Bipin Dani
Things seem to have turned around for Virat Kohli very fast. As if off-the-field issues with the BCCI weren’t enough, he now has to deal with an upper back spasm too. The back problem not only ruled him out of the second Test against South Africa but also will have him waiting for a few more weeks to play his 100th Test.
This is not the first time Kohli is having a back problem. “I’ve had disc issues since 2011,” he’d once said.
In fact, Kohli’s back pain has troubled him more in the last three years, due to which he’s even had to miss a few matches. Ramji Srinivasan, a trainer who’s worked with the Indian team for several years, thinks Kohli needs to train smart rather than train hard. He then elaborates on what he calls ‘smart training’.
“Smart training is basically an understanding of the mind and body, and to sync your workout with your biorhythm and work on how you feel on a particular day. It depends on the physical and mental sync on a particular session and how you manipulate the program according to the need of the day,” states Ramji. “So, rather than doing the same routine repeatedly, which is hard training, you focus on how you train, what you train on, why you train, when you train, etc.”
The long and short of back pains
The short-term solution for lower back pain in sportspersons is rest. However, according to leading strength and conditioning specialist Deckline Leitão, strengthening and observation/management of overall cricket and fitness load is the long-term solution. Deckline has worked with several Olympic athletes including Badminton World Championship bronze-medallist Lakshya Sen, who also used to suffer from lower back pain.
“As cricketers and sportspersons grow older, they have to focus on being physically sound by focusing on recovery, avoiding overtraining and fancy fitness exercises, and knowing that peaking at the right time for competition is the key,” says Deckline.
In fact, lower back pain is one of the prime reasons for players’ reduced performance and them missing matches.
“Appropriate diagnosis by a good orthopaedic spine surgeon, basic initial rehabilitation with a physiotherapist, long-term balanced strengthening with specialists and managing overall cricket practice/competition load is the way forward,” adds Deckline. “Erratic and unplanned training for older athletes and players can stifle their playing as they don’t recover as quickly. Older players must remember that their bodies have already undergone great wear and tear over the years.”
Clearly, exercise can make or break your body. Balance is the key.
