IT’S Olympic year, and Guy Learmonth is in no mood to mess around.
The 27-year-old admits he has, in the past, “winged it” somewhat when it came to training and preparation but there’s going to be none of that this year.
Learmonth has already moved things up a notch where his diet is concerned.
Where once he would allow himself to indulge during the off-season and bring that into the competitive arena, with his bodyweight tipping the scales as high as 85kgs, this year he is already down to a lean, mean 75kgs.
There has been no secret to Learmonth’s weight loss – it is just a case of approaching things more professionally as he knows he cannot get away with trying to lose weight at the last minute anymore.
“I eat a lot less now,” the 800m specialist said.
“How do you lose weight? It’s simple maths, a calorie deficit. I eat and drink too much in the off-season and then do two weeks training and get injured because I’m 85kgs.
“I’m naturally strong, I don’t want to lose too much. When I get too low, it’s a fine line. I used to go on crash diets and cut weight like a boxer two weeks before a big competition- I can’t do that anymore. So I’ve got more structure now.
“It’s not been too tough. The first two weeks was hard but then it’s just about getting in a routine. I go to the extremes. I have the odd pizza but it used to be every week.”
When Learmonth ran his personal best time of 1 minute 44.73 seconds in 2018, he was hovering around the 78kgs mark. His target over the coming months is to shed another couple of kilos but even at his current weight, things are looking promising.
On Saturday, Learmonth looked impressive as he finished third in the 800m at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow, crossing the line in a season’s best of 1 minute 47.16 seconds, less than a second behind winner and reigning world indoor champion, Adam Kszczot.
While the Scot admitted he would have loved to have grabbed the win in front of his home crowd, he was pleased with his performance.
“I feel good,” he said.
“I wanted to really go for it and get up there with the pace. I wanted to win this race but third is alright. So I’ll keep progressing from here – and stay injury free, that’s the main thing.”
Learmonth’s primary target this year is qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, which are now only five months away. This would be his Olympic debut but having been something of a mainstay of the GB team in recent years, the Berwick-upon-Tweed man is in no doubt that he has the ability to grab a seat on the plane to Japan. But having narrowly missed out on qualification for the World Championships in Doha last year, he is taking nothing for granted, which is why he has tweaked a number of things in his training programme along with his diet.
“I’ve brought in help from Justin Ronaldi in Melbourne – we’ve merged our training camps together and I’ve added the people I needed added,” he said.
“It’s given it a bit more structure, usually I wing things and see where I’m at and usually it works. Last year was so crazy I needed a bit more structure this year and that’s what I’ve added. I’ve got good people around me now and this race is a step in the right direction.
“My recovery, my training has changed a wee bit, I’ve added a lot more speedwork, sorted my nutrition out, things like that. It’s a big year, I need to take it seriously.”
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