Muscle man.

• Author: Schley, Stewart
• Position: SPORTS [biz] - Erik Phillips

Not too long ago, Colorado State University graduate Erik Phillips enjoyed total command of NBA stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Nash. When he demanded that they bend and twist, they bent and twisted. When he said "jump," they jumped. When he was done with them, they were drenched in sweat.

Phillips is still at it. Except now, over in the far corner of a converted warehouse space in Arapahoe County on a recent Friday afternoon, his subject isn't a pro hoops player but a high school soccer player hoping to land a college scholarship. When I enter the room, the tall, trim senior is balanced precariously in a lunge position, catching a medicine ball Phillips gently tosses and quickly flipping the ball back to him from behind her back. Repeated several times, the unusual motion is designed to strengthen muscles around her torso--a part of her body that tends to be overlooked and underworked in a sport that's mostly legs and feet.

If the regimen works according to plan, the promising young athlete will end up less likely to suffer the sort of debilitating injury that interrupts careers ... or worse.

Judging by past performance, there's a good chance it will work. When he worked as the head strength and conditioning coach for the NBA's Phoenix Suns, Phillips authored an impressive statistic: the fewest days lost to injury of any NBA team.

In fact, the disparity between the number of days Suns players spent off the court and in the rehab room, versus the rest of the league, was stark enough to inspire the curiosity of a Denver health industry executive and sports fan. Craig Keyes. A former internal medicine doctor with a practice on Park Avenue in Manhattan, Keyes at the time was the CEO of United Healthcare Inc's Colorado and New Mexico operations. After getting to know Phillips through a mutual friend, Keyes was fascinated to find out how training techniques for neglected muscle groups could end up guarding against injuries. If the techniques worked as well as they seemed to in the NBA, he wondered, "Then why aren't they used for mere mortals like us?"

The answer: because nobody had really tried. That is, until recently, when Keyes resigned his corporate job, assembled an investor group and put together the business plan for Centennial-based SportXcel, an athletic training center he hopes will turn into a substantial business within a few years.

Keyes opened the doors about 18 months ago after subjecting the idea...