Maddison Tennant's High Flying Figure, September 2011

Maddison and Nuria

In this update Nuria Novoa tells us about her high flying protege Maddison Tennant.
Maddison is a 14 year old Christchurch athlete with a lot of natural talent and a hard working attitude to match, I first met her in the second half of 2010 when she was in her last year at intermediate.

She was kickboxing, playing team sports and had competed in one aerobics competition as part of a team.

Her natural ability was obvious & she seemed to have the determination required to do well so I was keen to
work with her. When I moved to Auckland from Christchurch following the February quake I wanted to stay involved with her training - so we needed to come up with a plan that would work!

Newsflash! Over the weekend of 3 September Maddison became the new Sport Aerobics NZ National Junior Novice Individual WINNER and she was also awarded with the "most promising individual" trophy - again! Congrats coach Nuria too.

Firstly many people have not seen sport aerobics, so here is a definition;

The ability to perform continuously complex and high intensity movement patterns to music- which originate from traditional aerobics - with a high degree of perfectly executed elements of difficulty. The routine must demonstrate creativity with the perfect integration of all movement, music and expression. The performance area is 7m x 7m. Performers fit into divisions of age (& experience such as novice & open),
and compete as individuals or teams.

Routines are choreographed to show the following elements: dynamic strength, static
strength, jumps and leaps (power), kicks (dynamic strength), balance and
flexibility. The routine must be performed entirely to music. Performances are
scored on: artistic quality, creativity, execution, and difficulty. Like body
building, there are several federations of sport aerobics.

The first task was finishing the choreography. We had made a start before I left Christchurch, but had about three quarters of the routine to go - we finished this over long sessions packed into a few days. I had never learnt a routine so fast until I was 16 so Maddi did really well to learn so much at once!

I wanted to make sure she was seeing someone in Christchurch regularly so referred her onto Megan Pyne who runs an aerobics team called "High Flyers".

I have been back to Christchurch a couple of times since moving & when I'm there I pack in as much time with Maddi & my bikini girls (Katie Ashton & Aimee Bonner as I can.

I've had Maddi doing a simple strength program since early this year, which she does at home twice a week. I flew down to train her for the few days before the NZCAF (NZ competitive aerobics federation) regionals & it was great to be there on her competition day - especially seeing she won! 2 weeks later she flew up to stay and train with me here in Auckland, our program was;

Nuria's Fitness Drills Video! click above pic to watch Maddi.	Fri: -2 hours of plyometrics & fitness drills -Rest & watch video's to see what to work on -2 hours working on routine & changing bits of choreographing/ adding skill moves Sat: -1.5 hours of routine "fitness" which started with doing her routine 5 times with 2-3 minutes rest in between. -checking her strength program & technique *Goal: Increasing routine (anaerobic) fitness

*My goal was to get Maddi training harder to improve certain skill moves (jumps) & overcoming mental barriers by doing things she thought she couldn't - such as tuck jumps over steps stacked on top of each other. To begin she thought she couldn't get over 3 boxes - by the end of the session she was jumping over 4 easily as part
of a circuit). We also changed parts of her routine to improve it for nationals.

Current weekly training schedule:

Mon: rest
Tues: Routine practice at High Flyers, 2 hours
Wed: Home program
Thurs: Conditioning at IMPACT (gymnastics club), 2 hours
Fri: Home program
Sat: Routine practice at High Flyers, 2 hours
Sun: Conditioning at IMPACT, 2 hours

* Home program includes; DB shoulder press, bicep curls, DB 1 arm rows, plyo (clap)
pushups & stretching for flexibility.

Achievements in 2011: -1st place in a regional school gymnastics event (aerobics section) -1st place NZCAF Novice Individual -Winner of the Jean Shalders trophy for "most promising individual" - National Junior Novice Individual Winner
I asked Maddi what she liked about aerobics & her enthusiasm for the sport shines through; "Competition days are my favorite I love just being on stage performing, the surreal atmosphere with the audience and impressing the judges! I also like preparing and meeting new people with the same hobby! I pretty much love the whole deal on competition day!" Talking about her experience so far & her goals for the coming years; "I recently I flew to Auckland to train with my coach Nuria Novoa we worked on my routine and becoming fitter it was a great experience! I am planning on competing throughout my high school years & work on learning new skill moves like 1 arm push ups and "free falls" (jumps landing in pushups or flexibility moves like the splits). I would like to place well & would also like to compete overseas" Good luck Maddi for you first time competing at NZCAF nationals on September 3-4th!

Maddison Tennant's High Flying Figure, September 2011

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