John McEnroe is the picture of health. He told Peter Bodo as a part of our “Get Better With Age” package in the October issue of TENNIS that he regularly goes to the gym, where he rides a stationary bike, does sprints, works on his side-to-side movement, and lifts weights. Isn’t this the guy who used to say he kept fit by playing doubles? But as McEnroe has gotten older—he turned 50 this year—it’s understandable that he’s needed to boost his fitness regimen. He said he realized he needed to start working out because he felt stiff on court.

It may sound like McEnroe does it all as far as fitness, but there’s one thing that’s not a part of his routine: yoga. “I used to do yoga,” he says in the interview, “but I felt stiffer after a session than before, especially in a class full of flexible people. I dropped it, but mainly because I didn’t see where it was helping my tennis.”

Sure, McEnroe, whatever you say. The red flag in his statement is, “especially in a class full of flexible people.” The competition junkies of the world have trouble in yoga classes (and let’s face it, if there’s someone with a high concentration of competitive juices in his bloodstream, it’s John McEnroe). Though yoga instructors repeat the mantras that you shouldn’t judge yourself and that you should “listen to your body,” competitive people can’t help but peek at their fellow yogis during class and try to outperform them.

I’ve had my own battles with yoga. As a person with little innate flexibility, every yoga class is a challenge for me. But there are plenty of pose modifications that ensure that yoga is still beneficial for the inflexible. It’s when I compare myself to the super-bendy people in class that I get in trouble. Seeing them makes me push myself that much harder, going farther into a stretch than I should or switching from my modified pose to trying full-on contortions. My misguided efforts haven’t lead to any major injuries, though I’ve heard plenty of horror stories.

That’s why people like me and Mac have to listen to the instructor’s advice and remind ourselves that this isn’t the Wimbledon final; it’s just yoga class. It becomes an exercise in mental stamina to stash away that competitiveness. So while I haven’t given it up—I still find yoga relaxing and body-opening—I hear ya, Mac.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to commend McEnroe for taking up the very worthwhile cause of promoting prostate health. I saw the poster of McEnroe at right looming large on the side of Madison Square Garden a couple of weeks ago. It’s a picture of him holding his left arm, which appears to have had blood drawn, with the caption, "This arm helped John McEnroe win 155 tennis titles. Today he uses it to screen for prostate cancer." Seeing an old-school rebel taking care of himself might convince more men (notorious for skipping trips to the doctor and ignoring warning signs) to take the steps to catch prostate cancer.