Fitness reinvented

A fitness regime called ‘fartlek’ is firing up the world of sports. A term of Swedish origin for a running workout, where runners vary their speed for building up strength and endurance, fartlek has become an essential training tool across sporting disciplines today.

The latest ones to adopt this training regimen are the players of Indian cricket team. In fact, cricketer Virat Kohli, who has redefined the approach to the game, has changed his training routine completely after realising the need to transform his body to survive the rigours of playing all three formats.

M.V. Narsimha Rao, Director, Hyderabad Cricket Academy of Excellence, believes in the effectiveness of fartlek, which is Swedish for ‘speed play’. “Test cricket today has become more aggressive and dynamic. In ODIs & T20, the fielding standard has gone up so much that players have to be super fit. Fartlek training is essential for our cricketers to cope with the demands of all the three formats and to raise the bar of fitness to compete at a high level,” he says.
Top athletes today put in a fair amount of time doing strength and core training, which helps them work on their weaknesses and recover better.

“When I used to train, it was called interval training. It helps improve lung capacity and you get a sudden burst of energy for a few seconds. It allows the athlete to get better at the constant pace changes while keeping the heart rate elevated for an extended period of time,” says badminton player Jwala Gutta, adding, “Nowadays, there is a lot of emphasis on fitness and looking good.”
‘Speed play’ is a tried-and-tested training technique to aid speed endurance. “It’s a good workout. It’s functional training. Cricket is a sport where we have time for recovery and this workout prepares us for situations that we face during matches,” says Mithali Raj, Captain, Indian women’s cricket team.

While I belong to a generation that took fitness for granted, the transformation has been amazing. Fitness levels in two sporting disciplines immediately come to mind — badminton and cricket. There is no substitute for scientific training.  Diet and fitness regimes have become as vital as skill training,” says cricket commentator and author Kishore Bhimani.