SPORTS PERFORMANCE
amounts of force , but they also need to be able to produce a lot of force too . For that reason they spend a lot of time working on plyometrics , which allows them to be able to bound from one movement to the next ... just a tiny bit more gracefully than you or I doing Box jumps in our local gyms .
“ We do so much extra work for our core strength because Gymnastics alone is just not enough , but when it come to grip strength we get enough of that from all the endurance work we do on the bars ”. Amy ’ s personal favourite of these core exercises is the V-sit , so for those of you who think it is still not too late for you to make a late surge for the 2020 Olympic squad in Tokyo ... grab your leotards and bang out a few hundred V-sits before your 6-hour session on the Pommel Horse and keep your fingers crossed .
Having visited the 2012 Olympics in London as a spectator Amy was inspired by watching the likes of Max Whitlock , Beth Tweddle and Louis Smith all pick up medals . “ Watching those three get their medals , especially Beth as a fellow female gymnast , was a massive inspiration to me and made
PHOTO CREDIT : BRITISH GYMNASTICS me realise that that is exactly what I wanted to do - I wanted to have an Olympic medal ”.
From that point on the main change in her approach was the dedication and focus that was placed upon her nutrition . “ As a kid you can pretty much get away with eating whatever you want , but as you get older you need to control that more carefully and be more aware of eating to enhance your performance rather than just eating because you ’ re hungry ”.
After just a few minutes of speaking to Amy it was clear that she is no ordinary teenager . While other 16-year olds were enjoying their summer holidays she was heading to Rio to compete in the 2016 Olympics . Not only did she compete , but she came home as the youngest medalist in the GB squad , the second British female Olympic Gymnastics medalist and the first British female ever to win an Olympic Gymnastics medal on the floor .
“ It took a long time for all of that to sink in , and it still feels pretty crazy even now . I find it difficult to believe that I am one of only two British female gymnasts to ever win an Olympic medal , it is pretty amazing ”.
Having travelled to Rio as an unknown schoolgirl and returning with a bronze medal around her neck Amy was thrust into the limelight , which for such a serene and quietly spoken young girl should have been quite daunting . But , as with everything , she took it all in her stride with aplomb .
“ It was pretty good fun to be fair . You get a lot of attention and I don ’ t think anybody would turn a bit of fame down ” she said with a hint of a giggle and a grin from ear to ear . “ You get into Gymnastics because you love it , but if the fame comes along you aren ’ t going to turn it down . It was pretty cool to be able to walk down the street and for people to recognise me ”.
Walking around the Olympic village she was often star-struck , rubbing shoulders on a daily basis with the likes of Tom Daly et al , but the single most memorable moment came very recently at the World Championships when Nadia Comaneci came and said hello . “ She was the first person to get a perfect 10 in Gymnastics and she knew who I was ! She just came up to me and spoke to me , she knew my name and I remember thinking ‘ oh my god , she knows who I am ’, it was surreal ”.
Of all the exciting events and award ceremonies she has been invited to , including the Sports Personality of the Year Awards , it says a lot about her character when she explained to me what had been the best thing she had experienced since the Olympics success .
“ Being invited to other Gymnastics clubs and to see how much other youngsters have been inspired by me is really nice to see . It is nice to be able to give something back to my sport and to inspire other gymnasts . Beth ( Tweddle - the other British female Olympic Gymnastics medalist ) came to my club when I was younger and I remember being proper excited about it so to be able to do the same now is really special for me ”.
With the Commonwealth Games
112 MUSCLE & FITNESS / APRIL 2018