Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has his team on the verge its first Super Bowl title.

TAMPA: If you watched Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner in the playoffs and wondered how the 37-year-old was able to show such a bounce in his step so late in the season, there is good reason.

He listened to his strength coach.

In Philadelphia, Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Julius Erving credited conditioning guru Pat Croce with adding years to their careers, and not just years but quality years.

Apparently Warner has taken a page from their book.

The veteran quarterback hooked up with Cardinals strength and conditioning coach John Lott, who was a long-time mentor to quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who played in the NFL until he was 44 years old

Warner said he had already dedicated himself to doing more cardio on his own. He said he knows he cannot take off as much time as he could in the past and stay in the type of shape he needs to be in to withstand the grueling NFL season and playoffs.

Lott convinced Warner he also needed to lose weight and work his legs and core in the weight room if he wanted keep first round pick and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart on the bench.

“John’s done a great job (with me),” Warner said earlier this week as he prepared for his third Super Bowl, this one against the Pittsburgh Steelers. “He continued to push me…I think the thing that John’s done great too is…he understands different players. He understands that I am an old man. He knows how much he can push me. He knows I have certain routines I have had in the past that I feel comfortable with.

“He adjusts some of the things that he does…one of the things I’ve done the last couple of years that I didn’t do most of my career is…John got me back into squatting. It’s something I’m doing every week, that I hadn’t done in the past…and I feel great at this point in time, I feel strong, it feels good. A lot of that can be attributed to some of the things he got me to do.”

Lott said he not only sold Warner on working with core movements including squats, he got the future Hall of Fame candidate to lose some weight. An issue not lost on Eagles fans and their beast of a quarterback, Donovan McNabb who is listed this year at 240 pounds.

Lott, who has served as strength and conditioning coach for the Jets (1997-04) and Browns (2005-06) before signing with the Cardinals in 2007, said he got Testaverde to go from a playing weight of 245 pounds when he arrived at the Jets in 1998 to 232 pounds.

The Jets had their best season since the Joe Namouth Super Bowl in 1998, when a slimmed-down Testaverde took the Jets to the AFC championship game, losing to the Denver Broncos.

Lott said Warner’s resurgence to a dominant quarterback was helped by being lighter on his feet.

“One of the things that leaves you as you get older is your fast twitch and your ability to escape and things like that,” Lott said. “So the one thing he had done for me that I was happy with is that he did, he lost weight. He went from 224 pounds to 209. That helped him immensely. (Now) you don’t hear about the ball security, you don’t hear about him not being able to evade the rush, things like that. We just went back to basics. He hadn’t done this (lost weight and trained core) in forever. His legs are strong. He was concerned about the ability to take the hits, things of that nature…I said ‘I’m not concerned about that for you’…We’re squatting, we’re doing a lot of medicine ball, which he really had not worked with before…it works your entire core.

“The thing I compliment him with is the fact that he was open minded to it. A lot of guys would say. ‘nah, this is the way I do it.'”

Lott said he reminded Warner that he has been banged up over the last fews seasons.

“I said to him…’well  you’ve been injured a little bit too now…why don’t we try and do something different?’ Since then we’ve done that he’s been very fortunate.”

Center Lyle Sendlein, signed by the Cardinals as a rookie free agent in 2007 out of Texas, in 2008 enjoyed his first season as the full-time starter.

The 24-yeard old said he and the other young Cardinals could not get over the grit showed this season by the four-time Pro Bowler.

“He’s taken a lot of shots this season, he’s extremely tough,” Sendlein said. “I know everyone in this organization is glad he is so tough.”

Sendlein was asked if he has checked Warner out in the weight room doing squats and the medicine ball workouts. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder said he was truly impressed with the old man.

“I’ve seen quarterbacks get it on in the weight room,” Sendlein said, now smiling. “But it’s the first time I’ve seen a 37-year-old get after it like that.”

Al Thompson can be reached at al.thompson@footballstories.com