Feel and Physics: Tiago Bessa, SPIETH Engineer and Former Elite Gymnast

Tiago Bessa competed for Portugal for a decade, then looked at a stress-strain graph in a university materials class and realized the high bar he had swung on since he was four is a spring. Now he engineers gymnastics equipment at SPIETH. Tiago is a mechanical and product engineer at SPIETH Gymnastics, the apparatus supplier for the 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, and a former elite men's artistic gymnast who represented Portugal at European and World Championships. He speaks both languages: what an athlete feels on a piece of equipment, and what the physics says is actually happening. This bonus episode is the engineering companion to Episode 06. Gina brings the body half of every answer, from knee torsion to the Achilles, and Tiago turns the questions back on her: how should a skill be planned so the body can survive it, and for how long? In this episode: The moment in a materials science class when the high bar became a spring Why brand-new equipment is the slipperiest it will ever be, and why a new springboard is stiffer than a used one Sitting out the warm-up to watch: how the feel of the equipment changes routines at the last minute "We'll see how the day feels," the backup vault, and why that is the smartest answer an athlete can give What is inside a landing mat: three layers, three jobs that pull against each other Why the closest mat in the gym is not always the right one When a softer mat is not safer: twisting landings, a stuck foot and the knee How a spring floor stores a landing and gives it back, and what that means for the Achilles Possible and sustainable: twenty years of floors, and the skills they made possible Gina's three rules before adding a skill, and why heel raises are not enough Tiago Bessa is a mechanical and product engineer at SPIETH Gymnastics. The practitioner directory, the gymnastics sports medicine certification for healthcare practitioners, and every episode's show notes are at medgym.net. New episodes of The MedGym Podcast every other Thursday. If this one is useful, send it to a coach, a parent, an athlete or a practitioner who needs it. Chapters 0:00 Welcome: feel and physics 1:33 Three generations of gymnastics 2:47 The high bar is a spring 4:02 Between the coach and the engineer 6:05 Gina's own turning point 8:52 What athletes miss: load management and physics 11:22 By feel: when the equipment doesn't feel right 13:22 He sat out the warm-up to watch 14:16 Why brand-new equipment is slippery 15:22 The backup vault: "We'll see how the day feels" 17:43 Friction, the slider and testing to the standard 21:30 Every gymnast preps the beam their own way 23:49 What's inside a landing mat 27:48 The closest mat isn't the right mat 30:04 Three reasons to change the mat 32:26 From the drawing board to the drop test 39:12 What a landing is protecting 41:25 Softer isn't safer when you're twisting 43:02 The Achilles question 47:45 A spring floor gives it back 50:36 Possible and sustainable: twenty years of floors 53:21 Planning a skill two years out: Gina's three rules 57:25 Physics lessons: the shin, the ankle and the Achilles 59:44 Thirty degrees shy, over and over 1:01:55 Pain is pain 1:04:15 One thing to carry out of today