Calawod makes sure Yulo in shape
CARLOS Yulo’s girlfriend makes sure he’s loved; his coaches make sure he’s skilled, and the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) makes sure he’s supported.
But who makes sure that he’s in optimal shape, his mind and body protected and healed from the daily grind of being a topnotch Olympic athlete?
Enter the woman named Hazel Calawod, Yulo’s sports occupational therapist with almost a decade of professional experience.
“As an occupational therapist, I just don’t delve into the physical aspect of the person, I am also equipped with knowledge about the brain,” Calawod, a graduate of Occupational Therapy from the University of the Philippines, shared to The Manila Times.
Calawod, who handled top athletes like MMA fighter Mark Striegl as well as club teams like Banko Perlas in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) and [mind coach for] Bren ESports, also took up Ergonomics and Human Factors at the prestigious Harvard University.
“I’m also equipped with mental health tools and other things so my expertise as an occupational therapist, I also apply that to Yulo’s training program so he’s not just physically prepared but he’s going to be, hopefully, mentally tough in order to properly focus when he needs to show his skills in a high-stress environment. We’re also going to have programs during his training camp that will cater to his needs mentally.”
Calawod, who co-founded the NeuroBalance Therapy and Precision Sports Therapy, was initially tapped as a mere therapist for Yulo. But when the Paris Olympics-bound Yulo saw that she can also do strength and conditioning, he asked Calawod to do so.
“Last year when we were in Belgium (for the World Championships), I was working with him for just two months during that time. My only involvement during that time is just giving him therapy. After training, I fix his muscles, tendons, and ligaments in order for him to train more and then when he noticed that I’m able to give him targeted exercise, he asked, ‘ma’am can you give me strength and conditioning when we go back to the Philippines?’
“Now, all the things that I think can possibly optimize him as an athlete and from the human performance perspective, I made a program out of it. From ankle strength, injury prevention, vertical jump training, twisting motions, to anything that can be optimized.”
The model-turned-therapist, whose team has also been helping the Philippine gymnastics athletes, also sees to it that Yulo gets proper nutrition and sleep.
From Calawod’s observation, Yulo is performing splendidly in his training albeit she said that they’re just ‘scratching the surface’ in terms of the two-time Olympian’s stamina.