All You Need to Know About the Athletics Elite Camp - Endurance, Ooty

In association with the Department of Sports and Youth Services of the Odisha Government, the RFYS Athletics Elite Camp - Endurance was conducted. The camp, which was held in Ooty, one of India's favourite hill stations and home to Tamil Nadu's tallest peak, as well as in Coonoor, offered 11 Elite Athletes the opportunity to take their performance to the next level!

With the goal of preparing India's medal-winning prospects for the upcoming national and international athletic events of 2022, 11 Middle and Long-distance elite athletes were selected for the 90-day high-performance training programme. The camp, which began on October 1, 2021, helped the athletes in improving their overall mobility, endurance, speed, and flexibility conditioning.

“The primary objective of this camp is to develop the base endurance of our athletes. We expect to see the performance improvement after reaching Bhubaneswar where we will be doing specific workouts.” says Ajith Markose, Middle & Long Distance Coach at the Reliance Foundation Odisha Athletics HPC and Head Coach of RFYS AEC-Endurance.

Ooty and Coonoor were identified as the ideal locations for elite endurance athletes to train more efficiently to improve their aerobic capacity due to the sheer altitude of being able to train at 1800 metres above sea level.

Why was Ooty chosen as the location for Athletics Elite Camp?

Reduced Oxygen Partial Pressure
Athletes Work Harder
Surrounded by Greenery
Weather helps in faster recovery
Less Pollution
Reliable Ecosystem for Middle and Long Distance Training

The opportunity of training with international elite athletes like Jinson Johnson, a two-time Asian Games medalist and Olympian, and Mohammed Afsal, India's current national 800m champion, in the camp for this year's Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and World Championships provided the young and promising athletes an extra motivational boost.

All aspects of recovery, physiotherapy, nutrition, strength and conditioning were monitored individually with the goal of improving the endurance and technique of these athletes.

The 3-month camp showed remarkable results as the athletes significantly exhibited improvement in their cardiovascular endurance, strength, and mobility which was checked at the beginning and end of the camp.

Mohsin Khan, a sports physiotherapist, ensured that the athletes' risk of injury was low while training. Massages, physiotherapy and other recovery techniques were used to manage recurrent and chronic injuries.

Ajith Markose added that the camp focused on providing general conditioning for elite athletes like Afsal and Jinson in preparation for competitions in 2022, while it was a combination of general conditioning and specific training for younger athletes in preparation for competitions like Khelo India, Junior Nationals, and Asian Youth Championships.

Each elite athlete received a personalised, multi-functional training report with comprehensive recommendations on event training, nutrition, physiotherapy, and recovery at the end of the 90-day camp. The participants returned back to Bhubaneswar for specific workouts and low-altitude performance testing.

In case of queries, please feel free to connect with us on Instagram/Facebook or email us at info@rfyouthsports.com