TRAIN LIKE AN OLYMPIAN WITH TRAMPOLINIST
Jason Burnett already won a silver medal in 2008, so everything else from now on is ‘all bonus’
This is part of the Star’s weekly series leading up to the Rio Olympics and Paralympics, focusing on athletes’ diets, fitness routines and mental health. Next week, we hear from wrestler Michelle Fazzari and track cyclist Hugo Barrette.
One distracted moment in 2014 saw trampolinist Jason Burnett’s sky-high dreams come crashing down.
Burnett was practising for the world championships and transitioning from a triple summersault into an “easy skill” — a double summersault — when he lost his focus. He landed on his side, with half his body on the mat and the other half on the trampoline. He tore his ACL.
Burnett, a 29-year-old from Nobleton, Ont., spent the last year and nine months coming to terms with his new reality.
He let go of his commitment to medalling and adjusted his training accordingly. At his lower points, he thought he might not qualify for the Olympics.
“It’s been very difficult to have to let go of some of those ideas,” he said. “I had to readjust my perspective . . . It’s been slow, tiny steps down from the top.”
He stared his weaknesses in the eye and accepted that the Rio Olympics might be off the table. Then, in April, he qualified. “Really, I’m just incredibly happy to be participating in the Olympics,” said Burnett, who also competed in the 2008 and 2012 games. “It’s all bonus from here.”
A double bonus, considering he’s already a medallist.
Burnett snagged a silver medal back at the 2008 Beijing summer Olympics, despite an initial admittedly “terrible” first routine and nearly missing the time slot for his second routine.
“I ended up losing track of time and my coach had to sprint out of the stadium to find me,” Burnett recalls. “When he did, we had about 10 seconds before it was my turn. So we sprinted back into the Olympic stadium and got to the trampoline just in time. My heart was pounding, and I was struggling to catch my breath, but the shock of it all had chased away any fears or doubts. I ended up doing the best second routine of the entire competition. I made it into the finals and went on to win a silver medal.”
For now, he’s training 30 hours a week, fighting pre-competition nerves and looking forward to Aug. 13, when he’ll step onto a trampoline, knowing the world’s eyes are on him, and feel all his nervousness wash away. Nutrition Go-to food after a workout? Protein bar or protein powder. What will you eat on competition day at the Olympics? Chicken, rice or pasta and veggies. Best tips for eating healthier?
Eat natural foods. Eat different colours.
Choose food items with recognizable ingredients and minimal ingredients. Mental health How do you de-stress?
I go for a walk or hike in the forest while listening to podcasts on myth, legend, folklore, fantasy, etc. How do you motivate yourself when you don’t want to train?
I tell myself, “Every bad day you push through earns you more good days in the future.” How do you celebrate victory? By eating junk food and going out with friends. How do you come to terms with defeat?
By acknowledging my mistakes and correcting them when I return to training. Physical Fitness Which exercise is most effective for your training? Quarter squats with heavy weight, combined with box jumps, are one of the most effective exercises I do. The shallow squat replicates the amount of knee bend we experience when jumping on the trampoline and the heavy weight allows us to practise moving and staying stable under a lot of force. Any workouts you dread most?
Our Pilates instructor, Fanny Letourneau, is always finding new ways to torture us.
One of my least favourite exercises is the foot work she gives us, involving lots of tapping, pointing, swishing and scrunching of the feet, which causes a lot of lactic acid buildup in the ankles and shins. Is there a muscle/body part that gives you trouble?
I tore my ACL in October 2014 and my right knee now requires a lot of attention to keep it happy. If I overwork it, my knee tends to swell, and that can lead to instability on the trampoline and more crashes.