GOLD- STANDARD GAINS
Spring-board your strength at the gym that transforms aspiring athletes into Olympians
How do you turn a tumbling British Olympic sport into a high-flying success? You go to South Essex Gymnastics Club. After years as international alsorans, director of coaching Scott Hann and his club have been instrumental in putting Team GB atop the podium. “When I arrived, three women from the club had been to the Olympics, but they hadn’t won anything,” he reveals. That was 16 years ago. After the springboard of Louis Smith’s silver in Beijing, South Essex has vaulted the competition and stuck the landing. “Now our club has won 38 medals at Commonwealth, European, or Olympic level.” The most recent two came from club stalwart and Rio hero, one Max Whitlock.
Turn left after crossing the threshold to enter the 30x40m competition gym, filled with state- of-the-art equipment. Turn right and you’ll find yourself in the (only slightly) smaller, and no less wellequipped recreational gym. But while there’s no competitive element here, that’s no reason not to dream. “We do a lot of talent identification on the right,” encourages Hann. “If we see anyone with natural flair we’ll snap them up.”
Whether you make Whitlock’s team or not, gymnastics’ benefits are myriad – and a welcome alternative to the crash of metal. “It gives you amazing body confidence,” explains Hann. And not just because you’ll be carving an 8-pack. “It helps you understand the way your body moves.” It’s why Crossfitters come to the club – increased proprioception comes in handy when you’re snatching a heavy barbell overhead, obviously.
If you want to ring the changes on endless squats, or get ripped with only your bodyweight under the guidance of Britain’s best coaches, maybe, just maybe, you’ll turn left one day.