Personal trainer tries to keep Lin strong

Jeremy Lin's personal trainer, E.J. Costello, flew to New York City last week for an up-close look at Lin-sanity and made sure he left the Knicks sensation with a few parting messages:

Get some rest!

Focus on your nutrition!

And take care of that body!

"I don't want to say he looked tired, but his body's worn out, his legs are worn out and he's mentally worn out, just with everything going on," Costello said by telephone last week after returning to work at 24-Hour Fitness in Concord, Calif. "We talked about all that."

There's no preparing for the whirlwind life-altering events Lin has experienced in recent weeks, going from an end-of-the-bench garbage-time player to the focus of seemingly everyone's attention. The sudden increase in playing time from virtually nothing to 38 minutes per game in the Knicks' last 12 games -- during a span of only 20 days, no less -- has taken a toll on Lin, physically and emotionally, as it would on anyone.

But perhaps the best person to weigh in -- Lin's personal trainer from the offseason -- was in town just when Lin was beginning to show the first obvious signs of the wear-and-tear of his remarkable run.

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Costello attended the Knicks' loss to the Nets last Monday and counted three plays in which Lin "had an opportunity to score, but his legs weren't there." So during conversations the next day at Lin's apartment and then over lunch, Costello said he spoke with the point guard about what he needs to do to refuel his body on the run.

"We talked a lot about nutrition," Costello said. "He's a kid and he's got to take care of that body. That's everything. That's my main concern. That's what I was talking with him about. The food he's putting in and the way he's maintaining that body. His body is not used to running 40 minutes a game."

Lin met Costello last spring when the Warriors used him as a temporary trainer while they sought a new one. Once the lockout occurred, Lin asked Costello -- a former Division II college basketball player -- to continue training him, so they met four or five times a week to work out and play basketball.

Costello believes the lockout helped Lin, allowing him to spend time in the gym for more personalized activities such as regular upper-body and core-strengthening workouts as well as working on improving his jumper with a shooting coach.

The work Lin put in during the lockout is a major reason he was ready when he got his opportunity, Costello said. But the NBA's condensed schedule -- with more games in fewer nights, thanks to the lockout -- is tough on someone who plays as aggressively as Lin does.

Costello said they talked a lot over the summer and during the lockout about "positive energy," that Lin had to remain focused on being ready for his opportunity as opposed to lamenting the fact that it hadn't come yet. Now that it's here and he's taken advantage of it, it's about pushing for more.

"My thing with him is just stay positive with what you're doing," he said. "There just seems like there's so much going on and that he's blocking it out and putting the blinders on right now. He's a little stressed, but it's a good stress."