Smith leans on Coast strength guru
WHEN Australian cricket batting maestro Steve Smith was in need of a workout to help keep himself fit during COVID-19, there is one Gold Coast man who was at the top of his list to contact.
Enter Damian Mednis, Cricket Australia’s former strength and conditioning coach and current director of athletic performance at The Southport School.
When a game scheduled for the Gabba in Brisbane was washed out at the 2015 World Cup, won by Australia, the team was in need of a way to stay active.
Mednis knew exactly what to do and memories from the fatigue-inducing workout are so firmly entrenched in Smith’s mind that he reached out to the respected high-performance mentor to go through it all again.
“He messaged me on Easter
Monday asking about it,” Mednis said. “When our game against Bangladesh was rained out we had to do something so I put them through this countdown circuit.
“It goes between about eight and 13 minutes, depending on your ability. There is no break and it’s horrible.
“Steve messaged me after he did it and said he was sorry he asked for it.”
So, what does it involve? “It involves six exercises, push-ups, sit-ups, mountain climbers, windmills, burpees and jump squats,” Mednis said.
“You do 10 repetitions of each exercise and then once you have done that you go back to the start, without any rest in between, and do nine repetitions.
“You keep descending the amount of reps until you get to zero. When you hit six or seven you are question what you are doing and your head is spinning.”