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Lockdown gameplan: Extra hour of sleep, healthy cooking, circuit training - all at home for footballer Ishan Dey
Dey’s day starts with yoga and various stretching exercises before joining his family at the dining table for breakfast
Dey started playing football at the age of 7 with the Naaz Academy, Kalyaninagar. Aged 11, he joined the Pune FC academy in 2011 and became the youngest player to get selected for the under-15 Pune FC team via an open trial. During his stint at Pune FC, the striker got scouted for the AIFF Indian National Under-14 team and attended a six-month camp in 2014.
After returning from the camp, Dey returned to the Pune FC U-15 and finished as the joint top-scorer in the second division of the I-League that season.
After Pune FC, Dey joined the Indian Super League club FC Pune City’s under-16 academy in 2016. Playing for the under-16 and under-18 teams of the ISL club, he old played all the major youth level tournaments which included the I-League second division.
At the end of the 2017/18 season, Dey won FC Pune City’s Best Emerging Talent of the Year award. After FC Pune City’s closure, the teenager has moved to Hyderabad FC reserves this season and currently plays for the second division I-League side.
Pre-Covid...
I play football professionally for Hyderbad FC (reserves). I am a striker, but can also play on the wings. My daily regime starts at 6:30 am and six hours are dedicated to team training and gym sessions. I cannot disclose the details of the training because we are supposed to keep that knowledge to ourselves. However, I can tell you that it consists of plenty of tactical sessions.
Everything is obviously game related so there are a lot of transition sessions with the usual passing, tackling, crossing and finishing. In the gym, we mainly focus on injury resistance and mobility training. We do not train in the evening as that time is exclusively reserved for recovering and replenishing our energy, game analysis and preparing for our next match.
I am pursuing my education through Global University which is affiliated with Delhi University.
Lockdown routine – morning, afternoon, and evening
With the lockdown imposed, I get 90 minutes of extra sleep, as I get up at 8am. The day starts with yoga and various stretching exercises before joining my family at the dining table for breakfast. Since I have a lot of time to spare, I have taken this opportunity to learn some healthy recipes from my mother and I am always up for cleaning the house. I train my younger brother with strength and technical aspects of the game.
After I finish lunch, I either watch a movie with my family or rest for a while. In the evenings, I either get in touch with my friends on a Zoom call or chat with them. If I am doing neither, I usually work on some basic ball work or indulge in strength training at home.
As the gyms are shut…
I am focusing more on yoga and mobility exercises and divide my session into two parts - one in the morning, which includes strengthening the circuit; and the other in the evening to maintain my muscle endurance (burpees, jumping jacks, clap push-ups, jumping squats and lunges, on-spot high knees for 1 min, pull-ups and core twisters; repeating this circuit four-five times). Even if you are unable to hit the gym, believe me, these exercises will get your muscles burning. It’s the best way to be agile and flexible and at the same time target those muscles to grow.
The hobby
Yes, I love cooking, so I am learning new recipes and try to make healthy preparations more delicious. I always like to educate myself about dieting, fitness, and nutrition. I like to study about supplements and how important they are in an athlete’s life. That aside, I can play some very amateur chords on my guitar and I also love watching some inspirational content based on true events.
