Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is determined to avoid another injury ahead of the European Indoor Championships.
Happy Harry closely manages his fitness
British sprint star Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is determined to minimise the risk of suffering another injury blow as he looks ahead to next month's European Indoor Championships - by spending as much time on his computer as possible.
The 22-year-old was delighted to finish second in the 60metres behind Dwain Chambers at the Aviva Indoor Trials and UK Championships in Sheffield on Saturday, and his season's best of 6.64 seconds was also inside the qualifying time for Paris.
Aikines-Aryeetey, a former world junior 100m champion, missed virtually all of 2010 after sustaining a serious hamstring injury during the semi-finals of last year's world indoors.
It wasn't the first time his promising career had been put on hold - back in 2007 the south London athlete missed 11 months with a back injury - so he admits he needs to be cautious in his life away from the sport.
He said: "Day to day I'm at home playing Football Manager on my laptop - I don't go anywhere! I take my dog for a walk and that's about as much activity as I do outside the athletics world!
"We're not footballers, we're not basketball players. They play a game in which you don't have to be 100%. You see players like Steven Gerrard come on for 60 minutes. We're trying to push the boundaries and we need to be 100%.
"Unless you're Usain Bolt, there's no point running if you're only 80%. Bolt can run 9.5 so on a bad day he can run 9.8 - not many people can do that.
"I'm trying to be the best that I can be so if I went out playing football with my mates that could impact what I can do on the track."
Weight watcher
Chambers revealed he shed three kilogrammes during the winter due to his new diet and training plan and Aikines-Aryeetey believes he's also benefitting from a slight loss of weight.
However, the youngster insists he must avoid being too light as that could have a negative effect on his explosive power.
"I've lost weight and I'm down to about 86.5 kg. Last year when I ran a personal best of 6.55 I was 88.8kg," added Aikines-Aryeetey, who won a 4x100m relay bronze at the World Championships in Berlin in 2009.
"I do put on muscle quite easily so we try to stay away from the weights. Craig Pickering and the other guys will be in the gym much longer than me.
"Two years ago I actually weighed 82kg coming into this competition and I couldn't break 6.70 so power is a massive asset of mine.
"A lot of people will say bad things about my size but I literally can't help it. My nutritionist Matt Lovell is on top of me and gives me a food plan of everything I can eat from Monday to Sunday.
"It's not so much about eating nothing. Like on a Saturday I get to go to the cinema and get one scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and sweet popcorn.
"It's knowing how to eat, when to eat and what to eat.
"I know that I'm powerful and explosive at 88kilos as I was last year when I ran my personal best. Now I'm a bit lighter and I'm actually moving in the same way, I'm running a bit better technically.
"It's mainly for the outdoor season - if I'm lighter for the last 40 metres I'll be able to hold myself for longer and that could make a difference."
