Kim Mickle Javelin Training Photos by Theron Kirkman Photo

Up and up

“Chin-ups aren’t my best exercise. I tend to be in the gym when the pole vaulters are there and they’ll tie 30kg to themselves before doing chin-ups, while I struggle with my own bodyweight. I do 3 x 8 reps. I try to do them palms out, and fast and dynamic, so I’m not swinging and I’m using the right technique. It’s one thing I hate doing each day because I find it really hard.

“Push-ups are much more my thing. Recently we put the challenge out to everyone in the WAIS athletics group to see how many push-ups each person could do in a minute. I ended up winning it with 70. I was pretty stoked with that.”

Hitting the bars

“I do a gymnastics session every Wednesday. As part of that, I do exercises on the parallel bars for shoulder stability and core work. I normally do 3 x 10 swings, and then 3 x 10 swing and dips, which is a similar move, except I dip down, which requires a lot more tricep activation. It’s the same principle as the swings, but adds an extra strength element.

“I aim to do constant swings to engage all the tiny little muscles that people forget about when they concentrate on lifting big weights. On the bars, if you relax just one muscle group, you can fall. It’s a great reminder of how important all those little muscles in the shoulders and back are.

“I reckon doing exercises with your own body weight is just about the best thing you can do. We try to maximise the number of exercises I do using just my body weight. It’s safer [than lifting weights] and it’s also really hard work.”

Big Wednesdays 

“After the Wednesday gymnastics session I usually work through a bit of a circuit straight after, so it can be pretty crazy. I’m in the gym [weights room] six days a week, and five of those days we are doing strength-based stuff – heavy, fast, explosive lifts at high intensity.

“So on a Wednesday I shake it up a bit. I do high reps, no rest, absolutely flat out, with a tough bit of cardio between sets either on the bike or the rowing or kayak machine. It’s not a nice session at all!”