The last in a four-part series profiling the training regimens of Canada's Olympians.
Of all the inspiring stories to come out of the Olympics, few can match Kyle Shewfelt's for sheer resilience. Four years ago, the Calgary gymnast won a gold medal for a dazzling floor routine.
He appeared ready to repeat in Beijing, winning medals in several international gymnastics competitions last year. But during a routine training session last November, Mr. Shewfelt broke both kneecaps. Many wrote off his Olympic ambitions. Not Mr. Shewfelt.
In just nine months, he went from relying on a wheelchair to recapturing his status as a world-class gymnast. This past week in Beijing, he only narrowly missed qualifying for the final eight in both the floor and vault competitions.
'I think of how far I've come and that provides the little spark that kept me going through training,' says Canadian gymnast Kyle Shewfelt. (Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail)
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Here's a glimpse of how he recovered to Olympic competition level.
My goal
I have a daily goal, a goal for each apparatus and an attitude goal as well. The attitude goal could be something like, 'Go in positive and support my teammates.' Then, of course, there's the big goal: to be in peak form for Beijing. I set performance goals, not results goals, and I'm a little bit of a control freak about them. But you can't be obsessive about goals for too long. I can only work in short bursts.
My workout
During my recovery I did a lot of weight training [with trainers and therapists]. I needed some way of gauging my progress. When you lift more weight than you did the day before, you know you're on the right track.
We've been training twice a day, six days a week. Our first training session goes from 10 a.m. until 12:30. The second goes from 4 p.m. until 6:30. In all, we're in the gym for five hours. During the first training, it's a warm-up, or a wake-up. We do some running, forwards and backwards, then some sprinting, two-foot hops, one-foot hops. You need to get the body moving, the body flowing before anything. Then we do stretching for 15 to 20 minutes. I go turn myself into a pretzel. It's pretty fast and pretty choreographed.
In the morning, I also like toe raises on the stairs. I try to work every muscle in the body. Muscles cool down. By the time I touch an apparatus, I want them warm and ready to go.
In the afternoon, it's more intense. Our training then was meant to replicate an actual event. Gymnasts are a little [obsessive-compulsive]. You're trying to be perfect. We're doing the same routine over and over and over.
Between sessions I'll get physio, have an ice bath, a shower.
My lifestyle
I like to get loaded just like the next guy, but I have to save that for a reward after the Olympics. I'll have an awesome party. That doesn't mean I'm not going out on a Friday night during training, but I'm not busting moves until 2 a.m. I'll go home at 11:30 or midnight instead.
My legs are my livelihood. I try not to do much walking. I need to rest them.
I do a lot of stretching. It's like the sunshine in the morning for me. It makes you feel awake and alive. I also like the Bikram yoga. I think everybody needs to develop a stretching routine.
My motivation
I think of how far I've come and that provides the little spark that kept me going through training. During competition, I like the mantra 'Be a warrior.' I go in warrior mode. When you approach it like that, when you're willing to fight, you're ready.
My workout anthem
I don't really have an anthem, I just like noise. I don't like to feel like I'm the centre of attention. When I need to chill, I'll listen to Jack Johnson.
My Challenges
I have had to be cautious with my injuries. I'll put extra mats down. I don't want to risk a bad landing. It's safety first.
The Takeaway
Adjust Your Attitude
Everyone should walk into the gym with specific fitness goals in mind, but very few set specific attitude goals like Mr. Shewfelt. It may be time to start. As trainer and coach Caron Shepley points out: "A positive attitude can affect performance. The best athletes are the ones that do mental as well as physical training."
Don't work out cold
A long warm-up is a huge part of Mr. Shewfelt's approach to fitness. Too many gym rats forgo this important step and jump right into pumping iron, according to Ms. Shepley, a partner at Personal Best, a Toronto-based corporate fitness consulting company. "A proper warm-up is so important when it comes to injury prevention," she says. "Walking, light jogging, easy biking on a spin bike or sun salutations in yoga are all great ways of warming up the muscles."
Embrace Yoga
As a gymnast, Mr. Shewfelt worries about injury and flexibility, both of which he addresses in the yoga studio. Bikram yoga is typically performed in a heated room, which gives the muscles an added element of suppleness. Fitness buffs who shun yoga are missing out on a "great complement to any training regimen," Ms. Shepley says.
Relax
Despite a hectic training schedule, Mr. Shewfelt always makes time to kick up his feet and take weight off his bones. Some gym-goers end up doing more harm than good to their bodies by training too hard. "They need to pay attention to the stress that they put on both their minds and bodies, because one affects the other," Ms. Shepley says.
