When a boxer swings to a beat

Watch any sports movie and the buildup to the climax usually involves a montage of athletes drilling in their chosen disciplinemdashMilkha Singh ran the Phogat sisters wrestled and Mary Kom boxed But sports science has come a long way and gone are the days when a runnerrsquos training involved just running and a swimmerrsquos swimmingWith the 2024 Paris Olympics just around the corner from July 26 to August 11 the countryrsquos shooters wrestlers hockey players and other athletes are now neck deep in prep work And apart from the usual sprinting jumping lifting and skipping their training regimens look very different from what a layman might imagine A study of exercise physiology has opened up new dimensions for coaches to get players competitionready It is precisely why shootersmdashwho seemingly only employ their upper bodymdashare hitting the gym to train their leg or why boxers arehellipwait for ithellipdancingThe Tokyo 2020 Summer Games marked Indiarsquos biggest haul in a single Olympics with the team bagging seven medals including a gold two silvers and four bronzes This year all eyes are on the national contingent with the hope that they will further improve the tally With such high hopes riding on the team itrsquos not enough for athletes to stick to older training techniquesTwo experts in the industrymdashAalaap Jawadekar sports science lead at Olympic Gold Questrsquos para programme and Dr Umran Sayed a Canadabased clinical exercise physiologistmdashlet us in on the unconventional exercise routines that are frequently part of training programmes to give Olympic athletes an edgeBut before we share the dope we encourage you to play coach for a day and guess what exercise regimes might be assigned to each sportsperson Make a mental note of the exercises you would include and those that you believe would be irrelevant and then compare it with the expertsrsquo prescription to gauge how accurate your analysis is ReadyBoxingGym routine includes Speed work dancingPunches says Jawadekar need to be delivered with speed as well as power ldquoTechnique is important in boxing but endurance is crucial too The idea is to tire the opponent as quickly as you can An athlete needs to focus on how fast he or she can punch and for how long It is futile to box swiftly and tire the opponent out in 30 seconds if you cannot maintain that speed in the next two rounds You must after all win three rounds to win the bout Many boxers often get to the point where they are too tired to even lift an arm in subsequent boutsrdquo he explainsDr Sayed points out that since boxing is a weightoriented sport a practice called weightcutting is also popularly adopted ldquoIf I am a boxer whose height is six feet and five inches and I manage to shave off so much weight before the weighing ceremony that I qualify to box in a category where my competitors are shorter than me I will have a ldquoreach advantagerdquo This is usually done by dehydrating the body right before the weighing ceremony to lose lsquowater weightrsquo A boxer can subsequently rehydrate before the match which takes place several hours after the weight is registeredrdquoBecause boxers need to be on their toes during the game Jawadekar says agility drills are routinely practised ldquoYoursquoll see them performing hill runs and what we traditionally call startandstop exercisesrdquoDr Sayed adds that several boxers also learn to dance to ldquoenhance their footworkrdquo ldquoDancing not only improves footwork but also helps the body develop a rhythm Boxing is all about rhythmrdquoWhile advances in sports science have enabled coaches to develop robust methods to get players ready for competition Jawadekar says the ldquoreal magicrdquo is in honing an athletersquos talent ldquoTraining an elite athlete is also individualistic The more a player has climbed up the ranks the better he or she will understand how the sport has transformed their body A good coach can see that and create a plan that favours the athlete It is an athletersquos variability and the awareness of those strengths that can be used as an advantage that eventually helps them shine You also need to have the mindset of a champion You can work with psychologists and mental conditioners but at the end of the day you need to have the hunger to winrdquoWeightliftersGym routine includes balancing and cardiovascular fitnessFor a sport thatrsquos supposedly all about physical strength and racking the barbell with as many plates as possible lifting surprisingly involves a lot of balance work ldquoLifting is a sport in which an athlete cannot afford to bend towards one side because a player needs to pull the weight as fast as possible Addressing imbalances is important because favouring one side more than the other will affect the mechanics of the lift and compromise its efficiency Training to rectify imbalances is an important fitness component for liftersrdquo says JawadekarldquoThis is one sport in which a player simply cannot compete if they are injured Your body has to be in the best condition to play because itrsquos an allornothing sport everything depends on the final lift In a sport like badminton if you have a niggle in the shoulder you can get away with playing the match if you avoid a shotthat aggravates that pain Such athletes can enjoy a long career because they can play despite their weaknesses But this is not possible in sports like sprinting and lifting which are skillbasedAalaap JawadekarYou cannot be 90 per cent prepared You canrsquot compete with a hamstring pull or a knee issuerdquo adds Jawadekar going on to describe another fitness component that isnrsquot usually linked to liftingCardiovascular training he says is crucial because like archery lifting isnrsquot about one lift alone ldquoWhile you watch the lifter only on the platform therersquos a lot of prep work that happens behind the scenes before they take their stance A lifter doesnrsquot directly go on to lift the heaviest weight at get go He or she begins by warming up and lifting lighter weights in the weight room in a bid to prepare for the final lifts All that prep work increases their heart rate This means that an athlete should be fit enough to recover before the main setsFor example if an athlete is lifting 70 kg for a snatch in the weight room which is 80 per cent of their maximum capacity they should be able to bring their physiological parameters like the heart rate and lactic acid concentration back to the baseline before attempting the next lift If they tire themselves out too early their final lift will be compromised This recovery efficiency is brought about by cardiovascular trainingrdquoJawadekar says that after lifters train to enhance strength they also focus on ldquotraining smaller musclesrdquo ldquoExercises to rectify imbalances are also executed Imbalances are less likely in lifters however if they have any they can develop sufficient muscle memory to execute the lift without being hindered by themrdquo he saysShooters and archersIllustrationsUday MohiteGym routine includes lifting balancing lowerbody strengthGenerally considered static sports shooting and archery says Jawadekar are ldquoall about endurance fitnessrdquo Given that archers are meant to execute 70 shotsin a game they are expected to compete for 75 minutes ldquoArchery is not about just one shot An athletersquos muscles need to be prepared to work for long durations so both strength and endurance training are essential During the offseason you will find them performing basic lifts that target large muscle groups They need not lift heavy weights but must execute multiple repetitions of exercises with light to moderate weights in order to mimic how they function in the sportrdquoWhile a layman might assume that both these sports only utilise the muscles of the upper body lowerbody strength says Jawadekar is paramount for these athletes ldquoIt is this strength that helps them hold their stance Stability is a very important element in both these sports because the accuracy of the shot depends on it The muscles of the legs and the core are thus trained to improve a playerrsquos stability Athletes do not like to change their position once they acquire a stance because doing so can hinder their performance Maintaining the same position requires work The lower body is the fulcrum on which your upper body is dependent The more efficient the muscles of the hips legs and spine are the more efficiently they will be able to recruit the upperbody musclesrdquo he saysDr Sayed refers to a playerrsquos instability as ldquotremorsrdquo ldquoArchery demands specific strength and endurance because it involves performing the same movement repeatedly The heart rate can change across actions like drawing and shooting the bow If the cardiac cycle is not regulated the body can have tremors which can severely affect the efficiency of the shot Archers even lower their heart rate using pursedlipped breathing methods for the same reasonrdquoTo enable athletes to enhance precision training Jawadekar says several coaches ldquotrain shooters with foam pads under their feet to pose a challengerdquo Balancing drills are part of the regimen and exercises that recruit the small muscles of the upper body and the stabilisers of the core are also included in the plan Interestingly all of this is done to also target the cardiovascular system ldquoDuring the game the interval between shots could be short For instance an archer needs to shoot a certain number of shots within a stipulated time He or she may need to walk 70 metres to and fro to grab the bow and shoot again To shoot the next shot accurately a player must be able to lower the heart rate quickly This is referred to as recovery and it is a playerrsquos training that determines how well they recover At the gym they will perform exercises with short bouts of recovery It is along the lines of a circuit training routine where the cardiovascular and muscular systems are targeted at once For example yoursquoll find yourself doing a 30second bout of mountain climbers and immediately balancing on one leg Such patterns keep your heart racing for 30 minutes thereby compelling you to recover quicklyrdquoEquestrian sportsJockeys might look like they are just sitting on a saddle during the entire race but their core and muscle strength affects both their posture and the horsersquos performance Representation picGym routine includes strength training lower body strengthWhatrsquos a jockey seated on a saddle atop a horse for the entire duration of the race got to do with lifting weights A lot says Dr Sayed ldquoA jockey does not merely sit on a saddle During the race they lean forward to help the horse race faster thereby putting an immense load on the muscles of their legs back core and arms This is why strength training is crucial for ridersrdquoAlso while compound movementsmdashwhich target multiple muscles at oncemdashare important riders need to train muscles in an isolated manner too ldquoIn any activity if the muscles at the back of my leg are stronger than those in the front I can let them take the load and perform the activity anyway But this is not possible in riding If a riderrsquos hamstrings are weak they cannot let the quads take the load because this may cause a postural change Any change in the riderrsquos posture can significantly affect the performance of the horse So muscles must be trained in an isolated fashion to ensure that each one is as strong as the otherrdquoDr Umran SayedApart from isolated muscular training and compound training exercises are designed to help the body hold the position for long durations without adding stress to the ligaments Given that riders often encounter lower back issues due to the sport mobility and strengthening drills for the muscles of the posterior chain are executedA jockey he says needs to prioritise his training as much as he does that of the horse ldquoIf the horse is good but the athlete isnrsquot you cannot race Balance exercises with the horse are also practisedrdquo7No of medals India won at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics