Kyle Bennett, Race To Stay Healthy
geneb
Houston, TX -- 05/20/2009
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/2972/05202009a.jpg
Photo - Conroe native Kyle Bennett won Union Cycliste
Internationale championships in 2002, 2003 and 2007.
Kyle Bennett is a three-time Union Cycliste Internationale world
champion whose Olympic bid was cut short by a dislocated shoulder.
The 29-year-old Conroe native fell in love with BMX competition
when he was just 7 and had gone pro by the time he was 18.
While still a pup by most standards, Bennett says he�s feeling his
age in a physically unforgiving sport. He now takes better care
of himself and says recovering from injury and just plain sore
muscles is easier with a good diet and a lot of stretching.
Q: BMX cycling seems like it would be hard on your body,
especially your joints. What aches and pains do you have?
A: I�ve had lots of stitches, cuts and scrapes growing up.
Broken collarbone, ribs, separated shoulder. The pretty
good setback was my ACL tear at the end of �06. I had knee
surgery, an ACL replacement, but I came back from it and
won the world championship.
Q: What do you do now to prevent injury?
A: A lot of stretching. As I get older I
realize how important it is to be limber.
Q: What is your training regimen like?
A: For cycling, lower body is more important. My training is
more anaerobic than aerobic. I want to be lightweight and
explosive, because our races don�t last more than 45 seconds.
It would be like training to be a sprinter.
Q: How many hours a week do you work at this?
A: It depends on how busy my racing schedule is. Normally
Monday is a rest day. Tuesday is usually gym day; I get up
early and train for an hour and a half to two hours.
In the evening I go to the track and practice on the bike doing
laps and lap intervals, working on starts. Wednesday is sprint
day, where I go to a local park and set up cones and do sprint
intervals. I rest on Thursday, practice on Friday and race
Saturday and Sunday.
Q: You dislocated your shoulder during the Beijing Olympics.
How did you take care of yourself after that?
A: I crashed and didn�t realize my shoulder was out of its socket
until I went to push up and couldn�t. The doctor came out and
popped it back into place. I still ended up qualifying for the finals
the next day. It felt unstable, but I did the best I could. I tried to
race, but it was so sore.
When I got back home, I worked out to
rebuild strength. I was lucky nothing was torn.
Q: Since you�re so active, do you get to eat whatever you want?
A: I need to eat a lot of carbs. I eat healthy; I just don�t go to
McDonald�s. Lunch is definitely my biggest meal of the day,
usually pasta, grilled chicken and veggies. I probably don�t
eat as many veggies as I should.
Q: If you weren�t a BMX cyclist, what would you be?
A: I love to play tennis. That�s my getaway sport. I�d love to
be a professional tennis player. I�m not near good enough,
but I love to play.
Q: Since no one�s good all the time, what are your guilty pleasures?
A: I love eating cereal, Cheerios, and cookies and milk before bed.
If I have a good weekend of racing, I reward myself with Cold Stone
Creamery ice cream � it�s a treat.
Q: Do any health problems run in your family?
A: No, my grandpa is 84 now, and Mom�s 49. They�re healthy and
going strong. They stay away from doctors as much as they can.
Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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