Life for a brakeman is very different when the competitive season comes around as you're up mountains for 5 months a year, only having Christmas as a break. On season all training revolves around being on ice, whether this is pre-season/training weeks, or actual competition weeks, where sliding is the priority.
On TV the driver of the sled appears to do all the work, but in reality, behind the scenes, away from the cameras, it’s the brakeman who do ALL the work! Another name for the brakeman is ‘sled dogs’ because we do all heavy lifting, hard graft and get treated like dogs, the drivers just rock up and take the glory, lol.
A typical training day for a brakeman on season revolves around when we are sliding that day. The training sessions are usually at 1 of 3 times during the day; morning, afternoon or evening sliding and this will either be 2-man or 4-man training, sometimes, but it’s rare where both sleds are taken to the track.
When we are not at a sliding session, we use the other times during the day to either do a weight training session, so gym based, or a speed/sprint session, which is usually at the local athletics track. Other daily tasks are sled work/runner polishing, 4-man dry loading drills, team meetings/analysis, recovery/treatment sessions with a physio or masseuse and where possible a 5-minute nap. Along with trying to stay on top of work back home, so corresponding to emails etc.
Our daily structure is roughly as follows:
Breakfast – 7.00
Sliding – 9.00 > 12.00
Lunch – 13.00 > 14.00
Weight training or sprinting – 14.30 > 17.30
Dinner – 18.00 > 19.00
Team meeting – 19.30 > 20.00
Treatment/physio – 20.00 > 21.30
Down time – 21.30 >
These times can change depending upon the weather and the ever changing environment that we operate in. The temperatures can range from -35 > 15°, with heavy snow, this creates more challenges for us to overcome.
I would highly recommend having a go at least once in your life. If you’re ever near a Bobsleigh track in the winter, each track does what’s called a ‘taxi bob’, this is where you can pay to be taken down a run with a local driver, giving you the truest of experiences. The only problem is it will make every roller-coaster seem dull and boring in comparison!
For more information about our range of strength & conditioning training programmes please click on our shop link:
https://www.dsperformance.co.uk/shop
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