Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Winning involves a lot of determination and hard work, more so in the life of a sportswoman. What exercises comprise your fitness regime both on a daily basis & when you are preparing for competition?
Ms. Justine Dufour-Lapointe:
I just love feeling healthy, isn’t it just the best feeling? You feel like you are on the top of your body, your strength and you feel like you’re managing every aspect of your body. It’s just such a great reward. For us, we train 11 months a year and have about a month off. I think for me there is no compromise; it’s just the way I live, I try to be healthy, eat the best that I could every single day, so it’s more of a lifestyle. Ofcourse, there are cheat days on occasions to celebrate.
So I prepare myself for competing, the peak time is from October to September, I start to feel more stronger and get our body in shape. We start in summer, slowly, end of summer we are more heavy on the weights. We do full-body and we train for 6 days a week at our gym with our trainer, who has helped many other athletes as well. So it is great to train with men and other people from different sports and we try to motivate each other.
Monday is leg day, Tuesday is upper body and abs, then Wednesday we do a cardio circuit, which is a whole body workout, Thursday is leg back, then Friday we do stretching, really intense and then Saturday we do another big circuit with more cardio and intensity. So on Sunday, we have a day off. Till November we get in good shape, since the competitions stat in December. We have the peak of our body in January-February and we end up our season in March. What is funny is that we gain 8-10 pounds of leg in summer and then lose it completely in March. So it’s a long process to keep your legs strong and healthy through the winter.
But because we are competing, we lose a little bit of weight, because we cannot do that much training and body weight, for maintaining our bodies to be strong and fit while competing.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Sports-related nutrition is an integral part in the life of a sports person to cope with the pressure and recover from wear & tear. There is no doubt you too need to take special care of your diet? Do you follow a strict menu to stay healthy and physically fit?
Ms. Justine Dufour-Lapointe:
I have always eaten everything healthy but in the last year, I have tried to learn more about it. For me eating healthy was never a problem, I just love trying new things. I have never followed a strict diet, I eat what I want to eat, what my body wants to eat and that’s it.
I eat the best that I can wherever I am. Because when you’re at home, you’re steady, it is easy but I’m always traveling round the year, so it’s not easy to have a consistent balance and have the same thing.
I try to eat more fruit in the morning, for lunch I love to have soups, I love to have veggies, salad, big bowl of green, quinoa salads.
For dinner, I like to cook like a veggie stew. Last year I tried to cook more veggies and less meat, and I actually didn’t miss it that much. Right now, it is more of substitute, so when I’m not eating meat I eat more of fruits and vegetables for every meal as the main course.
I also take some supplements like protein powder, there is a vegan one that I really enjoy, so when I’m traveling I always have my pack around me. So when I need a boost between two races or after a big day if you need to have more carbs, because you have lost so much water and energy, so I have this recovery chocolate protein shake that I love. I also drink a lot of things throughout the day, Drink to think is my favourite, most tasty thing.
I don’t force myself to be like someone or eat like someone, I just be myself and eat what I want, which is what I have learnt and what I think is right for me.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Being a professional athlete, you are a role model for many striving to make their dream come true; provide us with some motivational words to help others climb up the ladder of success in this field?
Ms. Justine Dufour-Lapointe:
I don’t feel like I’m a role model, I am a two-time Olympian, two-time medalist, World Champion, but it’s not only who I am, I am Justine, Justine Dufour-Lapointe, a driven person, I’m passionate, and for me I’ve always been like that. I’m passionate when I love what I’m doing, I just do it right and try to have the best team around me to accomplish my dream. When you have a goal, set yourself big goals, and don’t be shy about it and tell people around you that I have a goal and dare to dream girl, because you will achieve whatever your dream is, because our dream is just a dream if we don’t share it with people. And for me being in a family with strong women, like my mother and my sister, it’s always been natural.
I think I have been lucky having three amazing women right in front of me, showing me that it is ok to be a strong woman as well. I have been happy through my life, because I have never been ashamed of being fit, strong, healthy woman, because my mother and my sisters are like that and so I’ve always been myself, and never been afraid to dream and doing it.
And I also surround myself with it, because the best thing in life to accomplish things is to surround yourself with the best people around you that can make you shine, the best that you could and I guess why it worked so well in my life, it’s because I was surrounded by my sisters they were the best support, the best competition for me, the best people to drive me to be a better person.
In this world, you don’t have to think that a woman is a competition for you, but is actually your best supporter, when you can find the best person who can be like your sister and cheer you on and always be there for each other. It felt so warm to have my sisters with me and we felt stronger together. So for me surrounding yourself with the best team and thinking like women together can achieve greater things than when they’re alone and don’t feel afraid about it. It will always make you shine and together we’re always more stronger.
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