Chhatrashal Stadium in North-West Delhi is an unusually quiet place. It is also home to some of India's top wrestlers, most of who have been living and training here from the age of seven.
Their day starts at five every morning. Bouts of grappling in the local akhara are followed by a breakfast of almonds and milk. (Almonds contain protein, fibre and vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant.
They're also a rich source of magnesium, a mineral your body must have in order to produce energy, build and maintain muscle tissue). Then more training, food and rest till the routine goes into hyperdrive till 9pm, the hour when most of these athletes are ready to hit the sack. Needless to say, they go out like lights slammed by a short circuit.
Amit Kumar, the youngest wrestler ever to represent India at the Summer Olympics, is all too familiar with the rigours of this tough schedule. He was handpicked from Nahri Village in Haryana for his prodigious talent. When he was just seven, he defeated a fellow wrestler twice his age. "I am lucky to be here," he says. "Apart from tips on grappling techniques from seniors like Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, I have also learnt how to tweak my vegetarian diet to my advantage."
Amit is not the only one. Nearly all wrestlers in Chhatrashal are strict vegetarians. Together, these world-class athletes have shattered the myth that vegetarians are wimps when it comes to performance sports. So, how do they make it possible?
Keep it simple
Simply put, Amit and his friends keep it simple. Food provides the body with everything it needs to run smoothly. Not only does it provide fuel for biological functions, it also contains nutrients with essential elements to repair cells and synthesise new tissue. In other words, the quantity and quality as well as the proportions of the nutrients of the food you eat are directly correlated to the way you perform, feel and look.
"Apart from training hard, local fruits, home-cooked vegetables, cereals and other items that we eat daily, play a big role in how we look, and perform," says Ashish, 19, who trains with Amit. "The six-packs that you see around are all natural. They have not been formed by hours spent in a gym."
Load up on protein
Health-conscious people focus on three main categories of food: carbohydrates, lipids (fats) and proteins. However, the young wrestlers also keep in mind three more subcategories that are overlooked: vitamins, minerals and water.
"We eat a lot of beans," says Abhishek, 18. "They're all low in fat, and they're packed with protein, fibre and iron-nutrients crucial for building muscle and losing weight." Gastrointestinal disadvantages notwithstanding, if you can replace a meat-heavy dish with a bean-heavy dish a couple of times a week, you'll be lopping a lot of saturated fat out of your diet and replacing it with higher amounts of fibre.
Apart from eating rotis made with whole grains (younger trainees grind the wheat daily after training as a ritual), the wrestlers also pack their diet with spinach and other veggies. Thanks to their high nutrient content-vitamins including A, C and K, folate, betacarotene, minerals including calcium and magnesium, fi bre and antioxidants-they work wonders for the athletes' bodies.
"For proteins that help repair our muscles, we turn to quinoa and tofu," says Yogesh, 19. While quinoa is the only grain known to be a complete protein, containing all the nutrients you would get from eating meat, tofu has manganese, which strengthens bones and metabolises carbs, amino acids and cholesterol. It also has 24gm of unsaturated (good) fats and a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that when people ate unsaturated fats after exercise, the blood fl ow in their arteries increased by 45 per cent, which resulted in more antiinfl ammatory agents being rushed to the working muscles. Take home message: tofu helps you recover from training faster.
Be in the know
Majority of foods are combination of main categories like carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Whichever component is a major constituent, we tend to place it under that main category. This is the biggest mistake. "Most people are not aware of the actual contents of the food they are taking," says Amit. For instance, there are many who talk about getting all their protein intake from dal, paneer and dahi ( yoghurt). What they are not aware of is while all the three do have protein content, they are also very high in carbohydrate content. So, if you think you are eating ‘protein-rich vegetarian food', in reality, you are actually consuming a very high-carb diet.
Unlearn tradition
Being vegetarian gives these young wrestlers a lot of options. They make wise choices and are careful about how their meals are cooked. "We have resident cooks in the stadium who make traditional meals in a modern and healthy way under strict guidelines. We can't aff ord to go wrong with food since we are vegetarians," says Amit. "The right recipes get the right kind of nutrients to you so that you can get a great body irrespective of what your dietary restrictions might be."
When it comes to training, the focus is on performance and not vanity muscles. "Our ripped physiques are by-products of functional training. Even when we go to the gym, we work out to build power," says Amit. "Due to the nature of our work, our core needs to be very strong. That perhaps shows."
Food is not enough
To sum it up, yes, it is absolutely possible to get six pack abs even if you are a vegetarian. The athletes in Chhatrashal are living proof. However, you have to make informative choices regarding your intake. Food ideally should be organically grown, lightly prepared and your water intake has to be adequate. The only thing left to do is to hit the gym, work on your functional and core strength, add some resistance training and interval cardio to your routine and get that ripped body out in the open!
Eat like a champion!
Olympic wrestler Amit Kumar shows you the meat-less way to a rippling physique
And it's wrong! Vegetarians are not weak and they too can build muscle. There are plenty of healthy vegetarian alternatives available if you don't consume eggs or dairy.
Dark green vegetables will serve your protein needs and provide your body with calcium, chlorophyll, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, eggplant, green peas, green pepper, lettuce, mushroom, mustard green, onions, spinach, tomatoes, turnip greens are all abundantly rich in protein and locally available and can be cooked (ideally lightly and with very little oil) to give your body the right nutrients without loading you with carbs. I depend a lot on sprouts. They are nutritional powerhouses with a high protein content. Not only that, they're also excellent sources of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
For those who are willing to go the extra mile, Spirulina is about 68 per cent protein and also helps detoxify the body. It's packed with vitamins and contains EFAs (essential fatty acids).
Chlorella is about 60 per cent protein and is known for it's rapid tissue repair properties. It's a great food if you're very physically active or have higher protein requirements. Use it in your shakes to help speed up recovery times. I usually consume it with shakes after every strenuous workout.
When it comes to grains, quinoa has very high protein content and makes for a wholesome and healthy addition to your diet. Amaranth or chauli is another excellent source of protein that is available locally.
And last, but not the least, do take care of how much oil goes into your food while cooking. At Chhatrashal, we keep it to the bare minimum.
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