Most athletes are back to work. Some are preparing to resume action and some others are thriving to attain their optimum fitness and competitive strength.
While in lockdown, many athletes would have lost their muscle mass, some of them would have put on weight. Performance would have been compromised in many athletes’ case since they were away from action for so long.
Now when the athletes are getting into competition or preparing themselves for competition they need to look back at where they were in terms of physique and fitness before lockdown.
Indian Premier League is being played in the UAE is an indicator that the situation at home is far from normal for professional sportspersons. Besides the prevailing threat of the SARS COV-2 virus, responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, the active athletes will have to deal with numerous challenges as they face a situation that has never been anticipated or dealt with.
SportzFront spoke to leading fitness, nutrition and health professionals to find out what active athletes would need in pursuit to attain their levels of the pre-COVID days while also dealing with the threat of the virus.
PROGRESSION IS THE KEY: RAMJI SRINIVASAN
A lot of things have happened in the last six months. Sportspersons are no exception. With the events starting again now, the progression will be the key. Transfer of training must be done in progression, says Ramji Srinivasan, former physical trainer of the Indian national cricket team and founder-director of the Chennai-based Sports Dynamix.
All aspects of fitness would have taken a hit as the athletes could not have been able to do much due to limits imposed by this lockdown. Since the training, equipment, food habits were compromised the fitness level will not up to 100% initially, opines Srinivasan and adds athletes need to take progression and adaptation. “It will take 10 to 14 days for adaptation. The athletes should keep testing themselves for basic fitness through physiological assessment,” he advises.
“Different players will need different basic fitness. They first need to work towards optimal fitness. It is important to consult professionals and get the base fitness assessment. Then set the goals – short term and long term. Working on the skill sets comes later. Though everything will hinge on the tournament schedule.”
Srinivasan also asserts that the professional athletes returning to competitive training will have to adapt to the change professionally. Each sportsperson would have lived or behaved differently for the past six months. Each of them will have different requirements for adaptation and progression.
Nutrition and dietary habits too will have to change accordingly as energy requirements will change. It will have to change. The energy levels and requirements will be different for protein, carbs, or fats, etc. Biorhythm, body clocks and loads will change for the adaptable athletes.
“The athletes might have lost aerobic fitness. The agility would have also taken a hit. Skill set and movement direction would have been affected,” says the man who played an important role in 360-degree transformation in fitness of Virat Kohli. Srinivasan was associated with Team India in 2012 when Kohli began is journey towards ultimate fitness.
They need to be intelligent, adaptable athlete. “Never copy anyone else’s workout. It is an appetite for destruction,” advises the ace physical trainer.
RIGHT DIET FOR RIGHT GAINS: SWATI BATHWAL
As Srinivasan talked about “nutrition and dietary habits”, SportzFront reached out to sports nutritionist Swati Bathwal, a Master’s in Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietician Association of Australia and an International Olympics Committee Sports Nutritionist.
Swati observes that the being confined to their homes the athletes will be low on Vitamin D, which plays an important role in immunity and bone strength. They will also need to ensure that their muscle strength is intact.
In the process to regain their body composition of the pre-lockdown levels, the sportspersons will need to check they are not calcium deficient, advises Swati.
“It will be important to have right food and maintain right portion as they go back to training,” advises Swati, author of the “Let’s Magnify Health and Physical Education”, a textbook on Health and Physical Education.
“Athletes also need to hydrate properly. As they will be moving from indoors to training again, body hydration will be another crucial aspect. Hydration does not mean to drink one litre of water at one go. But drink water or take fluids in moderate quantity through the day.
“Athletes need to have right amount of protein for regaining their muscle. They also need to ensure that the distribution of protein intake is proper. Distribution of portion is important as per an individual’s required intake for the day. Sleep is also particularly important for recovery. It is important to get the Vitamin B and Vitamin D levels tested,” says Swati.
An accredited Sports Dietician from the Sports Dieticians Australia, Swati endorses Srinivasan’s viewpoint that each athlete will have different requirements.
“We must understand the fact that different athletes or individuals will have different requirements. Going randomly for supplements may not help. This is going to work only on short term,” she asserts.
“The athletes should not take supplements available in the market. It is important to take natural foods. Hydration is particularly important to improve endurance. Recovery is the other important factor.
“If a player does not recover properly, he or she will not be able to perform better the next day or a few days later. For recovery and athlete would need proper hydration, proper sleep, right number of electrolytes, like a glass of milk, almonds and have a meal within 3 hours of your workout.
“All athletes need individual training, individual plans.”
It is important to develop resistance to mitigate the COVID-19 threat. Athletes always have better immunity as they exercise regularly. Vitamin D will play an important role in further boosting the immunity, advises Swati and adds that vitamin C can be procured naturally through the foods like freshly-ground chutney.
AYURVEDA HAS A ROLE IN SPORTS: DR BILGI
Since, Ayurveda has been in the forefront of India’s fight against COVID-19, SportzFront looked for an expert who understood sports and the traditional Vedic medical science and reached Dr Onkar Rajiv Bilgi, an MD in Ayurveda and co-founder of We R Wellness, along with former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes and Rajat Sharma. We R Wellness is a Sports Ayurveda Programme.
Dr Bilgi, while accepting that all system of medicine have their own importance, opined that basic Ayurvedic remedies can help prevent or minimise the COVID-19 threat as athletes cannot avoid exposure to people.
“Even if we get vaccine say by the first quarter of next year it will take three to four years for normalcy to return. Ayurveda is going to play an important role. It has been there for boosting immunity since time immemorial. Local Herbs like Tulsi, Guduchi, Giloy and Sudarshan are going to be particularly important. Ashwagandha will be important in immunity modulation,” suggests Dr Bilgi, while adding face mask is going to be an integral part of our lifestyle.
“It is important for athletes to take authentic Ayurvedic medicine under proper guidance. Introduction to Ayurveda is very crucial for athletes. There are scientific evidence that the Ayurveda has been able to cure injures which might require surgery in some cases,” says Dr Bilgi.
He, however, asserts that the other system of medicine cannot be ignored. “Let us accept the fact that Ayurveda is not a substitute for physiotherapy or sports science. But there are some areas like an athlete’s lifestyle and recovery where Ayurveda will play a crucial role. It will help in prevention, cure, and recovery,” says the traditional sports medicine expert, whose skillset and knowledge persuaded Rhodes to accept and promote the traditional Indian system of medicine.
“It is also an important science in injury management that can effectively reduce the need of invasive therapies through non-invasive treatments. Allopathy cannot be dismissed out rightly. But in some aspects of sports injuries Ayurveda has role to play.”
Dr Bilgi has an advice for the active athletes, who are returning to training after a long layoff. Yoga and pranayama are crucial to improve lung capacity as athletes will be returning to competitive sports.
“Applying oil in nostrils and rinsing mouth with something like cold-pressed coconut oil will add to protection from the virus while mask remains important,” he says. “Kitchen herbs like turmeric, ginger, basil leaves and consuming good amount of fibre will be extremely helpful. These herbs must only be consumed in moderate quantity. Six to eight hours of sleep everyday is mandatory.”
Most importantly, if an athlete feels any symptoms it is important to take right, appropriate measures.
All the three experts are professionals of repute in their respective fields and specialise in addressing to the needs of professional athletes. The trio has been educating athletes regularly during the lockdown via Global Sporty Injury Conclave series of webinars, hosted by Dr Dayal Foundation president Nishant Dayal.
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