Saina Nehwal, the first Indian badminton player to win an Olympic medal, is a name synonymous with dedication, hard work, and exceptional fitness. Her journey to the top has been fueled by a rigorous fitness regime and a disciplined diet. Let’s dive into the fitness and diet secrets that keep Saina in top shape, helping her maintain peak performance on the court.
The Making of a Champion: Saina’s Fitness Philosophy
For Saina Nehwal, fitness is not just about physical appearance; it’s about achieving free movement during matches and preventing injuries. In her earlier years, she enjoyed various forms of exercise, including outdoor activities, indoor workouts, and weightlifting. However, as she matured as an athlete, her focus shifted to exercises essential for her sport. She now emphasizes a tailored workout schedule designed by her coach to meet her body’s specific requirements.
Tailored Training Regimen
Saina’s training routine is intense and varied, focusing on building strength, agility, and endurance. She typically trains for 6-7 hours a day, incorporating a mix of cardio, strength training, and badminton practice.
- Cardio: Saina integrates a significant amount of cardio into her routine to enhance endurance and stamina. This includes activities like running, cycling, and swimming, which help maintain a high heart rate and burn calories. Her go-to cardio hack for weight loss? Walking uphill. According to Saina, incline walking burns more fat, tones the legs faster, and builds stamina without stressing the knees.
- Strength Training: Strength training is crucial for badminton players, and Saina focuses on exercises like squats, lunges, deadlifts, and bench presses. These exercises help build muscle and improve overall strength and power, essential for those explosive movements on the court.
- Badminton Practice: A significant portion of Saina’s training is dedicated to badminton practice. She engages in drills and plays matches to refine her skills and technique, ensuring she remains at the top of her game.
A Glimpse into Her Workout
- Push-ups: Considered one of the best full-body workouts, push-ups help train every body part while enhancing balance and stability, crucial for footwork.
- Medicinal Ball Toss: This exercise works the upper body and core, training the fast-twitch muscle fibers necessary for explosive movements in badminton. It also engages the ankles, knees, and hips.
- Plank and Lateral Lunges with a Twist: These exercises strengthen the core and work the upper body and legs.
- Heel and Calf Raises: Included to reduce the chances of injury and relax the calf muscles.
- Strength Exercises: Dumbbell pullovers, military presses, rowing, lateral pull-downs, and single-leg deadlifts are incorporated to build strength.
- Resistance Band Workouts: Resistance bands are used to sculpt the body and improve strength, offering a portable and easy workout option.
- Running: While she has reduced her running, it remains a component, alongside cycling, to develop the superhuman endurance required in badminton.
Saina’s Diet Secrets: Fueling the Body Like a Champion
Saina Nehwal believes that breakfast is the most important meal of the day and ensures she has it on time. Typically, her daily diet includes:
Key Components of Her Diet Plan
- Breakfast: A glass of milk, a couple of egg whites, and brown bread.
- Protein Shakes: She consumes protein shakes throughout the day, especially between training sessions, to aid muscle repair and growth.
- Post-Training: Seasonal fruits and salads are her preferred post-training snacks.
- Lunch and Dinner: Her main meals consist of two rotis, pulses, boiled chicken, and curd. She ensures she has dinner by 7:30 pm and goes to bed early, as she is an early riser.
- Hydration: Drinking plenty of water or electrolytes to restore fluids lost through sweat.
Caloric Intake
Saina typically consumes 2000-2500 calories a day. However, on match days, her calorie intake doubles to around 5000 to provide the necessary energy for her performance.
Foods to Avoid
Saina maintains a strict ban on unhealthy oils and avoids sugar, sweets, fatty, and fried foods as much as possible. She allows herself ice cream only if she finishes with a medal in a tournament.
Detailed Diet Insights
- Emphasis on Protein: Saina’s diet includes a lot of protein, primarily from chicken, fish, eggs, and lentils, which helps build and repair muscle.
- Complex Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are an important source of energy, and she includes complex carbohydrates like brown rice, whole wheat bread, and sweet potatoes in her diet.
- Fruits and Vegetables: She consumes a lot of fruits and vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli, carrots, and apples, to ensure she gets essential vitamins and minerals.
- Cereals, Pulses, and Non-Veg: Generally, her diet includes cereals, pulses, some non-vegetarian options, curd, seasonal fruits, and salads every day.
Balancing Act: The Importance of Rest and Recovery
Saina Nehwal emphasizes that food and sleep are as vital as exercise. Given her intensive training and exercise regimen, she ensures she gets at least six to eight hours of sleep each night, usually going to bed by 11 pm and waking up at 6 am. On the seventh day, she takes complete rest to allow her body to recover and rejuvenate.
Post-Match Recovery Tips
- Light Stretching: Lowers the heart rate gradually and reduces muscle stiffness.
- Hydration: Drinking plenty of water or an electrolyte to restore fluids lost through sweat.
- Balanced Nutrition: Consuming a balanced meal rich in protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Foods like chicken, fish, whole grains, and fruits aid muscle recovery and replenish energy stores.
- Ample Sleep: Aiming for 7-9 hours of sleep to promote tissue repair and reduce soreness.
- Massages: Incorporating light massages or foam rolling to relieve muscle tightness.
Adapting to Challenges: Overcoming Injuries and Maintaining Form
Saina has faced several challenges throughout her career, including a serious knee injury in 2016. However, she stormed back onto the courts, demonstrating her resilience and commitment. She believes that as one approaches 30 or deals with an injury, the intent to win becomes even more critical. Generating the inner drive to work harder and better than others is what helps her improve and maintain her performance.
The Role of Coach Pullela Gopichand
Coach Pullela Gopichand has played a significant role in shaping Saina’s fitness and diet regime. He recognized that to improve her court coverage, she needed to shed some weight and become leaner. Under his guidance, Saina quit junk and oily foods and reduced her intake of high carbohydrates and starch, which helped her shed up to five kilograms of body fat.
Saina’s Message: Dedication and Sincerity
Saina believes that one should do whatever exercises one wants to do, but with dedication and sincerity. Whether it’s outdoor exercises, indoor workouts, or weightlifting, the key is to approach it with commitment and hard work.
Saina’s Legacy: Inspiring Future Generations
Saina Nehwal’s journey is an inspiration to aspiring badminton players and fitness enthusiasts alike. Her success is a testament to the power of disciplined training, a balanced diet, and unwavering dedication. By sharing her fitness and diet secrets, she encourages others to prioritize their health and fitness, paving the way for future generations of champions.
