Warming up for cold reality

"In winter sports we have no summer break," Gou Zhongwen, director of the General Administration of Sport of China, said last week at a competition in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province.

"Insufficient physical training used to hamper our athletes from making technical leaps in their respective sports. We shall make up for the lack of work this year in order to enter final preparations for the 2022 Games physically ready."

The contest in Qinhuangdao involved 239 athletes competing in four drills - tire flip, hexagon jump, solid ball throwing and a 3000m run - to test their core strength, agility, explosiveness and aerobic endurance.

Although the routine might seem as simple as a school PE test, it helped shed light on the fitness barriers each athlete has to overcome, said Isaiah McBride, an American strength and conditioning coach.

"Just looking at all the drills today, they are hitting on a lot of different physical characteristics such as strength and balance," added the Minnesota native, who is working with China's freestyle aerials team.