"Mao Asada Dream Lab"

Thanks Oscilla for the link!

bibi wrote:

coconut wrote:

I think Mao dyed her hair a little too.

Yes, that's true

I noticed that too in the pics of Mao at the Olympus photoshoot - you can't really tell when she was wearing her hair all slicked back, but in the normal clothes photos, her hair did look lighter. Cute!

I think this is the first clip with recent footage (many of the older Dream Labs were old clips from last season). Basically they were saying that last season, Mao was weak, so they had to work on strengthening her whole body. This season, however, they can focus on exercises that will specifically help her with skating. In particular, for skating, you have to balance on one leg a lot - you jump off of one leg, you do spirals and spins on one leg, so they are working on exercises that strengthen one leg at a time.

Mao says that when they first started, she'd often hurt the next day, and Makino says that they can do strenuous exercises now during the off-season, but during the real season they won't do so much.

Interesting!

inskate wrote:

Were those new clips, then..? I thought they were taken in the last off-season or earlier (the practice clips at least), because Mao was doing stuff from her Fantasie Impromptu LP... (2A into finishing pose, 2A-2L-2L and high sit spin variation...) Or was it simply an accident that Mao was warming up those elements, just for practice...?

The training clips are definitely new material, since you can tell with Mao's hair. The practice clips do appear to be previous material rehashed, although that's not too surprising (I doubt Mao's team will want substantial *skating* clips to be revealed to the public any time soon).

Latest episode is up!
http://morinaga-blog.morinaga.co.jp/supportproject/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2nUogUJsDY

- Tat on Makino-san's physical training for Mao (very positive)
- Because of Tat's coaching and ballet lessons during Mao's stay in Russia - and since the majority of the time will be spent on them - Makino-san chose to not accompany Mao abroad. Instead, he came up with a training regime for Mao to follow in order to remain in tip-top form as well as to maintain her newly improved stamina.

Thanks for posting, clovera!

I think that was the best Dream Lab yet!

That's kind of sad that Makino didn't go with Mao to Russia though. I've always felt like he was kind of like a friend for her - someone she could talk to in Japanese, etc. I hope she didn't feel lonely in Russia!

Awww i also like your avi!

And thanks for the link to the vids! This time they call it Road to win, last Olympics they called it Road to Torino Lets see, if it works like in the last olympics

More Dream Lab episodes~
http://morinaga-blog.morinaga.co.jp/supportproject/

~7/26~
- This particular episode focuses on upper body strength training, primarily done with the aim to maintain Mao's great posture

~8/02~
- Mao talks about the importance of avoiding injury, which is the primary goal of both Tat and Makino-san
- More emphasis on the importance of strengthening Mao's left leg in order to counter and cushion impact during jump practice, as well as to minimize post-workout pain and soreness