Horschig's gym: The St Louis workshop where India's elite lifters reset

Just over a fortnight after their rich medal haul at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, the 10-member Indian weightlifting squad boarded a flight to St Louis, US. Hurriedly planned, it was not a regular exposure trip. It was to let Dr Aaron Horschig—physio and strength conditioning coach known as the ‘miracle man’ behind Mirabai Chanu's Tokyo Olympic silver medal—inspect the battered bodies of the lifters.

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For over three weeks, Dr Horschig examined the minutest muscular movements of India's elite lifters to identify muscle imbalances and niggles that had bothered Chanu, Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli. All three had won gold at the CWG and the strain of training, competition and felicitations was taking its toll.

Jeremy, who competes in the 67 kg class, braved a left elbow injury to win, while 73kg lifter Sheuli was dealing with a troublesome left hamstring. “Achinta doesn't have a major issue, but his left hamstring troubles him sometimes. Jeremy has some imbalance issues with his back and knee. His left glutes are also weak,” national weightlifting coach, Vijay Sharma, had said before leaving for the US.

Muscle imbalances aside Jeremy’s main problem was an elbow injury. The 19-year-old was in acute pain in Birmingham, having torn his ligaments and tendons. When he arrived at Horschig's gym, he was unable to lift even an unweighted barbell without feeling pain during the full extension. Used to lifting thrice his bodyweight, he was now not even able to lift a barbell.

Dr Horschig put him through a routine that has significantly restored his natural extension. Jeremy started with basic shoulder taps with five-second holds, followed by other isometric exercises. He then moved to the full range of motion workouts such as dumbbell presses and push-ups. By the end of the programme, Jeremy was able to lift without pain and was reintroduced to weighted squats.

“He has not fully recovered yet, but should be back to full fitness very soon,” Sharma said.

Jeremy's other problem—imbalance in the left glutes—has also been fixed. “We were using exercises like single-leg squats to help him feel for the balance issue and enhance coordination. Weightlifters primarily move weights with two feet on the ground, so performing corrective exercises in single-leg stance is essential to expose and clear up small imbalances that can lead to bigger problems if left unchecked," Horschig explained.

For Sheuli, the imbalance was mostly due to improper training load. His weaker left hamstring was increasingly under strain as training intensified, and the 20-year-old would feel pain in his “high hamstring”, or posterior hip region, during the pull phase of his heavy snatches and cleans as the bar passed his knee.

“Achinta had been struggling with hamstring pain for over a year. He is 90% recovered now. If a certain part of your body is weak, it will eventually break down. We need to be careful with his training load and consult a physiotherapist from time to time. It was not a major issue, which is why he recovered quickly,” Sharma said.

“I found with mobility testing that he had restricted external rotation,” said Horschig. In a 57-second clip uploaded on Twitter last month, he broke down Sheuli's issue. Sheuli felt pain during the pull phase of a 143kg deadlift, prompting Horschig to test his internal and external hip rotations.

While the internal rotation was reasonably symmetrical on both sides, the external rotation test revealed limited movement on the left.

The process to fix Sheuli began with groin stretch using a kettlebell that required the lifter to hold the stretch for five repetitions of five seconds each. Once some progress was made, Horschig recommended a side plank clamshell—a modified side plank using a resistance band—and single-leg hip thrusts. Gradually, they moved to 'pause deadlifts' where Sheuli would go heavy and pause his lift in the pull phase, holding the position for five seconds. The pain, by now, was gone.

“We decided to address it with these mobility and stability-enhancing drills, and we have seen great progress in his pain control and strength during the pull phase,” Horschig said. “The main area of improvement with Jeremy and Sheuli lies in stability and control. They are both very mobile and flexible athletes and with time and focus on technique, and the corrective exercises we implement into their training and recovery time, they should see great progress. The good news is both are very strong technically and are always eager to learn and improve.”

While Horschig has only recently started to work with Jeremy and Sheuli, Chanu has consulted him for over two years. From the time Sharma located Horschig on Instagram, Chanu has made five trips to St Louis. The consultation began over Zoom calls during the Covid-enforced travel restrictions in 2020. Chanu still has weekly consultations.

Chanu's issue before the Tokyo Olympics was her right shoulder blade not moving optimally when her arm was overhead. Her current concern is the limited stability of her left shoulder during the snatch routine.

Horschig made Chanu lift a bar with hanging weights overhead. The single arm exercise—it was done using the left arm—was to be done in a seated lunge position. It sought to improve shoulder stability and control through a full overhead arching motion.

“The bouncing weights hanging from the bar make it very unstable… Our goal is to improve her ability to rotate and maintain that stability with the bar overhead in the snatch reception,” Horschig said.

“I wouldn’t say we’re ever perfect but she has made some amazing progress in reducing large imbalances.”

Chanu’s hip mobility has also improved, relieving her of the lower back pain she experienced during heavy lifting. The former world champion has had lower back problems in past. She experienced pain in the lumbar region during the recent US trip.

Horschig made her do single-leg squats and discovered that the left hip was not opening as much as the right. The problem was addressed after targetted training.

Chanu says Horschig has helped her understand her body better. “If I train for seven hours, I dedicate one hour to do strengthening exercises. I work on each small part of my body. I have to be extra careful during competitions and save myself from injuries. I try to forget the niggles,” she said at the National Games recently.

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