Riya Habbu, Badminton
Riya Habbu, ranked No. 1 in the under-17 category of Badminton Association of India gives priority to her fitness training and badminton during the lockdown. However, with a lot of spare time on her hands, Habbu also paints, is learning how to cook, stitch and sew.
For the 15-year-old, 2019 was a great year as she clinched the top spot in the under-17 group and also delivered memorable performances. Habbu was also a part of the Indian squad for the junior Asian badminton championship and finished third in the under-19 junior nationals held at Rajahmundry in December. A resident of Kalyaninagar, she describes a day in her life during the lockdown.
Morning session
I wake up at 8am and have a light breakfast and start my day with my morning workout. It usually consists of long runs in the society to keep up the energy reserves and maintain my stamina. The session continues for an hour, later in the day I devote my time to household chores like cleaning and sweeping.
Afternoon session
I usually take a nap for an hour, have lunch and then proceed to either paint and get creative or simply read a book.
Evening session
I work on strengthening and conditioning my muscles followed by 20 minutes of core workout – the session lasts for an hour. After the workout, I enjoy watching Netflix and catching up with my friends through online games or video calls. I also utilise my free time by painting or helping my younger brother with his studies. To cheer up at night, my family religiously plays the carrom or a game of cards followed by watching news on TV.
No gym, no worries
As I am not allowed to hit the gym, I follow a workout routine given by my trainer. I do endurance training twice a week, work on agility and footwork three times a week and spend the remaining days working on flexibility and yoga. It is very important to take care of your body in times like these, we need to be able to train to the best of our abilities and use all the resources which are available. In my opinion, quarantine should not be an excuse to miss or skip training. You do not need fancy equipment or too much time, one justs need to schedule the workout properly. To keep in touch with the game I do wall-practice with a shuttle for 20 minutes a day and make it a point to watch badminton related videos and online matches.
Hobby
Cooking and painting. My grandmother also encourages me to learn how to cook and teaches me something new every day which I enjoy a lot. I am also currently learning how to stitch and sew. Painting is one thing which I like since my childhood. As a player, this routine is quite different from the normal one, I hope we can all overcome this pandemic and resume our normal lives soon.