Being a successful gymnast requires balance in no small measure, but in the case of Adam Cox, it isn’t just about balance on the floor.

At just 22 years-old, Adam has got more on his plate than most young men his age.  The high bar specialist, who won bronze for Scotland as a teenager at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, has to juggle many balls in the air, which often means sacrificing simple pleasures that most of us take for granted.

“I have only been home about ten days in the last year,” says the Leeds based student, originally from West Lothian.  “Christmas and Easter, that’s about it!”

For the most part though, Cox doesn’t complain, he tells In The Winning Zone during a rare trip to Scotland to compete in the Glasgow Grand Prix at the Kelvin Hall Arena.  He has a winning mentality that understands the need to make sacrifices to reach his goals, and is determined to persevere and reach the top of the gymnastics world.

“It’s tough trying to balance it all, but I never shy away from a challenge.  You just have to take it on the chin and see what you can do,” he ponders.

Studying for joint honours in Education and Sports Development at Leeds Met, Cox, a world champion in the high bar at schools level, trains for six hours a day, five days a week, plus extras.  All on top of his degree.

“You do a lot of sports specific conditioning.  I am in the gym hall 9am till 12noon and then 3.30 till 6.30pm.  We would do one half day on top of that and take the day off on Sundays. About an hour of each day is spent on sport-specific conditioning, ring strength for example, as that is the apparatus you need the most strength on,” he states.

“Then the rest of it is like weightlifting, but you use your own body weight, building your physique up.  I would really only do actual weights once or twice a week, beyond that I just let gravity do its work.  You need to be able to hold your body in a stable position on the rings, which takes a massive amount of control.”

Then there’s the discipline required to stick to an athlete’s diet when living with other students.  Adam lives with some friends in Leeds, which brings its own challenges, especially to someone who is trying to stay in prime condition.

“My food bills are crazy,” he laughs.  “I went to make myself a stir fry the other day, and I was looking for some asparagus.  Six pieces of asparagus are about three quid or something!  Meanwhile my friends all get three microwave meals for three pounds, and I’m spending that on one ingredient! 

It’s pasta instead of pot noodles in most instances for Adam, and most definitely broccoli over beer.  Several nights out a week aren’t really an option for this student either.

“I can’t go out too much, and even when I do I don’t drink very much at all, because I normally have training the next day.”

Thankfully though, help is at hand.  Adam receives funding from UK Sport, which helps keep him in plentiful supply of asparagus.  In his quest for glory at London 2012, Adam also enjoys support from the Scottish Institute of Sport, which includes, importantly, lifestyle advice and guidance on balancing his sport with his degree.

“The Institute help me out an awful lot with nutrition, and my lifestyle coordinator helps me out with all my uni stuff.  I also have a university officer who helps me, to ensure that my juggling of gym and uni work doesn’t get overloaded.  I’m already asking for extensions on my dissertation!”

The Institute also assist Adam in his rehabilitation from injury.   Whizzing and spinning your entire body weight through your arms for six hours a day, plus making high-risk bare-foot landings from several feet in the air on numerous occasions can take its toll on your body, even for a muscular youth like Adam.

In March 2008 he suffered a 17 millimetre tear on the tendons of his shoulder, which required an operation.  That was followed by further surgery on his ankle late last year, due to ligament damage from the impact of his dismounts.

“When you get to my age your body starts to cave in a little bit in gymnastics.  And as I’m doing uni work too my body probably isn’t in as great a condition as I’d like it to be.  And it’s mentally tiring too.  But you’ve just got to be tough and rise through it,” says Cox.

So what are the challenges ahead for Adam?  What are his ambitions?

“I’d like to make it to the London Olympics.  I got injured just before the trials for Beijing which was a bit upsetting.  Then if I do London, it’s only two years until Glasgow.  I’d love to retire with a win at the Glasgow Commonwealths.  I’ll be 27 then.”

The career of a gymnast is notoriously short-lived, as Adam’s case highlights.  However, even though it is still normal to see gymnasts peak and retire before their mid-20s – especially for women – Adam believes that trend is slowly starting to change, thanks to advent of sport science and more funding in the sport.

“The average age of the gymnasts on the circuit is getting a lot older.  Everybody seems to be staying the course, the sport has got much more professional and there is a lot more money in it.  There is quite a lot to be made if you can make finals and win medals.  Some of the big stars get appearance money too.

“British gymnastics have been producing a lot more results recently as well,” Adam adds enthusiastically.

Indeed, with Beth Tweddle winning the uneven bars world championships in 2006 and the teenage Louis Smith’s superb  performance in China at the Olympics, where he took bronze in the pommel horse, things are certainly looking up for Britain.

Prospects are looking perky for Scotland as well, though.  Now free from injury after recovering from his ankle surgery, Cox is keen to stake a claim to win more medals on the international stage.  And of course he will be in direct competition with another Scot, Danny Keatings.

“Yeah, me and Dan have been good mates since we were really little, but he was a bit younger than me.  So when I was hitting my peak at the Commonwealth Games, he was looking up to me.  Then we went on a couple of trips together to China and Australia as well.”

So now all Adam’s thoughts are focused on the future.  He believes he helped start the British gymnastics revolution when he helped Team GB to a last 16 place at the European Championships.  Now he wants to lead that revolution from the front. 

He had a bright start to his career, followed by a couple of seasons of frustration after his injuries.  There is a lot on Adam’s plate right now but as he said before, he enjoys the challenge.

“Well I’m not going to lie to you.  I don’t get up every morning wanting to train.  But I love the sport.  I like waking up with a sense of purpose.  I know a lot of people get up every morning and go to a job they hate.  I don’t feel like that, I wake up every morning feeling that something new and exciting is going to happen. 

“Obviously it’s not always good.  Even if you have an absolute terrible session you are still looking forward to the next one, so you can fix it.  You want to prove yourself.

Adam’s mantra is to never back away.  Injury and worry can bog down an athlete and drive them to despair.  But not Adam.

“I always remember someone telling me that fear and pain are the two biggest barriers anyone will have to overcome to be successful in anything.  And I thought that really applies in gymnastics. 

“There are days when the fear of getting onto the apparatus is awful, your hands are all ripped and your body is aching.  But for some reason you still want to keep doing it.  And when you get in that mental frame where nothing can stop you doing what you want to do, then there is nothing you can’t do!”

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