NEWS
Ever heard of a boxer on a weight-loss regime? Meet Vijender Singh, the first Indian boxer to bring home an Olympic medal.
The 25-year-old from Haryana with his perfect body and chocolate looks makes for an amazing athlete. Despite all the criticism he has been subjected to, his fitness and his rock solid body is a product of all the hard work that he has put into making it.
Let us tell you that he is very particular about his fitness regime. The Olympic medallist never misses his workouts.
Here’s a sneak peek into his daily workout routine. Have a look!
Vijender wakes up by 7:30 am. He then starts gym at 11. He then performs a weight session coupled with 1,000 sit-ups, 1,000 press-ups in sets of four. He’ll also do some Tabata work. (Tabata training is a form of workout found in Japan involving high-intensity interval training.)
“He also does a lot of intense work on the treadmill before moving on to sparring and pad work, (punching the pads of the trainer as he moves). That’s an average day. He does all that in two-and-half hours,” Joyce, Vijender’s coach told in an interview with First Post.
In the evening, he goes for either a swim or run. Not both on the same day, as you have to rest your joints. He swims one mile with about 25 metres per minute. And he runs about six-seven miles in an hour. These are for stamina. Sometimes he also gets up and goes for a run.
“A boxer’s muscles should not be built like a bodybuilder’s. The focus is more on mental toughness,” Vijender told Firstpost.
One of the biggest thing that Joyce has to guard against, is over-training which can lead to muscle injuries. “I have to make sure he doesn’t overtrain. Sometimes I tell him you don’t do anything tomorrow. You get up, sleep extra, eat, and nothing else for the day.”
What can also make the difference between winning and losing in boxing is how a boxer can withstand punches, especially to the core.
“That’s what conditioning is for. We do 200-300 sit-ups four times a day. You have to be strong in the belly. We also use a medicine ball to keep pummeling him in the ribs as he keeps his arms aloft. Sparring is another way to toughen up the body. When it comes to learning how to withstand punches, sparring is more important than anything. Sparring is the only way to simulate punches to the body.”
Vijender has a thing for pumping iron but the pugilist makes sure that he does that under the guidance of a trained coach. He has been pumping iron for years but maintains that the presence of a coach is still required for this.
Vijender insists that swiftness of movement is very important apart from just the bulging out of biceps. Thus, Vijender loves to skip a lot. He realizes that a boxer cannot afford to have weak legs as he can be easily knocked out. “Most knockouts are because of weak legs and imbalance not due to powerful blows. If your legs and neck cannot absorb the shock, you will fall,” Vijender told Indian Express.
However, Vijender doesn’t have a very strong liking for running, but then, he also realizes that personal likes don’t count on many occasions in life. “I hate running, but I have to do it for the sport. I try to sing and think about the pleasant things in life while running,” says the Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Awardee.
After training, he meditates for at least half-an-hour According to Vijender, he keeps talking to himself to get himself psyched up.
The other essentials for him are ice bath and sauna.
Vijender is following what he describes as a relatively light diet based on carbohydrates and proteins.
Breakfast: Two slices of bread with butter or jam, four to five eggs – boiled or fried – a few bananas and a glass of milk.
Lunch: Two chapattis accompanied with Kadai chicken (chicken cooked in a tomato-based gravy), seasonal vegetables, fresh fruits, yoghurt and a bowl of rice.
Dinner: This is the lightest meal of the day, including two chapattis, a glass of milk and a bowl of rice.
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