Kabaddi defender Vikas Kale raids the hill every morning to keep up his fitness during lockdown

Kale, who represented Haryana Steelers in the Season 7 of Pro Kabaddi League goes for a quick run on the hillock next to his home in Susgaon

A quick run in the morning on the hillock next to his home in Susgaon, is how defender Vikas Kale, is keeping up his fitness routine even during the lockdown. Kale, who represented Haryana Steelers in the Season 7 of Pro Kabaddi League also plays for Maharashtra and Satej Club Baner. The 32-year-old, Kale is taking complete care of his training by including terrace sessions in the evening.

Kale has different tyres of varying weight and also stones of various weights at his terrace, which helps him do weight lifting exercises at home. (HT/PHOTO)

“I go to the hillock only in the morning as there is no one there and avoid stepping out in the evening as I know we are not allowed to step out,” explains Kale, listing his daily schedule.

Morning session

I wake up at 5:30am -this is the one habit which I have not changed since my childhood. At 6:30am, I go to the hillock as nobody is there and I can train myself in a peaceful environment. I do long running, tyre running and speed running – each of which is schedule two days in a week. I take Sundays off, but on other days I follow this routine strictly. Once I return from practice (8:30am), I have a heavy breakfast, full of proteins.

I also help my parents by doing household chores or if there are any essential commodities which have to be bought.

Afternoon session

After having lunch, I read. I like reading motivational books and currently, I am reading a book on Mary Kom – Unbreakable -her autobiography in Marathi. I also sleep for an hour and 30 minutes.

Evening session

In the evenings, I train on the terrace and do stretching exercises which include squats, push-ups, lunges, core and burpees. Sometimes, I also do skipping. The session continues for two hours and finishes at 7:30pm.

Then, I play with my dog ‘Chiku’ for sometime – he loves me watching at home and I spend almost an hour playing with him. After dinner, I watch television news and the entire family discusses the day’s events. I respect all police and medical professional who are currently fighting this war against coronavirus. I sleep early at night.

Tyre, heavy stones replace gym weights

One cannot have all the gym apparatus at home, so I have different tyres of varying weight and I have also kept stones of various weights at my terrace, which helps me do weight lifting exercises at home. I miss my teammates from the local club (Satej Club Baner) with whom I practice every day on normal days. With many sports events getting postponed or cancelled, I still hope Pro Kabaddi League will happen in 2020.

Hobbies

I love gardening and have a small garden on our terrace. Watering the plants twice daily is also in my schedule.