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Original title: The power behind "thunderbolt" breaking through difficulties. Interview with Chen Gangrui, the physical fitness coach of breakdance at the Paris Olympics

Right now, the newly added breakdancing event of the Paris Olympics is in full swing. Did you know that Chen Gangrui, the physical rehabilitation coach of the breakdancing event of the Chinese sports delegation of the Paris Olympics, is from Henan?

The work is special. What is the relationship between the physical trainers who mainly contribute behind the scenes and the athletes? How do they ensure that the athletes are in the best competitive state? On August 9, Chen Gangrui said in an exclusive interview with Dahe.com reporter that our goal is to ensure that the athletes enter the competition in the best physical state.

Goal｜Ensure athletes compete in their best condition

"I first started to get involved in sports training in high school (Yuzhou No. 4 Senior High School). Mr. Zong Jiaqiang was my enlightenment teacher. Later, I was successfully admitted to university through sports training. I studied physical education at the School of Physical Education of Xuchang University, which is a teacher training major. The normal career development after graduating from college should be to become a physical education teacher in primary and secondary schools." Chen Gangrui said, but by chance in the second half of his junior year, he came into contact with the training concept of physical training and sports rehabilitation, and he had the idea of ​​studying this field.

Therefore, after graduating from undergraduate studies in 2015, Chen Gangrui was admitted to Nanjing Institute of Physical Education to pursue a master's degree, majoring in sports human science, with research directions in physical training and sports rehabilitation. After graduating with a master's degree in 2017, he stayed at Nanjing Institute of Physical Education to teach and was responsible for the physical training and rehabilitation of the school's high-level athletes.

Since then, Chen Gangrui has successively served as the physical trainer of Jiangsu Tennis Team, Jiangsu Fencing Team and National Rowing Team, and went to the University of North Carolina in the United States for exchange and study in December 2018.

At the beginning of 2020, the country raised the physical fitness requirements for athletes to a new level, which increased the demand for physical fitness coaches.

"After the Chinese Breakdance Team was established, I began to help the team with some physical training, especially the female team, such as Liu Qingyi, Zeng Yingying and other athletes," said Chen Gangrui.

Chen Gangrui introduced that athletes can compete for breakdancing spots at the 2024 Paris Olympics through three types of competitions: the 2023 World Championships, the Continental Games/Continental Championships, and the Olympic Qualifying Series.

What is the difference between serving the top international competitions such as the Olympics and ordinary events? Chen Gangrui said that there is not much difference in essence, and the purpose is to ensure that athletes participate in the competition in the best physical and competitive state.

"The most memorable one was the Shanghai leg of the Paris Olympic qualifiers. Our key athlete Zeng Yingying suffered an acute injury to her lower back two days before the competition, which affected the completion of her special movements. After this happened, we first conducted a movement dysfunction check to find out the causes of the pain and movement dysfunction, and then carried out targeted muscle and joint mobilization." Chen Gangrui said that through two consecutive days of targeted treatment and rehabilitation training, the team members recovered effectively before the competition, did not feel any pain during the movements, maintained a normal physical condition to participate in the competition, and won sixth place in the group.

Chen Gangrui admitted that athletes often experience some local muscle spasms before a game. If not dealt with in time, the athletes will have great psychological barriers, which will have a great impact on their psychology and overall state. His job is to help athletes solve these problems before the game so that they can be in a better athletic state.

Training | Physical fitness is the guarantee of medals

The birth of a champion is inseparable from the countless heroes behind the scenes who contribute silently and provide full support.

Physical trainers, like rehabilitation therapists and scientific researchers, are essentially an important part of the national team's logistics support team. In their daily work, everyone performs their duties to ensure daily training and complete the preparation tasks for various competitions such as the Olympics. However, when a national sports team is about to participate in a competition, its training life must be under the unified management of the national team leader and implemented in accordance with the management requirements of the national team.

That is to say, in the Olympic arena, the physical trainer will design a cycle plan schedule for the athletes' physical training based on the Olympic cycle plan formulated by the head coach, and adjust their physical fitness to the best condition for participating in the competition.

"This is a medium- to long-term process, and scientific and orderly arrangements are crucial. It does not mean that you can get into your best condition if you eat and sleep well and do not train today for tomorrow's competition." Chen Gangrui explained that before the competition, the amount and intensity of athletes' physical training should be scientifically and reasonably adjusted according to the characteristics of different sports and different athletes, to assist athletes in reaching their best competitive condition in official competitions and improve their athletic performance in competitions.

"Therefore, before some events, we require athletes to rest, some events require them to keep exercising without stopping, and some events require alternating between them." Chen Gangrui said that to ensure that athletes can enter the competition in the best condition, it is necessary not only to rely on advanced scientific instruments, but also on the theoretical level and practical experience of physical coaches, as well as their understanding of the characteristics of different competition events.

Chen Gangrui introduced that in the breakdance team, special physical training can enable breakdance athletes to complete more difficult technical moves, while ensuring their stable performance during the competition, which is a key role of physical training.

Secondly, the rehabilitation of athletes and the treatment of injuries of ordinary people are also different. Because athletes have to exercise every day, their injuries and pains occur continuously. It is not like ordinary people who can slowly get better by doing some rehabilitation training or manipulation if they have shoulder and neck pain today.

Communication | Be honest with each other and be a strong support for the team members

"So in the breakdance team, our most important task is to ensure healthy or painless training for the athletes. Even if they suffer some injuries or pain, it will not affect normal training. This is what we do often." Chen Gangrui said that this requires physical coaches or sports rehabilitation therapists to have practical scientific knowledge that integrates multiple disciplines and sectors, a solid theoretical foundation, long-term practical training, and good communication skills.

"Breakdancing athletes are all freestylers, and each of them has his or her own unique style and characteristics. To get along with them or get along with them, I think the first thing to do is to consider them. That is, we have to understand them from their perspective, the perspective of the athletes, and know the pressure they are under and the hardships of daily training." Chen Gangrui said that we must communicate with them sincerely and openly, and we cannot, as a coach or a teacher, demand things from them from a top-down perspective, but rather communicate on an equal and peaceful basis.

Chen Gangrui admitted that the breakdance athletes are relatively young, and as long as one communicates honestly, it is very pleasant to get along with them, and they are also willing to cooperate in completing physical training.

"For example, during training, we often prick the athletes' fingers to measure their blood lactate. It's actually quite painful. Sometimes we have to do this five or six times in a physical training class to measure the intensity of the training. At first the athletes didn't understand, so I communicated with them and explained it to them." Chen Gangrui said, after we talked it out, we became very good friends with the athletes.

The championship may be the result of one person's victory, but it is the dream of a group of people! (Zhu Chuanpeng's intern Wang Jiafei)

(Dahe.com)