Ms. Namita Nayyar
What is your daily fitness routine (cardio, strength, flexibility training) and how long does it last?
Ms. Noa Eappen – I do powerlifting 4-5 times a week for 3 hours, and cardio for an hour on the other days. I do a lot of stretching prior to and post-lifting. I do accessory work to strengthen smaller muscle groups that help me with my main big movements of Deadlifting, squats, and bench presses.
Ms. Kasha Sachdev – My daily fitness regime consists mostly of an hour or so of cardio, which I like to do as a brisk, inclined walk on the treadmill or a paced jog outdoors (which is often hard with Bombay’s mercurial temperatures), and an intense three hours lifting session; this comprises of a warm-up and cooldown, muscle-group specific hypertrophy, and all three central powerlifting movements, the squat, the deadlift, and the bench press. I usually do cardio every day, whilst training five to six times a week.
Ms. Namita Nayyar
Both of you, have displayed your strength and skills in five categories at the PRO League World Championship – Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Push-Pull & Full Powerlifting. Can you explain to others about these terms to better understand the sport?
Noa & Kasha – Having just competed at the PRO League World Championship, the memories of all my lifts are still fresh in my mind. I took part in the Squat, Bench press, Deadlift, Push-Pull & Full Powerlifting events. The Squat, Bench Press, and Deadlift are the three fundamental powerlifting movements, which are also compound movements. The Deadlifts involve lifting weights from the floor where the body is locked out and completely erect. It involves all our muscle groups to shift the weight. Similarly, in the squat, we put the bar on the back and load it with weight and squat up and down. The squat also involves all the body muscles including the hamstring, glutes, quads, and the back. The bench press is similar to the deadlift and the squat involves moving the weight from the top to the chest and reversing it back to a lockout.
The technicalities for the three lifts are important but they are quite intricate so I will not get into the finer details, but basically, these three movements are what powerlifting consists of. The Push – Pull is basically the sum aggregate total of the push which is the bench press and pull which is the deadlift. The total amount of weight accumulated in both lifts will be the final push-pull total. Whilst the full powerlifting event, includes the sum total of all three movements which is the squat, the bench, and the deadlift, and the competition is conducted in that order where we initiate with a squat.
You get three attempts where you need to secure one attempt in the squat. Similarly, in the bench and the deadlift, you get three attempts and you have to secure one in each of the movements. The sum aggregate total of the three movements will be your final total while competing in a weight class and age group. Powerlifting is these three movements and the maximum about of weight you can shift.
Ms. Namita Nayyar
What skills go into the making of a winner in any competitive sport? Please feel free to share any top 5.
Ms. Noa Eappen –
1. Most important is to believe in yourself. Like most sports, powerlifting is also a lot about your mind. You can only lift what you can believe is possible. It requires intense self-belief, so you can push yourself to achieve more.
2. Hard work and dedication.
3. Perseverance and grit.
4. Good habits like eating nutritional food, sleeping early & self-preservation.
5. Ambition & desire to be the best and the hunger to do better.
6. Faith, destiny, or Good luck- Many people work hard but don’t become winners. One needs a bit of this too, to stay on top of things!
Ms. Kasha Sachdev – Quite frankly, a myriad of skills and qualities flashed through my mind considering the five attributes of a sports champion, but the ones I hold above all others are detailed here:
Firstly, compromise. You will have to compromise on so much, your social life, your sleep, your work even, because your sport comes first, and once you develop the right attitude, you’ll be happy to miss out on some of those plans with your friends, and those extra few hours of sleep on a Sunday morning.
Secondly, commitment, you have to be fully committed to your sport, because only then will you turn your goals into reality and achieve and strive to be your very best. Nothing but sheer devotion will pull you through the mental and physical struggles of competitive sports. Thirdly, passion, as love for your sport will be a driving force in your everyday life. Next, ambition, allows you to develop a personality and have a strong work ethic, in order to win.
Lastly, sportsmanship. It’s important to be gracious if you don’t win, to acknowledge your competitors’ hard work, and to be sure to give them a run for their money the next time around.
