Smriti Mandhana has joined the Strikers and is proudly wearing the jersey. In a new social media post the team celebrates the arrival of the star cricketer, sharing a clip of her in her two-piece workout gear. “Good to see you in Strikers blue @smriti_mandhana !💙,” they captioned the Instagram video. “Finally 🎉🥹,” commented one of her followers. “Queen of RCB and Indian team❤️,” added another. How does she approach diet, fitness, and self-care? Here is everything you need to know about her lifestyle habits.
1. Not Over Training or Training “Too Less”
Smriti explains that there has to be balance with training. “I’d like to be as fit and fresh, mentally and physically. So that’s something that I have to manage. I have to manage my workouts and not over train or train too less. I have to be really sure of what I’m doing so that my body is at its best when I go out to play the World Cup,” she told Red Bull.
2. 70 Percent Fitness and 30 Percent Skill
“A few years ago, cricket was mainly a skill-based sport, but now with the T20 format being popular, it is a fast-paced game,” Smriti told Red Bull in another interview. “Even in one-day cricket we have to constantly score and chase. The formats are moving pretty fast, so it’s even more important to work a lot on fitness as much as skills. Earlier it was 70% skill and 30% fitness, but now it's 70% fitness and 30% skill. So that’s a big impact.”
3. Fielding
“I think in fielding, there is a huge impact of fitness. For fielding inside the circle, you need agility. And for fielding outside the circle, you need to be able to run fast to cut the angles. For those, I need to do a lot of fitness that is specifically designed for fielding. When I do fielding fitness training, very often I see direct results; if I do the training consistently, in 20-30 days I see that I am able to move quicker or cut a ball that I may not have been able to do earlier,” she says.
“In batting, there is a lot of technique involved. Even if I do a lot of strength training, if I don’t time the ball properly, the shot won’t work. But fielding and running between the wickets, these are two aspects of the game where I can actually say to myself, ‘Oh yes, I worked on these things in fitness and I’ve seen a positive impact in the game.’ I see direct results,” she told Red Bull
4. Cardio and Strength Training
“In pre-season, I will usually do a cardio session and a strength training session every day. It would usually be cardio in the morning for half-an-hour and then a strength training session in the afternoon or evening for one-and-half-hour. This is for five days a week. And then two days would be swimming and other recovery sessions,” she told Red Bull. “I love strength training. I think I could do strength every day of the week,” Smriti says. “My least favorite is anything to do with running. I try to avoid it, but I know I can’t avoid it. It’s funny because I never get nervous before a match, but if I know I have to wake up tomorrow and go running, I will be nervous before the run.”
5. Meditation and Yoga
She also gets her zen on. “I do meditation before a match. I do 10-15 minutes of guided mediation. I can never sit quietly in one spot, so that's why I do guided meditation and try to calm myself down,” she says. “I also practice a bit of yoga. I do Surya Namaskar every day. In fact I use Surya Namaskar as part of my stretching routine before gym sessions.” “When you meditate, you may clear away the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress,” says the Mayo Clinic. Benefits include:
- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
- Building skills to manage your stress
- Increasing self-awareness
- Focusing on the present
- Reducing negative emotions
- Increasing imagination and creativity
- Increasing patience and tolerance
- Lowering resting heart rate
- Lowering resting blood pressure
- Improving sleep quality
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