She was a novice skier at two years old, competitive swimmer at nine, and national freestyle ski champion at 16. By age 17, Jennifer Heil’s five-foot three-inch frame had taken such a beating from moguls and freestyle ski landings that she could hardly walk in her ski boots.
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“I was in so much pain I could barely ski a full run,” says Jenn, now 23. “The day I won my first medal at a World Cup competition in 2002, my shins hurt so much, I had to sideslip down the course and use mental imagery to visualize myself going through the race.”
Freestyle skiing is a 30-second sport that requires explosive power built doing exercises like squats or jumping on and off boxes, as many times as possible, in 15- to 25-second bursts. But Jenn couldn’t do that.
“I couldn’t train properly because of the shin splints and lower back pain. I realized that if I wanted to reach my full potential, I had to get stronger and fitter so I could train the way I needed to, both on and off the hill,” she says.
That’s when Jenn decided to stay off skis for the 2002-2003 season, attend McGill University, and with the financial support of sports patron J.D. Miller, begin working with a team of Montreal specialists: Dave Campbell, an osteopath; Leslie Larson, who practises Hellerwork (a kind of deep tissue massage); Scott Livingston, strength and conditioning coach with the Montreal Canadiens; and Sandra Grant, a licensed nutritionist. 织梦内容管理系统
“Taking that year off to improve my physical condition was so crucial for me,” says Jenn. “When I first came to Montreal I was only 17 years old. My technique and my skill as a skier had enabled me to progress through the ranks very quickly. And I was able to finish fourth at the Salt Lake City Olympics, but my body wasn’t necessarily ready to be there.”
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It’s All in the Core dedecms.com
During her year away from competition, Jenn began strengthening her core to prevent injury.
“Core strengthening is part of everything we do,” she says, referring to the gym routines she and Scott Livingston, her strength and conditioning coach, work through together. “Instead of doing a conventional dumbbell press on a bench, we’ll do it on an exercise ball so the core is involved. We’ll do squats on a wobble board." 本文来自织梦
More advanced core work involves having Scott loop a rope around her hips so that she is always fighting resistance while squatting and lifting weights. copyright dedecms
“I have to stabilize my core even more to resist the pull,” she explains. “It’s a great exercise, and Scott is so good at taking what’s applicable to our sport and training me in the gym.”
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“Most amateur athletes don’t get enough funding to work with a trainer every day, but incredible support from J.D. and other individuals across Canada allowed me to work with experts such as Dave, Leslie, and Sandra as required. On snow, I had my own technical coach as well,” says Jenn.
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Now Jenn is able to offer other talented Canadian athletes preparing for the 2010 Olympics the same opportunity she had. Since the Turin Olympics, a lot of people have come forward to support Jenn and her training program, called B2ten. “Our objective is to have enough private funding to support the training and preparation needs of seven athletes over the next four years heading up to Vancouver,” she explains. dedecms.com
What motivates Jenn is her conviction that providing the right tools without compromise pays off. “Canada is such a large country, and the logistics of providing tools to athletes in all regions is a huge challenge. Our goal is to show that proper training and preparation can make the difference when sending Canadians on to the international competition scene.
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“Amateur athletes invest everything. It’s not the monetary reward we’re going after; that’s actually quite rare. It’s passion and love for what we do,” Jenn explains. “But with solid funding it’s really exciting to be able to provide others the opportunity to reach their potential as well.” dedecms.com
