Training is easy; rest and recovery are equally important: Ashwini Ponnappa

CHENNAI: Indian badminton player Ashwini Ponappa has brought laurels to the nation by winning various tournaments across the globe. In this chat with DT Next, she talks about how her fitness regime has helped her throughout her career and much more.

Having followed your game for quite some time now, your agility is improving with each passing season. What is the key to not only staying fit but improving it as the body wears and tears?

Thank you for that. Well, it’s not easy to be as agile as I was before. I’m probably not, but given where my body is right now, I try and get the best I can from it. The key for me is being careful about not overloading by overtraining and finding the right balance with training, rest and recovery. Training is the easy part for me, rest and recovery is what I still need to work and get better at.

How has fitness played a key role in your career so far?

It has played a massive role. Being fit has helped me play for so long. Looking after my body and keeping it injury free is extremely important. Working on my off-court fitness, like strength and conditioning work, has helped me stay fit and has helped me be light on court. The main aspect of fitness for me is staying injury free and being able to move well on court.

When we do well, we stick on to the same fitness and diet regime. We push hard when we feel something isn’t going our way. Has it been the same for you?

I totally agree with sticking to the same fitness and diet regime when it works. If something is working and you’re doing well, there’s no need to change it. But if something isn’t going our way, for me it’s figuring out what’s causing it and addressing it. Not necessarily pushing too hard. But doing what it takes to feel that I’m on the right track or gives me the belief that it’s going to help me is what I look for.

What is your workout and diet regime like?

My workout regime isn’t too strenuous. So, I tend to train every day and take a break when needed. I like the flexibility I have with my workouts. It involves a lot of body exercises and eccentric and hold work. My exercises are based on how my body is feeling on a given day. If there’s some aches and pains, that is always addressed first. I don’t follow a one-day leg workout, one-day arms workout routine. It’s more an all-body workout.

As for diet, it’s been flexible. I try and eat as clean as I can. But, there are days that I give into to my craving. And make sure to hydrate myself a lot and have a Red Bull can on days I need the added energy and fuel.

Tell us about the importance of stretches and warmup. A lot of people start lifting weights without warmups.

I’m a firm believer of a good warmup. I love a good warmup, always made sure I spend time warming up. It helps me move well on court and start a workout well. As for stretching, I love doing a good warmup stretch, as it helps get the body ready to tackle different moves.

We wouldn’t let you go without letting us know your diet secret.

My diet secret is no secret as I eat everything, but the important aspect here is eat the not so healthy foods in moderation and focus on getting more healthy foods in.