MS Dhoni aka Captain Cool is arguably the most successful and respected captain of the Indian cricket team. He is the one who made the legends dream and made them win their deserved World Cup in 2011. Not just the regular world cup, under his captaincy India has won numerous other trophies, the most prominent ones being T20 World cup of 2007, the 2010 Asia cup and the 2013 Champions cup. The most amazing thing is he still continues to play for the team and his fitness at the age of 36 years is nothing short of being called commendable.
At the age of 36 years, athletes usually retire, but MS Dhoni is proving otherwise. It is something every athlete and fitness enthusiast should take inspiration from.
What can we learn from MS Dhoni when it comes to fitness?
1. You Cannot Do The Same Things And Expect Different Results
MS Dhoni used to be a hardcore junk food dieter with his daily food consisting of things like Milkshakes, Chocolates, Butter Chicken, Naan, etc. Considering his activity levels, he was not going to get fat on this still he realized that having an exclusive junk diet is not beneficial to his health and his career. He started making changes and started monitoring his diet to take care not just of his fitness but his overall health too.
2. When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going
MS Dhoni knew that age will not always be on his side when it comes to his career and his fitness. With age, he will have to work hard two times than what he used to initially. A self-admitted non-fitness freak, MS Dhoni used to enjoy sports and not really hit the gym and lift weights. He again realized that it is not always about what he likes and he will have to do weight training as well to stay at the prime of his game.
He started lifting weights regularly and you can see a clip of his gym workout here:
3. Always Be The Hardest Worker In The Room
In an interview, MS Dhoni confessed that during the recent IPL 11 (which Chennai Super Kings won under his captaincy), he used to wake up early and do a rowing session before having his breakfast. He got a rowing machine installed in his hotel room just to get that extra work in and stay fit for the campaign. He is at a stage where a couple of bad performances or being a bit out of shape would be easily ignored considering his age and his achievements.
But no, he did not want that. It was one of his best tournament performances and obviously, the overall win was just an expected result from a team led by a leader like him.
4. Eat Your Damn Protein
A piece on fitness is incomplete with the mention of protein, isn’t it?
Jokes aside, MS Dhoni has mentioned tens of times that how his diet includes a lot of protein-rich options, especially chicken, kebabs, and protein shakes compared to what he used to eat back in the day. Read this piece if you too want to know how much protein you should be eating. This just shows that age is certainly just a number for MS Dhoni and I expect that the country gets to see a few more years of him performing at the highest level of his sport.
Credit: Mens XP