Hi guys,
It’s been a busy month since my last blog with training, competing and enjoying some time away from the gym!
Doha World Cup
At the end of March I joined some of my USA team-mates to compete at the Doha World Cup. This was my final competition before the US Nationals in August. I want to place my focus completely on training to make the team for Worlds so I’m limiting my competitions for the rest of the year. Going into the event my mind was set on one thing and one thing only, making the finals for as many apparatus possible.
Coming home with the gold for floor felt great, this is my strongest apparatus so I was glad my training paid off. To top the win off, I scored higher than the two-time floor World champion Diego Hypolito of Brazil. His skills on floor are world-class and he always performs well so I knew I had to be at my best.
During the competition I performed a new skill on parallel bars which is now named after me. This was always been a goal of mine so it was a privilege and so cool to have this opportunity, I actually had a skill named after me once before however a Japanese gymnast preformed the skill 15 years ago at the Olympics! It ended up being named after him so it is a great feeling to have one back in the code.
It is a part of history and it will be there forever which is really cool and very positive for my career.
Across all the disciplines the level of competition was really high but Oleg Stepko really stood out impressing with his parallel bars routine. He claimed gold again this year with a big score of 15.75.
Unfortunately when I visit a country for a competition I don’t get to see much of it other than the venue, training grounds and the hotel! However what I did see looks like a great place to visit.
Traveling as much as I do for competitions you get used to flying and dealing with jet lag. The key is to make sure that I move around a lot on the flight as much as I can and also try to make sure I get some sleep during the right time in whatever time zone I am in to get my body adjusted to the changes as much as I can. Once we land it also helps if I maintain a similar workout schedule to what I do at home.
European Championships
Earlier this month the European Championships were taking place in Montpellier. Me and my team-mates were keeping an eye on the competition, cheering on our friends and keeping an eye on the competition for the lead up to the Worlds this October.
Training
My main goal at the moment is to make the team for the World Championships and to do this training is everything! I am currently training in Norman Oklahoma, this is my favourite place to train because it is my home for now and being home eating what I normally eat and staying consistent in the gym is so important to my training.
In May my good friend Alex Naddour is getting married so in April I was lucky enough to join him at his bachelor party. We all rented out a cabin and it was great to relax and enjoy a little time outside of the gym. Having this time really helps with my training as some times we just need that little break.
Check back again in May to see what else I have been getting up to on my journey to the 2015 World Gymnastics Championships!