--- title: How They Train: Doubles Luge | TIME description: Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin teach TIME’s Sean Gregory all about the sport of doubles luge as they train for the 2010 Winter Games canonical: https://time.com/video/sd1Qk7Ya/ og:title: How They Train: Doubles Luge og:description: Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin teach TIME’s Sean Gregory all about the sport of doubles luge as they train for the 2010 Winter Games og:url: https://time.com/video/sd1Qk7Ya/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sd1Qk7Ya/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How They Train: Doubles Luge twitter:description: Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin teach TIME’s Sean Gregory all about the sport of doubles luge as they train for the 2010 Winter Games twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sd1Qk7Ya/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # How They Train: Doubles Luge > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: How They Train: Doubles Luge [Watch (HLS stream): How They Train: Doubles Luge](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sd1Qk7Ya.m3u8) (6:52)  _Published 2009-11-27. Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin teach TIME’s Sean Gregory all about the sport of doubles luge as they train for the 2010 Winter Games_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:15 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Climber Kyra Condie Trains TIME's Sean Gregory on New Olympic Sport](/video/6MqlQjDZ/) ### Climber Kyra Condie Trains TIME's Sean Gregory on New Olympic Sport [A Proud Olympic Luge Mom](/video/dm44lkG6/) ### A Proud Olympic Luge Mom [How They Train: Luge](/video/C9U6CnFp/) ### How They Train: Luge --- ## Transcript Hi. I'm Shaun Gregory from TIME magazine and TIME. com. We are here on Mt. Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, New York, with the US luge athletes, and they're gonna show us how they train. Luge is the French word for sled. At ages 38 and 35, Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin are the grizzled old pros of luge; the Olympic sport where athletes race down a winding track while lying supine in a sled. Together, they won a doubles luge bronze medal in 1998, and a silver in 2002. Today, they're training to qualify for the 2010 Olympics, which should be Grimmette's fifth Olympic trip and Martin's fourth. >> 1, 2-- >> Mark and Brian have been sliding together for over 10 years? >> Yeah. I-- >> I think it's 13. >> Yeah, 13. >> Now, why was doubles something you really love? What did you like about doubles over singles? >> I like-- I like the teamwork aspect of doubles over singles. I like working with somebody. When you're working through an issue on the track, you discuss it with somebody. When you-- when you win, you get to celebrate with somebody. It's just a great experience. >> And when you lose you get to blame it on somebody? >> Yeah, exactly. >> On the ice track, doubles luge sleds can reach speeds of 85 miles per hour. They'll make it to the bottom of the 20- turn track which is just under a mile long in under 45 seconds. The lugers main challenge is to balance the need to steer, which slows the sled down, with the need to sometimes float off course to achieve the fastest sliding speed. They're always searching for that magic line. >> I think maybe I have to maybe get back that steering [ unk ] height to a-- >> Okay. >> Just let it run there, see what happens next time. >> Yeah, 'cause that's a-- it's a hard landing. >> And-- you know, and with the doubles luge, I'm sure you guys have been dealing with-- kinda jokes about, you know, laying on top of each other endlessly. I mean, how do you deal that? You laughed it off? >> The classic is, " So you're a luger, huh ?" >> Yeah. And when you give somebody the " Yeah, I've- heard- that- one- before" look, they shut up pretty quickly. >> With bronze and silver medals on their mantles, all that's left is gold. The elusive that you're just kind of-- are you obsessing over it or is it-- >> Well, we'd love to-- we'd love to win gold. I mean, there's no doubt about that. But it's a-- training and setting a goal like that, it's about the process. You have to focus on the process in order for that to even be a possibility. >> With morning sliding over, the day's training is only 1 / 3 done. In the afternoon, they'll head to the gym. It might look easy, but together with the sled, they're combined weight is over 400 pounds. At 3 to 5 Gs down the track, Mark and Brian must then control what feels like hundreds of pounds of additional [ unk ], while twisting and turning their bodies constantly to steer in unison. In short, they have to be really, really strong. >> And what's-- 1 set of each, 2 sets of 5. >> Weightlifting is a major aspect of their training. But Mark and Brian incorporate other specialized exercises as well. John Kaus is the head strength and conditioning coach for the US luge team. >> Luge is an upper body sport, but the hips are what really initiate that start, and even the paddling, getting the hips involved a little bit. So, those-- the 2 netballs over there that we're throwing, it's a great [ unk ] because you compress, and you release. And it's exactly what they're doing at the start. If you're doing it right, you're using your lower back, your glutes, hamstrings to initiate coming up. And then your upper middle back to pull, compress here. And then biceps a little bit involved, just finish it off. And at the very end, a little bit of a tricep, just to make sure you're getting every hundredth of a second we can find. [ unk ] ceiling tosses. The idea is have a nice square base underneath your shoulder width, hands underneath the ball, get your lever as long as possible so you get your arms straight out. And the idea is, again, to just be nice and square, simulating that start again where you're compressing, so it's down compressed. Extend with the hips, finish with the arms. >> The training doesn't end there. After hitting the gym Grimmette and Martin often head to a refrigerated indoor facility to work on their starts. >> 1, 2-- >> The start is a very complex movement. There's a lot happening. It's kinda like 2 people trying to do a golf swing at the same time. And it's not necessarily just the harder you pull the faster you go. You really have to be in synch. >> So, we drew straws and I came up with the short, so I don't get to go this time. I've been replaced. >> All right, Mark, it's been-- I want to see that feels and I'm just gonna hold on for dear life. >> Are you ready? Aim and pull. There you go! There you go! >> All right, Mark. Do I have a shot at this and-- If not, do you think there's any other sport I can be good at in the Winter Olympics? >> Well, I think, for now, I'm gonna stick with Brian. And he's gonna be my man for the Olympics. >> There was a squeal in there, so maybe hog- calling. I don't know. -[ unk ] >> Yeah. Well, I don't know. I heard you squealing. >> After I get kicked off the sled, Mark and Brian show me how it's really done. >> You have the block, [ unk ] out like this, the compression, where you fold it in half, and then the pull, when you come through like this. >> I wanna make sure that when I pull, I'm pulling nice and parallel to the handles. Then I release the straps and I gotta get over the handles, and down to the first paddle on the ice. And we both wanna hit the ice at the same time and then we'll pull through, all the way do it through and do about 3 paddles on the average ramp. >> After almost 13 years in such close quarters, and all the grueling 12- hour days, Mark and Brian are luge symphony, always in synch. But will age catch up to them during the Olympic qualifying season? You never know. That's why they're sweating on and off the track. >> 1, 2-- >> This is Shaun Gregory reporting for TIME. com. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How They Train: Doubles Luge","description":"Mark Grimmette and Brian Martin teach TIME’s Sean Gregory all about the sport of doubles luge as they train for the 2010 Winter Games","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/sd1Qk7Ya/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-11-27T23:58:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/sd1Qk7Ya.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/sd1Qk7Ya/","duration":"PT6M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/sd1Qk7Ya/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```