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Beaverton training facility tests elite wheelchair athletes’ capacity for pain
“There’s nothing else like this in the nation,” said Nat Willis, ADAPT’s chief financial officer, as he watched the seven men on the roster exert themselves in a series of demanding speed, power and endurance exercises. “We created this program specifically for wheelchair athletes to really push the athletic threshold of their sport.
“We’re training them to maximize the tools that they have. We specialize in training elite athletes, and these are really elite athletes.”
ADAPT’s head trainer Jerod Warf agreed.
“We’re building a total athlete from the waist up by giving them a training system to maximize their performance, increase muscular efficiency and eliminate non-contact injuries,” Warf said. “In the morning, we work on power and speed development and muscular and mental endurance to give them a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.
“We want them to push beyond expectations — their own and other people’s. We train, train, train, and in the afternoon we take the handcuffs off their hands and let them be instinctual. They use that training to perform without having to think about their movements. It’s exciting to watch them in action.”
To help give participants a more competitive edge when they hit the court for afternoon scrimmages, ADAPT enlisted the help of two of the top stars in the fastest growing wheelchair sport — 2008 Paralympic gold medalist Will Groulx and Ed Suhr, assistant coach for the U.S. Paralympic Rugby Team and head coach for the Portland Pounders.
During the clinic, Suhr and Groulx focused on offering tactical strategy and rugby skills.
That tailored instruction inspired Andy Zimmer and David Mengyan to travel from Michigan to attend the weeklong camp.
“Our team has reached a point where we don’t have a good training philosophy,” said Zimmer, 31, who has been playing wheelchair rugby for four years. “Dave and I found out about this camp and thought it would be a great opportunity for us to improve our game and bring back what we learn to our team.
