If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)
Drugs - What is the problem with it, the pros and cons.
I was once told by a person who was working as a coach full time. This happened about 20 years back. I told the coach that I was getting very tired for the next day's training, he told me that he has something that will expedite the recovery. Immediately, I asked him what it was. He told me that he does not want to say on the content of the pill and told me that that it was effective for recovery. My immediate reaction was to stay clear from him from that very moment on.
The reason for staying away from him was because of the fact that it may be drugs, like steroids, which is used to expedite one's recovery rate so that one feels good and ready for the next available workout in a short span of time. That means, instead of needing a two-day recovery, it can become one day.
My earnest advice to all is to avoid drugs at all costs. I will tell you the reason why.
Doctors/physicians, instead of using drugs, usually use normal medicine to cure a sickness or any disease. When this does not work, they have good reasons behind using drugs and it is used as a last resort only. I was given steroid shots twice on two separate occasions before I got cured, in the past, when I was running seriously. No medicine was able to improve my Plantar Fasciitis injury. As a last resort, the injection was able to bring down the swelling and I was cured this enabled me to run. I am grateful to my doctor in curing my injury.
We have to be careful with drugs usage. If it is prescribed by the doctor or any qualified physician, it is alright. Because an overdose can hamper one's health and I don't think any doctor wants to see that patient is disadvantaged in the long run.
A number of top runners and cyclists have taken drugs in the past and it is still going on right now, in a subtle way, I guess. It is important for oneself to know the reason for doing exercise, like running etc. I run for health and fitness. Bonus to this is to perform well. I train to win, if possible, in my age category.
In the heat of putting one's mind on winning, we can lose our senses and resort to short cuts like drug taking etc. It is important to keep one's sense from being lost. In the short term, we win. But our conscience will tell that we are not the real winner, although you have the medal on your hand. One's inner conscience will be laughing at your folly of racing to cheat. A day will come when we grow old and will stare at the medal and we will be belittled by our own conscience on doing this silly mistake. It is actually being childish in doing this.
At the same time, however, research is conclusive that aids like coffee, tea, red bull etc can improve one's performance and the caffeine content if the caffeine content is permissible, not so high to induce negative long-term side-effects. It is good to check this with a coach or the physician. I myself had to check with Dr Ben Tan, author of 'Run for your Life', for clearance before I won the 2008 Stanchart Marathon. I was 43 years old at that time.
It is also to know the right amount of caffeine to take for performing in one's race. If one does not know about coffee, tea benefits to boost performance, one may lose out to other runners who take advantage of it. Overindulging of caffeine, on the other hand, has a high chance of making your performance to be detrimental at the end. Nervousness may set in and one has a chance of hampering one's performance. Emotional control becomes weakened. One would get anxious and the mind goes to the future and destabilise one's calmness. With this state of mind, one will not do well in the race. It is good to know the 'inverted U' theory or the 'catastrophe model' on stress. It is in the Sports Psychology books and research papers as well, if one does on psychology.
When to take, how much to take etc are important for one to note to do well in sports and this depends on the individual response to caffeine. Reading the research paper and applying is very important if one wants to try out on caffeine. My advice to this is to be well informed on things that you are doing that the health benefits are gambled away. One should know where to limit. We are accountable to our own body and we cannot push this job to other people, but to ourselves.
The other form of drugs like marijuana and heroine are not good for health. People who are not family-oriented, to my experience, are prone to losing oneself to bad habits. Celebrities, rich people are prone to this habit as they may a lot of time in their hand, when they have no projects in hand, such that they get depressed easily and suffer depression. They might resort to drugs to escape from sadness, boredom or depression. These drugs will give you a high, which is easily available in sports like running, swimming, biking etc. However, by using drugs, a kind of happiness comes in and one can get out depression and sadness for a short period. Once they come out of it, they would like to keep experiencing the feeling of being relaxed by the effect coming from the drugs.
The problem comes when one gets attached to drugs as the sensation they can from it can cause the 'non-sadness' effect. Attachment to the relaxed sensation that they get from drugs will bring pain, as the habit-forming in taking these drugs can be very, very strong and it is hard to let go of the habit.
In the past, as I can clearly remember, I was doing volunteer service for drug offenders, for a year, to help offenders to do exercise and do breathing technique etc and make them resort to good habits in the long run. The discussions I had with them showed that they find it extremely hard to resist even when their prison terms are over. If a person has a very strong will, he can overcome it. I also found out that drug offenders are not able to resist the withdrawal symptoms that they get from not taking drugs, even for a while. Hence, they resort back to drugs, to go back to the relaxed state of body and mind, which is for temporary. Once out of it and they are in the real world, they keep wishing to go back to the relaxed state that they get from drugs. Thus, drugs can be dangerous. One should not have liaison with these type of drugs.
As for me, it is good to make the mind alert when we stay in the world and not to resort the mind to be intoxicated such that we know what is going on in front of us and we are aware. This applies to alcohol drinks as well. Even alcoholic drinks can bring about intoxication in one and it is good to avoid getting drunk.
I know of friends who drink. My advice to them is to limit oneself, especially as a sportsman as we are sending messages to the young ones, as the latter may start following us as a role model. It is good to have a disciplined role model, of a person who is popular and know where to draw the line. Drugs should not make one a drug addict and alcohol should not be used to make one become an alcoholic.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
