PEORIA, Ariz. -- It was a liberating winter for Jim Edmonds, who for once was entirely devoid of the achy bones, rubbery legs and the common soreness that always seemed to linger far too long into his offseason.

So how did the 37-year-old Edmonds, the Padres' new center fielder, celebrate his good health? He put his body, one that had been ravaged by injuries in recent years, through the most rigorous training program he could find.

At the behest of good friend and former St. Louis teammate Skip Schumaker, Edmonds rebuilt his body with the help of a trainer named Jim Moss, who spends his days working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department SWAT team.

"It took me a couple years to get Edmonds on board ..." Schumaker said. "Finally, he had an offseason without any surgery, and he was like, 'Yeah, let me check it out.' So he went the first day and loved it."

Well, love might be putting it strongly, especially after the first few workouts Edmonds endured with Moss, who didn't exactly ease the eight-time Gold Glove winner into his routine, instead shoveling heaping helpings of lifting weights, plyometrics and so much running that Edmonds must have felt like he was in P.E. class back at Diamond Bar High.

"Just brutal," Edmonds said matter-of-factly of Moss' workouts. "It was pretty tough at the beginning. He told me that most guys don't make it back for a third workout. ... We were running right away -- a mile, two miles, running for time. The lifting was ridiculous. Every day I walked in, he would just shake his head like, 'I can't believe you came back.'"

He had to. While the body answered with a resounding no, Edmonds' knew that Moss' workouts were just what the four-time All-Star needed to prepare himself for a full season, not an abbreviated one brimming with aches and pains. That was especially the case in 2007, when Edmonds struggled to recover from offseason foot and shoulder surgeries.

"When you're down in the 50s and 60s, percentage wise, it's not much fun; I am hoping this winter catapults me into a good season," said Edmonds, who hasn't played in more than 120 games since 2005.

"It's frustrating when you can't do what you know you're capable of doing. One day I felt 90 percent ... the next day I felt 30 percent. Inside your head, you start to wonder what's going on."

Further complicating the matter was Edmonds' future in St. Louis. He couldn't get a firm answer from the team of how much he fit into its future plans, which made it easier for him to waive a no-trade clause in his contract and accept a deal to play for San Diego, less than two hours from his home in Irvine, Calif.

But figuring out what uniform he'd wear in 2008 never sidetracked him from his biggest priority this winter: getting healthy, and doing it the Jim Moss way.

"The training camps that I run in the offseason are intense," Moss said. "To be honest, it's pretty painful. At the beginning, I didn't think he would make it more than a week. I have a pain scale, a fatigue scale. When you get to level nine or 10, I need to know. At first, he was real sore and I would ask him what pain level [he was at], and he would say he's at a nine or 10. I didn't think he would come back."

But Edmonds kept showing up, more determined than his previous visit, impressing Moss to no end, even as the workouts became longer and much more strenuous.

"I didn't know Jim before this season," Moss said. "All this stuff I had heard in the paper was that he was injury-plagued and at the end of his career. The first time that he called me, I wanted to see where he was at, so I asked, 'If you are ready to retire, then why do you want to come torture yourself with me?'

"I didn't mean it. He was polite, but you could tell he was pretty tight about it. He let me know he's got some years left. He's got an unbelievable amount of determination. Not a lot of guys are going to go through what he went through at this point in his career."

Edmonds, along with Schumaker and Cardinals pitcher Anthony Reyes -- who all make their offseason homes in the Los Angeles area -- worked with Moss. Edmonds' specific area of emphasis was his lower half and his core strength. They did a lot of speed work, kickboxing and enough hill runs to make your stomach quake.

Through the process, Edmonds not only reshaped his body but also gained a friend from the experience. Moss doesn't profess to being a huge baseball fan, but after watching what Edmonds went through this offseason, he's certainly a big Jim Edmonds fan.

"We would joke around and he would start taunting me, saying, 'You're not going to break me,'" Moss said. "I would text him the day after a workout and ask how his legs were and he would say he was at a level 2 and that he felt great. I was thinking, 'This guy is out of his mind.'

"I'm excited to see how this year turns out. Jimmy has already won with me. He's earned my respect, what he's dealt with and how hard he's worked. He still has to hit the ball and catch the ball. I wish the world for him. I wish the best for him."

For his part, Edmonds can't say enough good things about Moss and his program. Edmonds' only regret is not having followed Schumaker's advice and started doing this a long time ago.

"It was what I needed," Edmonds said. "A lot of guys at this point in their career would say this isn't what they needed. I just kept pushing myself. It was a good program. I wish I had met him earlier in my career.

"I feel great. I feel like I've really improved things this winter. My leg strength went up 300 percent. I did some stuff I haven't done in a while. I ran more this winter than I've run in the last 10 years. I'm excited."

That much he has shown thus far in camp, where San Diego manager Bud Black has noticed a spring in Edmonds' step, which will help the outfielder patrol the spacious center field at PETCO Park this season.

"What I like is that he feels good physically -- he's in a great frame of mind and he felt as though he had a great offseason," Black said. "[He was] able to get ready for a baseball season instead of rehabbing, and he's moving around great. There's a lot of confidence in him."