Article content

During four weeks in July and August, Ottawa Citizen videographer Darren Brown and I joined Kyle Thorne, the trainer for the Ottawa Redblacks and Ottawa Fury, to learn what makes these guys pro athletes and film our video series, Train Like A Pro.

I’ve never played football, and only occasionally play (badly) intramural soccer, but I am, or was, an athlete. In 2008 I won an Olympic medal in sprint canoeing, and though I haven’t really exercised since 2012, I do know something about high-performance training. This video is one of five, each highlighting a different player, a different movement and a different exercise you can try at home. Today’s video, featuring Jon Gott, is above. Below, read a brief anecdote about the shoot.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Train Like A Pro: Can't stop Jon Gott Back to video

Can’t stop Jon Gott:

Gott was the first athlete I saw in the gym when I started reporting for this project. In the profile I wrote about Thorne and the gym, Gott is the one deadlifting obscene amounts of weight at 7:30 a.m.