Athletics: Replicating Val's secret

New Zealand's Valerie Adams. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The world is full of secrets - the Coca-Cola recipe, the nuclear weapons pin codes, the subject of Carly Simon's You're So Vain ...

Add the construction manual for an exercise apparatus known as the Eccentric/Concentric Machine, to which Val Adams attributes part of her shot put success. One example exists in Magglingen where Adams has trained for the past four years with Swiss coach Jean-Pierre Egger.

Unfortunately, the bloke who built the ECM is dead but, after diligent research, including consultation with Egger, a replica will soon benefit New Zealand athletes at the Millennium Institute.

The estimated cost is in excess of $50,000, once labour and engineering costs have been calculated. The acquisition means Adams will stay in the country longer than usual this summer for base training.

Egger provided some of the intellectual property for the original ECM when he coached former world champion discus thrower Werner Gunthor in the 1980s.

The pneumatic machine requires more than one person to use. When descending from a squat or press, an athlete can carry a weight which might be 150 per cent of their lifting capacity. Then the hydraulic system switches to a lighter weight when they lift. Adams has previously suggested benefits are visible within a month.

Who could argue? The 30-year-old is unbeaten in 55-straight meets stretching to August 2010 when she lost to Nadzeya Ostapchuk, a proven drugs cheat. She was the only athlete to notch seven victories in this year's IAAF Diamond League.

"In the mid-1980s, a man showed up at our weight training room [in Magglingen]," Egger explained. "He said, 'I am an innovator, if you need something, I can help'. I said a human can demonstrate more strength when he makes an eccentric rather than a concentric movement. So when you break a load [by squatting or lowering a bench press], you might handle up to 150 per cent more weight than when you're lifting. I also got it made as a hydraulic rather than electronic device. It's cheaper for a start. Two months later, it was built but, other than Werner, not many people used it.

"It's not easy to use and we needed a person there at all times to ensure safety. Until Valerie, people never stayed long enough [in Magglingen] to use it for a sustained period. Everyone wants to get on it now.

"I'm pleased [High Performance Sport] New Zealand want to use the idea. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have achieved when I visit in January. A man [from HPSNZ] visited especially to see the machine during the year. I gave him the guided tour so he could help build it in Auckland."

HPSNZ chief executive Alex Baumann said the machine was a worthy investment.

"Obviously it has benefitted Val through the years," Baumann said. "But we're hoping the investment will also help other explosive power-based sports like rugby sevens, cycling and netball.

"Another goal is to replicate the machine so one could be permanently based in a sports hub like Cambridge. We've got to be open to new ideas like this which can benefit such a wide range of athletes."

Adams returns home for shoulder surgery this week. She will rehabilitate until Christmas and hopes to resume normal training by January.