Thomas Frühwirth is one of Austria's most successful Para-athletes. In international handbike sport, he has been impressing for years with consistency, focus and performance.
After a motorcycle accident and the resulting paraplegia, a new sporting path began for him, leading him to the world's top level. This interview follows on from his most recent success - the World Champion title in the time trial at the Cycling World Championships in Zurich - and provides insight into the factors behind his performance.
Maria Vaske: Thomas Frühwirth, lovely to have you here today. How are you doing today, looking back at this sensational success with a bit of distance?
Thomas Frühwirth: Yes, it was simply a very beautiful experience. They were “Hollywood Games” for me. After I caught Covid seven days before the main competition, I then became aware of what I had and was only able to come back two days before the start. During race week I lost 1.5 kilograms because I had diarrhoea, couldn't sleep at all and had headaches. So the approach was really mentally incredibly challenging for me. And it was certainly my mental masterpiece, being able to perform anyway. Even though everything spoke against it, and not everyone really believed in me. And yes - that is also what it is all about: when you train for over 20 years sportingly and also for over 15 years mentally, you are then still capable of such performances. Even when not everything goes according to plan.
„It was certainly my mental masterpiece, being able to perform anyway.“
Maria Vaske: What was most important for you?
Thomas Frühwirth: Yes, for me only two points were the most important: first was total acceptance - not fighting against what I have, but simply saying okay, this is how it is now. I have Covid, but I can still perform very well. And the second was a very simple sentence, just three words. Every day I said it to myself all day long - really 20 times a day I said it out loud to myself, again and again in front of the mirror: “All will be well”. With these simple words people can influence a great deal. With “All will be well” one can influence a great deal, and thanks to that one really managed it very well - alongside some other mental tools that I have simply acquired over the past 15 years.
„All will be well.“
Maria Vaske: How exactly did you manage to motivate yourself mentally like that?
Thomas Frühwirth: The most important thing in the first step was acceptance. Telling oneself: “Total acceptance”. That means, okay, the situation “Covid” is now simply the way it is. I accept it nevertheless. I'm not going to fight against it now, and I'm not going to keep doubting either, but rather I take it always as it is. And the second thing was telling myself three simple words, which I said to myself again and again, which I also tell myself otherwise in my life and also in training. And there I really did it 20 times a day and said these three words to myself in front of the mirror. And these are these three simple words: “All will be well”. If you really accept that with an open heart and indeed with acceptance, then it has an incredible effect. And yes - that also helped me very positively in the competition.
Maria Vaske: Thank you for this personal insight. Looking back today, or with a few days' distance, at your successes - how do you feel today, what do you think about yourself and your emotions? What is going on inside you?
Thomas Frühwirth: Well, at the end of the day it was really awesome racing. My reward is being out there and doing the competitions - as we say so nicely in Austrian: “hitting yourself in the face so nicely” (he laughs). Yes, I love the sport. It is a huge passion of mine. Otherwise I could have stopped ten years ago. I had already achieved enough back then, and it is simply an incredibly beautiful, enriching thing for me. As long as it is fun for me, as long as I personally see meaning in it, that is how long I will keep at it - quite simply. And the training was now once again a confirmation of the past three years since Tokyo. And of course these successes are now a very satisfying feeling.
Maria Vaske: With all these appointments and competitive events, which is what they ultimately are – how do you regenerate?
Thomas Frühwirth: The two most important points are nutrition and sleep. So I have to eat well. And sleep is the most important regeneration tool, alongside nutrition. Without these two points, nothing works. If that's not right, then I don't even need to start turning the small adjustment screws or trying out subtleties. That really is the absolute basis. The simplest and healthiest diet is very straightforward and is: to eat more vegetables. But I also have to watch my vital nutrients, so that my body is well supplied.
For me as an athlete, carbohydrates are also important, and sugar and everything that goes with it. That isn't something evil - fats too and of course protein. Everything must simply be of high quality. So as an athlete, I mustn't be too lazy to cook for myself two or three times a day to get the best possible quality. Yes - and the same applies to sleep. The better the sleep, the better we regenerate. And regeneration is something I can support with a wide variety of things. And there, over the past 10, 20 years, I have actually tried and tested all sorts of things that support it as best as possible.
„The two most important points are nutrition and sleep.“
Maria Vaske: What do you use in addition for regeneration - is there something where you say: that has become a part not just of my competitions and regeneration but also of my everyday life?
Thomas Frühwirth: For recovery, the magnetic field strips come to my mind - the Pads from BioRelax. I have really had very good experiences with them. I stick them locally onto the stressed musculature. And they help these spots regenerate better during sleep through the night, because the circulation in those areas of the body is simply better promoted.
I have observed: the better the circulation, the better the body can supply itself with nutrients again. And that is of course “King”. The better the supply to the body is promoted overnight, the better it will regenerate - and the muscles too will recover better. This is an experience I have really actively had. It is something I have been using daily - depending on the load phase - for several years now, really very regularly, and with very positive results.
„The better the circulation, the better the body can supply itself with nutrients again.“
Maria Vaske: That means you're talking about the Kleinsche Fields Pads here. What exactly do you feel and notice with the application in terms of improvements and changes?
Thomas Frühwirth: Yes, I simply notice a warming and thus increasingly better circulation in the area where I apply the Kleinsche Fields. And the better it is supplied and the better the circulation, the better the body can also send nutrients there and, above all, also transport away straining substances such as damaged body cells. And that is why promoting circulation is incredibly positive for the body. And in this case, the Pad is really very point-targeted, because it can be placed precisely on the musculature exactly where the stress occurs and where problems may be present.
Maria Vaske: You mentioned using Kleinsche Fields for muscle relaxation, but also for muscle hardening. May I ask on which parts of the body you use the Pads in particular? Where exactly do you use the Kleinsche Fields, where do you apply the Kleinsche Fields Pads or magnetic strips?
Thomas Frühwirth: Well, since I am a wheelchair athlete, I focus on the upper extremities (he laughs). Because I am a wheelchair user, I have incredibly poor circulation in the feet and with injuries. For example, I was able to apply the Kleinsche Fields there just as well: for example, simply placing the Pads on the injury site through the bandage and thereby again promoting circulation. For me as an athlete, the regeneration of the musculature is the top priority. And there it is the case that I mainly apply them: on the back musculature, on the forearm musculature, including the wrists.
At those three points I apply them. With the back, it really is the case that sometimes I just put one on the left and right, in the upper area, sometimes in the lower area or perhaps even across both areas - and with the forearms it is the same: the front of the forearms or the back. Just as an example: now during the Olympic individual time trial - where there was no recovery day between the two races, the road race came the very next day - I stuck the Kleinsche Fields onto my left and right forearms myself every evening before going to sleep, because they really were very, very heavily strained muscularly. And as I had already tested in training and gathered experience, they recovered very, very well over the night.
„In the evening before going to sleep, I stuck the Kleinsche Fields onto my left and right forearms myself.“
Maria Vaske: The Kleinsche Fields Pads - how exactly did you attach them on your forearms?
Thomas Frühwirth: Well, in this case it is very easy and practical for me. I simply do it with tapes - just with adhesive tape, with sticky strips. I stick those over the Kleinsche Fields Pad and fix the magnetic strip on the respective body part.
Maria Vaske: You know your body best, especially with your disability. You also mentioned the topic of circulation, which is also an important topic with Kleinsche Fields. Can you specifically feel for yourself how the circulation improves? Some people describe that they feel a so-called “flowing” when applying the Kleinsche Fields Pads. Would you also say: yes, I can directly feel something here, or not at all?
Thomas Frühwirth: Yes, absolutely. When I stick it onto the respective musculature, then I really feel after a short time a certain warming and a certain improvement in circulation, and also over a longer continuous time, until I remove it again. Then I obviously and hopefully fall asleep during the application. And they don't disturb me in my sleep at all. Quite the contrary - they don't influence my sleep negatively in any way; instead they better perfuse the respective spot, and that then leads to the desired success.
„I feel directly after a short time a certain warming and improvement in circulation.“
Maria Vaske: You also addressed the topic of regeneration. When you have now applied the Kleinsche Fields as Pads, what do you observe afterwards? What has improved concretely, for example in the musculature, or in general?
Thomas Frühwirth: It is always about the muscle tone no longer being present in the morning, or being significantly reduced, and the muscle having regenerated well over the night, because it can more easily transport away the destroyed body cells through the improved circulation and can bring new nutrients to the musculature. And as a result, the regeneration in the muscle is also better, and I am once again able to deliver a good performance.
Maria Vaske: That means you always have Kleinsche Fields on board in your travel luggage - or how should I imagine it?
Thomas Frühwirth: Yes, that's exactly how it is. I always have them with me. It is of course an additional weight. But I have said to myself: I do my application 99 percent over the night, or 95 percent. Every now and then I also stick them on during the course of the day. Of course, when I train three times a day, then it is sometimes not practical, since I sweat a lot during training. Then they would get soaking wet.
Maria Vaske: That means in your travel luggage the Kleinsche Fields are always with you - would you recommend Kleinsche Fields to other people, to other athletes?
Thomas Frühwirth: Fundamentally I can always speak first and foremost only from my own perspective. I have had very positive experiences with them. I can only recommend everyone to simply try them and see whether they also have the positive experience with them. Statements for others I cannot and do not want to make. An athlete can only try it and see whether it is good for him and whether he also has positive experiences with it. I can absolutely imagine it. But it will show itself in the “trial-and-error” principle. And if you want to fully exploit your own performance to 100 percent, then it is again another building block with which a small step forward can always be made.
Maria Vaske: How did you come across them, and since when exactly have you been using Kleinsche Fields Pads?
Thomas Frühwirth: I came to the topic of the magnetic field mat in general already 15 years ago, because I simply looked into how can I improve my sleep. Back then I didn't yet know the Kleinsche Fields. I don't even remember exactly how. I think I came across them via some video and then thought, okay, I'll try this. Maybe it's another step. I try to push everything from A to Z. I think to myself, why not try it, let's see what the result is. Exactly. And then I bought the first ones, signed up and looked at how it works.
Maria Vaske: That long ago. And did you already try out the Mattress topper back then?
Thomas Frühwirth: I applied the Kleinsche Fields for the first time about two and a half years ago.
Maria Vaske: Mr Frühwirth, I thank you for this open conversation.
