Adam Ondra is the most famous Czech climber and four-time world champion. What is he preparing for now? Why does he like Tharid’us traditional Sri Lankan massages and Ayurvedic dishes? You can read in our interview.
Adam, what are you currently preparing for in training?
The main goal is clear - these are the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, to which I have been training for almost three years. It is an ambitious and complex goal because it competes in three disciplines (bouldering, climbing on difficulty, climbing on speed), which is a complete novelty. The first two of these disciplines are familiar; I devote myself to them the whole time I climb - that is, almost from birth. But there is also speed climbing, which is new to me. I started with it only three years ago.
How are you doing in the Climbing World Cup this year?
This year there was a bouldering race in Meiringen, Switzerland, where I took first place. (You can see it here at 1:34:40) That’s a big boost and motivation for me at the beginning of the Olympic season, but at the same time, I have to be careful not to increase the excessive pressure that I expect. I want to participate in several World Cup competitions to get into the sport’s well-being and get used to climbing in front of the spectators. I take it as a preparation for the Olympic Games. Right now, I’m leaving for the next World Cup in bouldering and bouldering/speed climbing in Salt Lake City, which you can watch here.
Muscles are a working tool for a top athlete😊. The team takes care of you - trainers, doctors, physiotherapists, nutrition consultants. Part of the care is also regular massages. What did they mean to you before you met Tharidu’s massages?
For me, massages meant something relatively shorter when trigger points (trigger points) are released in a rather violent way - stiff places, which, even if one climbs best, are created. Climbing is a very complex movement, and sometimes we have to squeeze into bizarre positions. Of course, the better technique a person has, the better he uses therapeutic exercises for proper muscle involvement, the less he stiffens. Still, he cannot altogether avoid it, and the muscles need to be massaged.
How is Tharidu’s traditional Sri Lankan massage specific?
With Tharidu’s massages, it seems revolutionary that they are significantly longer (3-4 hours in my case), you can relax better and rest more. Moreover, in my experience, their relaxation effect is more long-lasting.
When did the moment come when you said that massages “work” 😊?
That was right after the first massage, almost two years ago.
So what is the effect of Tharidu’s traditional Sri Lankan, Ayurvedic massages? How do you feel after the massage?
The feeling is always a little different. I think it depends on the degree of previous fatigue. If I come to the massage overtrained, the massage almost wholly puts me to sleep, and I relax for nearly two to three hours, I almost sleep. I wake up a bit before the end, and I’m hungry. And after the Ayurvedic meal that Tharidu prepares for me concerning my current state, season and weather, I feel great. For the rest of the day, after the massage, I am relatively slow, with a feeling of sleeping. But I am all the better the next day when I’m rested after sleep, relaxed, and perfectly prepared for training. When I go for a massage that precedes a race, it comes with an energy massage because I am set to exercise and because Tharidu will subordinate the massage for the competition goals and adapt it. So each of his massages responds to my condition.
Interestingly, you usually tell the massage where it hurts, and the masseur massages the place. Tharidu usually doesn’t start with that place but solves it from some other part of the body because everything is connected, according to him. And when the problem on that side of the body is solved, the other place came up with will improve in a matter of days. According to him, the effect is a longer-term solution than when the sore spot is forcibly released.
What long-term changes do you see with Tharidu’s regular massages?
I have been training more in the last year than ever before, and in a way that I am not entirely used to. Usually, I react a lot to new training, which I am not used to, and then very often, blockages occur. Because I am taking Tharidu’s massages, I do not feel significant blockages, and this hardening of muscles hasn’t happened lately. Tharidu’s massages play a substantial role in that. Moreover, because climbing means so much to me, any pain or injury occurs, I can’t get it out of my head. Even though I can rationally justify that not so much happens when I don’t train for three days, I still have it in me. His Ayurvedic massages help me reduce these short forced breaks because the muscles regenerate faster, they do not stiffen so quickly, and even minor injuries help heal faster.
What did Ayurveda mean to you before you met Tharidu?
I knew that I could not get any authentic Ayurvedic therapist in Brno. They are in India and Sri Lanka, where they are sufficiently guarding this knowledge and will never reveal it to any European. So when I learned that the real “Ayurvedic” is here, and is even in Brno, I did not hesitate for a moment, I tried his massages, and I stayed with them.
An equally important part of an athlete’s training is eating. And we know that it’s best to eat healthily, but still, enjoy yourself. Have you become an enthusiast of Sri Lankan traditional cuisine using Ayurvedic techniques, which Tharidu prepares for you?
Not only do I like it very much, but I believe that their slow cooking techniques in unglazed fired earthenware, the use of authentic spices and herbs or tea from Sri Lanka, and the right timing concerning my current state or weather will get more nutrients. Then our way of cooking. I do not take nutrition as a set of parameters, how much to gain. However, what and how it is cooked and what time to eat it is crucial to me. Sometimes I am with Tharidu even with an acute problem, or with a slight cold and the like, and part of the solution is with Tharidu also the nutrition that he will supplement with massages.
Higher usage of legumes characterizes Sri Lankan Ayurvedic cuisine. What is your new Ayurvedic legume trick for good muscle condition that you recommend to all athletes?
It’s chickpeas that I eat more now than ever before, and especially before the races. And I really like the one from Tharidu! I have never eaten better chickpeas in my life, and we took it cooked in jars and to the World Cup race in Meiringen: -D.
As a climber, you have huge biceps, forearms, muscles in the neck that are unique. And when a person shakes your hand, she will be surprised by the size of your palm and the power and size of your fingers. Does this specificity of Tharidu take into account during the massage? How does Tharidu’s approach to therapy, specifically your climbing muscles, seem unique to you?
I’ve never experienced a masseur who goes to watch my workouts, watch videos from competitions, and who is so interested in what I do while climbing, how I do it, how my muscles behave. He needs to see the forces in work. For example, he says that the muscles behave differently at rest during training and differently during tension during competition. He also takes photos of the forces and records the problems on a sketch of the body, which helps him later perform a better massage and find out where the problem is faster and solve it.
It is spring, a time when many of us get the desire to lose weight, eat healthily, or even start some new sport. So why would you recommend climbing to our readers?
It’s a little hard for me to talk about it because I have it in my genes to some extent. I don’t understand that there aren’t more people climbing? It seems so natural to me that one wants to see the world from above. I think there are such “monkey” genes in humans (or at least in me). But to put it briefly: climbing is supersport for almost everyone; every age category is complex in terms of strength and technology. It is extensive - you can climb a meter of gravel, a thousand-meter wall, boulder gravel, an artificial wall, a rock. And if you practice climbing in such a wide range, you will experience incredible experiences. It’s about traveling, getting to know new cultures, and these are all points for which I love climbing the way I love it.
We could probably talk for hours about why you love climbing. Please try to describe at least one reason please.
When climbing in nature, I like exposure under my feet. Getting to a place where not many people get to and feeling the air under my feet is a feeling of freedom that will probably never stop entertaining me.
With this interview, we started a series of interviews with athletes who take care of their muscles together with Tharidu. To whom will you “stretch the way” to? Who would you nominate for the following interview?
I nominate my fiancée, Iva Vejmolová, a climber who currently takes care of young climbers in the Czech Climbers Association.
Thanks for the interview and nomination. I wish you good luck in the competitions😊.
Zuzana Jayasundera
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