Affected by the epidemic, Chinese Winter Olympic snowboarders Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong failed to stand on the snow this summer to complete snow training. Instead, it was a two-and-a-half-month athlete performance training camp at the UFC Elite Training Center in Shanghai. Liu Jiayu said that this physical training made her muscles rise, and in the future, "I am not afraid of pain when I do the action and then fall." Cai Xuetong said that she practiced her physical strength hard, that is, she was looking forward to the next day of playing on the snow and releasing herself.
Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong, as athletes who participated in the three Winter Olympics, live every year after running after the snow. Every year from December to March is the season for skiers, and the 8 to 9 months outside the season are the training season. Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu have been shuttling between the northern and southern hemispheres with the foreign teacher team for many years, looking for the most suitable snow field for training.
Usually, in the domestic winter, Cai Xuetong and Liu Jiayu will go to Chongli Ski Resort to train, in the spring they will go to the Southern Hemisphere New Zealand Ski Resort; in the summer, they will go to the Mammoth Mountain near Portland, Oregon, USA; in the autumn, they will go to Europe to train. But this year is different. Affected by the epidemic, athletes cannot go out to train and compete. How to stay in shape through physical training becomes an exam for all athletes.
Liu Jiayu
According to reports, the UFC organization of the mixed martial arts event previously reached a cooperation agreement with the Chinese Olympic Committee to build the Shanghai UFC Elite Training Center covering an area of 8600 square meters as the official high-level sports performance training center of the Chinese Olympic Committee. At present, liu jiayu and Cai Xuetong participate in the physical training program at the Shanghai Training Center, which is specially designed for skiers on the U-shaped track of snowboarding.
The two athletes undergo 6 days of one-on-one training per week, with 4 days of training sessions twice a day and 2 days of training sessions. Liu Jiayu said she came here twice for training. "I came to training for the first time last year, and I needed to train in China because of the epidemic. Before, I was chasing snow abroad and practicing physical fitness. Now I find that there can be such a professional and systematic training base in China, which feels very international. Training customization, nutrition, recovery, rehabilitation treatment are comprehensive. ”
Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong are not the first time they have been exposed to physical training. As a comparison, Liu Jiayu said that the efficiency of training here is higher. "Here you can use high-tech equipment to test out where your physical strength is weakest, the team meets to discuss the training plan, each training session is to make up for weaknesses, there are directions and goals, you can efficiently monitor where high-level athletes can improve." This is something I think is different. One-on-one training is very necessary for high-level athletes to improve my shortcomings in a short period of time. Liu Jiayu said.
In the past year and a half, the UFC has cooperated with the Chinese Olympic Committee to test and train track cycling teams, rowing kayak teams, short track speed skating teams, judo teams, wrestling teams, sailing and windsurfing teams, as well as athletics teams and swimming teams. The training content arranged by the elite training center for the two snowboarders this time includes core training, body exercise feeling, eccentric absorption capacity and physical fitness system fitness training, using treadmills, cycling exercise bikes, air limit full-body climbing machines, Jacob climbing ladders, ski machines, sled basic operation machines and other auxiliary equipment.
Cai Xuetong said that he originally did not like to do physical training because it felt too boring. Fortunately, there are many types of training here. "It was the first time I walked into a fighting octagon and experienced the feeling of fighting against each other." Cai Xuetong said.
Every week, Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong also do two metabolic interval cycles (Hercules cycles), including explosive sleigh pushing, battle ropes, muscle strengthening training, etc. Specific recovery methods after training include hot and cold pools, ice baths, saunas, cryotherapy, Normatec compression equipment, and more. According to reports, the goal of the project is to make the athletes' competitive state reach the peak, show the level of sports competition in the next World Cup and world championships, and maintain such a state until the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Cai Xuetong
In an interview with the Beiqing-Beijing headline reporter, Cai Xuetong has always said that she feels that physical training is boring, but in order to show her style on the snow, she has been adjusting herself as much as possible. "Coming to UFC training can clearly see your previous weaknesses and where your current progress is. As soon as I came to the camp, the instructor tested my physical skills. So I can clearly know what I'm practicing and what will improve me. Now that I have better physical fitness, I can play better on the snow. ”
For Liu Jiayu and Cai Xuetong, the Beijing Winter Olympics are the fourth Winter Olympics for both of them. Although both are nearly 30 years old, they still believe that their potential still has room to explode. Liu Jiayu introduced that the snowboard freestyle ski project is not a pure physical sport, even if the older players can also reach a new peak through the accumulation of technology. "I feel like the longer I practice, the more I understand the game and the more experienceD I have. And the 34-year-old, 35-year-old players around me are still playing, and I feel like I'm still on the rise. Last year the national team dug up the best gold coach for us. We have new coaches, new training programs, new ideas. As an old athlete, the previous bad technical moves are also being modified. I am preparing not only for this Olympic Games, but also for the next Olympic Games. Liu Jiayu said.
After training at the end of the training camp, the two players planned to travel to Europe to participate in the World Cup and world championships in preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Cai Xuetong said that she is very much looking forward to the day when she can compete on the snow to release her passion. "I get my training plan done every day so that it's released on the snow. Otherwise, the physical training is all white sweat. I hope to prove my training results at this stage in the game. That's what motivates me to train. ”
Speaking about the goals of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Cai Xuetong said that as he gets older, although the body needs to recover longer, other aspects, physical skills are still in the best condition. "I feel that it is still in the ascendancy period, and the potential can be improved." I am also grinding my own difficult moves, I hope to be able to make my biggest difficult moves perfectly at the Winter Olympics, if successful, then the podium is not far away from me. ”
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Chu Peng
Editor/Xu Zhao