Olympic fencer Miles Chamley-Watson takes us through a typical training session as he prepares for Paris 2024. He explains why it’s important to build a strong core and legs how this strength translates into fencing. He also shows off his grip strength skills and explosive movements.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 The Olympics will be 32 people.
00:02 Technically, it's the easiest competition
00:04 because the field is smaller.
00:05 An easier field, but it's a lot more pressure.
00:07 So I kind of go into it like any other competition.
00:09 Don't put too much pressure on myself,
00:11 enjoy myself, and what will be, will be.
00:13 Hello, everybody. I am Miles "Chemley" Watson,
00:15 a three-time Olympic fencer, two-time world champion,
00:18 born in London, compete for Team USA,
00:20 and today I'm going to show you how I work out.
00:28 I actually didn't find fencing, fencing found me.
00:30 I was kind of offered a punishment, actually.
00:32 Always been an active kid.
00:33 They used to call me Dennis the Menace.
00:35 Couldn't really sit still.
00:36 And then I was like, "Wait, I can, like, stab people,
00:38 not get into trouble? This is pretty cool."
00:40 And then this lovely lady named Ellen Grayson was like,
00:43 "You're good at it, Miles."
00:44 I was like, "It's fencing. What do I do with this?"
00:45 She's like, "You can go to the Olympics."
00:46 My eyes kind of shut up and I was like, "Wait."
00:49 I started to get better in school.
00:50 That's why I love the gym so much.
00:52 I can just kind of lock in and have fun in here.
00:55 And it's like my safe haven.
00:57 So a week of training consists of fencing
00:59 four to five times a week.
01:00 Wednesday is the worst because it's like a lot of drills,
01:02 which I hate, but it's like you better.
01:04 Thursday is high intensity fencing.
01:05 And Friday is like more like just full on sparring.
01:08 It's kind of the day to create and be creative.
01:10 Gym every day and every day is different.
01:12 I might do plyometrics, heavy weights.
01:14 Then I might do a circuit.
01:15 Pilates is super tough,
01:16 but I can start doing it like once a week.
01:18 We kind of always end on hand-eye coordination skills
01:20 and reaction-based training.
01:21 Just always have that top of the mind.
01:23 So let's talk about how I fuel up.
01:25 I start my day with a lot of liquid.
01:26 So I take my probiotics, my greens, protein.
01:29 Normally I just have like a banana,
01:31 some yogurt and some honey.
01:33 I don't want to be too heavy.
01:34 Maybe some brown rice and protein, veggies.
01:37 And then it's training and then it's big dinner.
01:39 A lot of shakes,
01:40 but definitely a lot of protein and vegetables.
01:42 My current fitness goal, I think for me,
01:44 it's like I want to be able to do what I was doing at 18
01:46 when I'm 60.
01:47 And just like stay mobile and open-minded
01:48 and just staying fit.
01:50 That's really it.
01:51 So these are some moves that maybe only fencers
01:54 specifically will do,
01:55 but I think they can help you as well.
01:57 Simple ab roll, right?
01:59 You think, but we do these where you go all the way out
02:04 to here.
02:05 And you hold.
02:08 And you come up slow.
02:11 If you're like really good at that,
02:18 you can take a weight.
02:19 Going back.
02:25 All the way up down.
02:26 Fencing is pretty cool
02:31 because it's all kind of shapes and sizes.
02:33 You don't really have like a typical body, right?
02:35 Like I'm 6'5", 210 pounds.
02:37 Some guys can be 5'6", 130 pounds,
02:40 but you kind of have to have like false reflexes,
02:42 really explosive and good core.
02:43 Think ahead of your opponents,
02:44 kind of the chess and boxing aspects of the sport.
02:47 That's kind of the basis of what a fencer has,
02:50 whether you're tall or kind of small.
02:51 So the next exercise we call the lunge explosion.
02:55 And basically this is to kind of create
02:56 that static movement from being still to being explosive,
02:59 which is 90% of what fencing is.
03:01 The back leg is also the push off leg.
03:14 So we'll do the same thing, but we'll do it this way.
03:17 And this is our back leg now.
03:19 So we'll do about 10 to 12 of these on each side.
03:23 [upbeat music]
03:25 So I've had the same grip, but we break them all the time.
03:30 So I have like six or seven with me.
03:32 They're all kind of like perfectly made for me.
03:34 Like you can name them if you want, if you're weird, I do.
03:37 So yeah, those are like my babies.
03:38 So they're like perfectly made for me.
03:40 These we call them grippies, okay?
03:43 And basically it's just grip strength
03:45 because fencing is so grip oriented.
03:47 So like we use our fingers,
03:49 but it's important to also like
03:50 not use too much of your forearm.
03:51 You'll start out at five pound weight
03:54 and keep your arm as straight as you can, right?
03:57 And you'll just hold it, hold it.
04:00 One, and then if you go to two, three, four.
04:05 That was pretty good.
04:06 So these are basically just all fingers, right?
04:09 This is five pounds.
04:10 You go up to 10.
04:11 Same thing, right?
04:14 You have 10 pound weight here, here,
04:18 shoulder, forearm, fingers, right?
04:21 And then if you're feeling like a G,
04:23 so 25 is a flex, okay?
04:26 It's heavy.
04:28 Have it out.
04:29 And you hold.
04:34 So it's three fingers actually,
04:36 and you hold it out
04:37 for up to 10 seconds.
04:41 And you release.
04:45 And then you grab two fingers like this,
04:48 and you hold it up.
04:49 I think grip strength is good to have in general.
04:51 Mobility is good for everyone.
04:53 So those are grippies.
04:55 I'm out of breath.
04:56 I'm just gripping weights.
04:57 I've got routine and I do people around me.
04:59 Started doing yoga now to get myself aligned.
05:03 Well, a lot of tennis, boxing too,
05:05 is very similar to fencing.
05:06 So those kind of two sports that I play a good amount of
05:08 just to kind of stay sharp
05:09 and keep that mental freeness.
05:12 Box jumps, right?
05:14 Which is straight up just hip mobility.
05:16 Moving it's a little bit of legs,
05:18 but it's also about how you get your hips to pop up, right?
05:21 Without using any extra movement.
05:23 So with our hands on our waist, actually.
05:25 So you can't use any momentum of your hands.
05:28 So we'll start off here, right?
05:31 One of those.
05:33 And then now you can see how easy it is
05:34 when you use the momentum of your arms.
05:39 Now once you have these,
05:41 then we grab a weight, right?
05:44 And you'll, with your toes,
05:48 you'll squat,
05:50 drop the weight and explode up.
05:52 Hands on your hips.
05:54 And then you use your hands, of course.
06:02 30, whatever, the weight doesn't really make a difference.
06:12 'Cause it's just a load.
06:13 On your toes,
06:14 squat.
06:16 We do about six of those,
06:26 which is
06:27 being explosive.
06:35 It is probably the most important thing.
06:37 Of not using any extra signals,
06:39 'cause if I'm moving, they can see, right?
06:41 So you wanna just always be able to
06:44 shoot out at any given time.
06:46 Well, thank you so much for joining me in my workout.
06:49 Kind of glimpsed into my world
06:50 as I prepare for the Olympics this summer.
06:52 I think the gym is the best place for anybody.
06:54 I call it free therapy.
06:55 Come in here and do whatever makes you happy.
06:57 (upbeat music)
07:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]