Tired of it all

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is India's fastest-rising cricket star right now. However, some of the sheen of his fame dulled when Dhoni pulled out of the soon-to-commence Sri Lanka series, claiming fatigue as the reason.

Fatigue in sports is a reality that rarely gets highlighted, partly because sportspeople are expected and seen to be fighting fit (that being the basic premise of sports. Ever seen a languid-looking sportsperson?)

Fatigue, says Jaspal S Sandhu, dean of the faculty of sports medicine at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, can be addressed through correct training modules.

Says Sandhu, "Well-designed training modules can ensure that the player does not suffer fatigue." He adds, "Training has to be based on macro, meso and micro cycles."

A macro cycle is for one year, meso is for a quarter, and micro for a week. This, says Sandhu, should be supplemented by good nutrition, adequate sleep, and some rest and relaxation, and there is no way that the sportsperson won't be raring to go.

Apart from this, there is also mental fatigue that can affect a sportsperson's performance or even willingness to commit for big games. Says Sandhu, "If a player internalises external pressures like peer expectation, a cheering or adoring public, sponsor expectations, country's expectations, all that leads to mental fatigue."

For this, the solutions, says Sandhu, lie in therapies like yoga, sauna and steam. The other, more clinical way to deal with it is with biofeedback procedure.

Experts define biofeedback procedure as a training where people are taught to improve involuntary body functions like heart rate, muscle tension and so on. Though it is commonly used to treat disorders like high blood pressure, migraine, chronic pain and urinary incontinence, high-performance athletes also benefit from it.

Although Dhoni, while citing fatigue, did not specify whether he is suffering from physical or mental fatigue, there is no doubt that in recent years Indian cricketers have been under tremendous pressure, with an entire country of a billion people sitting in judgement (often very, very harshly) on their every move.

With the Champion's Trophy coming up, the BCCI would do well to address the fatigue issue of the team. And for weekend fitness enthusiasts too, it would be worth remembering that they too can suffer from fatigue as well.