Another big difference about not being in college: In college, you're on the team, you're competing for the NCAA - luckily I had a full scholarship and I was taken care of - then all of a sudden you're a pro and you've got to take care of yourself. I'm gonna keep doing the same thing, keep training, and hopefully everything works out.

There is a period of tapering when we're not in the gym quite as long to try to save our bodies, but leading up to the competition we try to keep things similar to the rest of the year.

It's hard to put what it means into words. It's just a dream I had when I was a little kid. It's not every day [you] get to make your lifelong dream come true. The point of doing things in life is you pursue a goal, and you go after it, you reach it and you pick another one. But they're hard to attain.

There's very few of us who are able to be successful, which is why so many guys out of college can't continue the sport. It's unfortunate because there's just no financial backing. I've been very blessed with sponsors.

It’s called the pursuit of perfection. The pursuit is the idea that you’ll never be perfect in gymnastics but you can continue to pursue it as long as you’re doing it. I don’t think it’s possible to be perfect in gymnastics. It’s just one of those sports that you’re always trying to improve and pursue that perfection.

A line I like to use is, "Every day is training. Every day of life is a pursuit of perfection."

Part of being a good gymnast is being very disciplined - you have to know how to train right, eat right, sleep right.