in a similar capacity for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. He trained the gold medal-winning USA Men’s Basketball Teams at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, as well as at the NBA Pre-Draft Camp, the Nike Desert Classic, and the NBA Summer Leagues in Atlanta, Boston, Orlando, and Las Vegas. A native of Brownsville, Texas, Mancias is a graduate of the University of Texas-Pan American and is licensed and nationally certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association.

LeBron James is widely considered to be the best basketball player in the world and one of the greatest players of all time. James has won four NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals, and four league MVP titles. James grew up in Akron, Ohio, where he continues to create generational change through his LeBron James Family Foundation that focuses its efforts on helping youth achieve a better future through education. In 2018, his foundation opened the I PROMISE School, designed to help underprivileged students and their entire families succeed in school and beyond.