"Plant your claws and pull the buttocks back ... These are the fingers that work very hard, like a cat scratching the carpet and stretching ..." She may be 40 cm shorter than the heavy weight of the French judo, Bernadette de Gasquet, all frail in her mauve tank top, nonetheless remains energetic. "Did you see his flexibility?" Teddy Riner asks. Nothing predestined the double Olympic champion, who will seek a third title in Tokyo this summer (he has been officially selected since Tuesday), and this dynamic 75-year-old woman, doctor and yoga teacher, to meet. "I would never have imagined that Teddy would agree to collaborate with me, a girl who takes care of pregnant women, but it hit the mark straight away", smiles Bernadette de Gasquet.
The method of this doctor - well known to mothers who have just given birth since it allows to re-educate the perineum - is simple.
Via mobilization and strengthening exercises, to be activated on a daily basis in all positions - “including when you are nailed to a chair in front of your desk or when you are doing housework” - you perform an essential sheathing work to protect his joints.
“When we do a daily movement, we have to ask ourselves how we do it,” insists Bernadette.
Preserve the joints
“I have always done sheathing, but I quickly understood through this method that I was doing it very badly, admits Teddy Riner.
For example, I was able to do a plank
(Editor's note: staying on my elbows)
and hold a minute and a half.
Thirty seconds of a Bernadette-style board are enough to work well.
"" What is expected of him is that he is less strong, "summarizes the professor.
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The exercises are taken up in a co-signed book which comes out this Wednesday and which is not intended for those who dream of "chocolate bars" or "of an eternally young and sculpted body", but to everyone. "The objective of this book is to allow the use of the joints as long as possible, by limiting poorly controlled wear," assures the author. Repeated, the exercises make it possible to "create a reflex attitude of protection in the most ordinary, the most frequent movements".
Teddy Riner puts his two cents in there.
“As for the muscles, it is difficult to match,” smiles Bernadette de Gasquet.
But it turns out to be much more flexible than most big guys.
Its mobility, remarkable despite the weight it makes, its agility and its correctness of feeling seem to us to be more important to present than the number of repetitions of push-ups or the load to be lifted.
In other words, there is no need to multiply the weight training sessions to get the body of Teddy Riner, opt instead for the "useful sheathing", the purpose of which is to preserve all the joints.
Learn to breathe well
The one who will aim for a third Olympic gold medal this summer in Tokyo, was introduced to the exercises a year and a half ago by Marie Bourgeon, his osteopath anxious to help the champion, manhandled by years of high dose sport, to protect oneself from injury. “We adopt the right posture and good breathing,” insists Bernadette de Gasquet.
While the use of the core method is not directly related to Teddy Riner's weight loss, it does contribute to his metamorphosis.
“I have seen the changes in my body, my postures are different, my deep muscles are much stronger.
Result, on the mat, I stand more upright, I feel less tired.
Above all, I hurt myself less.
I no longer have to worry about pubalgia.
"Because he forces less than before, he positions himself better and mobilizes his joints differently," says Bernadette de Gasquet.
He also changed his breathing.
"
“Via this book, I wanted to show that it was possible, points out Teddy Riner.
That even if a barrel like me can do it, then anyone can do it.
I am not a superman!
"
Teddy Riner and Bernadette de Gasquet co-wrote "The unsuspected power of sheathing".
Editions Marabout
"The unsuspected power of sheathing",
by Doctor Bernadette de Gasquet and Teddy Riner, Editions Marabout, 223 pages.
19.90 euros, publication April 21, 2021.
