Unlock the secrets to leading an injury-free life with Dr. Kaushik, a renowned physiotherapist and co-founder of YOS (Your Optimal Self) Health. In this engaging video, Dr. Kaushik shares invaluable tips for athletes and non-athletes alike, emphasizing the importance of musculoskeletal health. Learn about practical strategies for preventing injuries, achieving peak fitness, and maintaining physical well-being. With experience working with elite athletes like Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma, as well as the National Cricket Academy, Dr. Kaushik provides actionable advice for everyone aiming to stay injury-free and fully capable in their personal and professional lives.  What separates champions from the rest?  Is it talent, training, or the science of recovery and performance?  In this episode, Dr. Ashish Kaushik, one of India’s top sports physiotherapists, dives into:

• Why India struggles to convert junior champions into Olympic medalists

• The biggest recovery mistakes holding athletes back

• Proven ways to prevent injuries, relieve back pain, and recover faster.

Please enjoy  this transcript with Dr. Kaushik

Kaushik: Playing a sport is going to give you the best opportunity to be happy. And you don't get bored of it because you picked it up, right? So we should define sport a bit loosely in society. Your sport could be walking your pet. You really enjoy playing with your dog.

That's your sport! The physio inside me, Dr. Ashish

Ryan: Kaushik, physiotherapist and co-founder of YourSportsHealth, is a leading expert in sports.

Yuvraj Singh, Ishant Sharma, and held key roles at the BCCI, County Cricket, and National Health Services, UK. Dr. Kaushik is dedicated to bringing world-class treatments through his centers to the common man. His only vision is to

Kaushik: ensure that we do everything that we can first to prevent injuries.

Ryan: Do you give massages?

They used to say, no. Oh, my Hindi isn't that good. What's the question?

Come

Ryan: Come on, Ryan man! Aunty!

Your favorite success story in your career

Kaushik: Is it Inder? Jivraj Sev Someone beating cancer and coming back not to normal life but to international sport And now I get goosebumps And a lot of things came together, a lot of things went our way But, uh

Ryan: Formally I have to address you as Doctor Ashish. Just say Ashish, man, just say Ashish. And what else? Oh, my Hindi isn't that good. So, Ashish.

Kaushik: And Dr. Ashish, what about Hindi? Doctor, can you speak a little in Hindi?

Ryan: Doctor sir.

Kaushik: Doctor? Doctor. So, how many years have we known each other? How many years has it been? I had just come back from England, right?

2009. I had just come back from England.

And I wasn't in contact with anyone in India. Who contacted you?

Ryan: Who selected you for the National Cricket Academy? How was the interview? Good selection.

Kaushik: Was.

Ryan: Yes? Was there a selection?

Kaushik: Yes. Now, I can't do well for myself. I can't do well. I couldn't do well for the India panel. But for myself, for my good selection system,

You had to go ahead for two weeks to England, right? You had to go because you had come for your 10th wedding anniversary. Did you inject some flair into England? Listen, listen. You all chill. It's about him now when we are looking at the whole picture. I was going to make him do it, you are putting on a show.

This is not something that was done intentionally, and now the thing is that today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today, today. Highly recommended and, uh, and now my question to you is that you look exactly the same now. As you did then, longevity, longevity, how do you manage it? Just a bit of white hair.

Ryan: Did you dye it? No, I didn't dye it. Seriously? If you dye it, it affects testosterone, you know?

Kaushik: hair. Longevity is your genetics. 90 percent in my opinion is your thought process and food. 100 percent agree with you. So, that's the thing. So, in 2009 we met. With the cricketers. First, Shikhar Dhawan was with me.

Ryan: hair. Longevity is your genetics. 90 percent in my opinion is your thought process and food. 100 percent agree with you. So, that's the thing. So, in 2009 we met. With the cricketers. First, Shikhar Dhawan was with me.

Kaushik: Yes.

Ryan: Gulish chap on planet.

Kaushik :Absolutely, love him, what a great guy.

Ryan: You are here today because you know about live betting in India, BCAI set live with Gulesh for the letter, to go with the letter, responsible for India.

Your

Ryan: Why didn't BCCI do this, did they have more money, or vision, what was it?

Kaushik: No, I think, eventually, every sports body, or every administrator, realizes that health and fitness is the mainstay of sport, right? What is the first thing that you need for your players, from your players, rather, they should be available on the day of selection. How will they be available? They will be available, which means, injury-free, so, fitness, let's talk about how fit they are, but they should be available, they will be injury-free.

So then there was, there was a lot of attention paid.

Ryan: The first time you met, a plate that I had... You talk about the experience that there wasn't much professionalism, that there was a lot of raw talent. So, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, then Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa. Then Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, other stalwarts in cricket. You weren't starstruck,

Kaushik: Your

Ryan: Not removing the negativity.

Kaushik: You know, personal separates. We're in the UK where, you know, it is the National Health Service. It's for all. And it doesn't matter who you are, the system treats you exactly the same. So, that is where I did my first job. And then the BCCI was pretty much my second or third job.

Looking at him, I can't speak Hindi. He's sitting there with a tie and all. First, put a kurta on him.

I think he won't understand this, so it happens as soon as we start speaking in Hindi.

Once, uh, there was a junior player, uh, and he reminded me much later, saying, "Sir, that day I felt very, uh, strange, because I think it was Sandeep Sharma, you know, that fast bowler. He said, 'Sir, Virat had come, but I had arrived earlier, and you asked Virat to sit while you attended to me first. I was scared.'"

I'm going to be like, Virat was comfortable with it. Why were you getting worried? You said because you thought it was a hierarchy. But then in that work environment, that's the credit to everyone who was there in that environment. That is how it is accepted and it was accepted. And now my obsession is with democratizing it completely, that whether you are a celebrity or not, that's one thing, but whether you are a player or a non-athlete, a common person, the body is the same. So the treatment for that body should also be the same. With that intention, we are now working on other things.

Ryan: are.

Kaushik: So

Ryan: In your experience, India is now the fifth largest economy and has reached the 71st position in the Olympics. And I think we have to change a lot in the democratization for our athletes, in all sports.

True, very true. There's a lot to be done. Very true. You had started off in the National Cricket Academy, brought in a lot of systems, came from the UK, set them up, motivated people that, hey, this is the protocol, this is the system. If we want to pitch for the Olympics, bring it here, we cannot be at the 71st position.

What is the word in Hindi? You have to cut your nose, right? Always thought that you, you know, you have to cut your nose. But, what do we need to do, Ashish? What you have to do ? What is our system? Where are the, some of the small, small things? And for those of, People who don't know, you run one of the most successful musculoskeletal clinics in the country, rehabilitation.

In fact, I rehabbed my partially torn ACL at your clinic, and you called me up and said, "Ryan, when you want to get serious, come to us." And then I was like, "Oh man, where did I go?" And then when I went to you guys, you started the whole process. And then I saw my hamstring and quadricep ratio.

Nobody had ever told me that before. So give us some insights, what do we need to do as a country? Why did you name it Yaws?

Kaushik: Yaws is Sanskrit for health and happiness. So, is this your clinic? Yes, this is my center. It's our center, our mission. Here, we provide equal treatment to both athletes and non-athletes.

So it's about availability, right? If you also want to be available, I am a non-athlete. I need to be available for my job, for my family. If I want to be available, I want to be 100 percent available, not with back pain, not with knee pain, not with shoulder pain. How will I be 100 percent available if there are no systems and processes to help me? We have developed those systems and processes for athletes, so our job was just to expose other people to the same system and process. So Dr. Ashish, this availability...

Ryan: to say

Kaushik: What does it mean?

So I'll give you an example. After the 2011 World Cup, the next tour was the West Indies tour where we were playing Test matches and one-dayers. That's where Virat made his Test debut. In the subsequent Test series, Virat wasn't picked; Yuvraj was picked. So he finished the tour there. And what's the logical thing that you would expect?

Young player, just played the World Cup, then went on another tour. Go back home as a World Cup winner. Enjoy, relax. He went to the National Cricket Academy to continue to be in peak health, peak fitness condition and be available. And what happened? In the second Test match, Yuvraj Singh... unfortunately fractured his finger.

If you stay available, for your job, for tomorrow, anything can happen in your job tomorrow.

You are available for it, but how are you available? Because you are mindful. How will you maintain yourself? That maintenance includes your exercise, staying injury-free, your diet, nutrition, taking care of yourself, which I believe is every person's responsibility. If

Ryan: Virat wasn't available. You know who they would have picked?

Opportunity favours the prepared. The prepared, exactly. How do you say that in Hindi?

Kaushik: Opportunity

Ryan: hit a four. Hit a four at the right moment. Cricket term. So, okay, there should be availability, there should be preparedness. If we want to win a medal in the Olympics. Few things that Dr. Ashish has noticed

Kaushik: That all our athletes have to start over.

So, how frustrated, I mean through the Olympics, I think we've spoken the most through the Olympics. Our frustration with so many things that, you know, as people who understand sport, could have done a little differently. I don't know for better, hopefully for better. And that, and I think that's where we had also started, you know, talking about the fact that we should put this on a public platform.

So

Kaushik:The first thing was availability, so people were available. After availability, fitness, and then all aspects of fitness. From mind, body, soul, your nutrition, everything covered in a manner that is world-class. My personal, you know, and a lot of people for various reasons don't agree with this, but I am saying, the athlete who is representing India, what is India?

That is India, right? We are India, the ones they are representing. They are a subset of our society, so if our society maintains a certain level of fitness standards, that subset automatically elevates. How do you expect a phenomenal subset from an average population? In many situations, if you look at fitness, everyone is average.

So I'm watching a match, a hundred-meter race. Sitting with my belly out, drinking tea and eating samosas, but I'm expecting that some kid from my society will work hard all their life and bring me a medal. Why? How? Every child in every school will run, but you will also run. You will also play, so your child will also play. When all the children play, one exceptional one will emerge.

Ryan: So, there should be a grassroots system, and parents and middle-aged society should be inspirational for the

Kaushik: children.

If for a child, you will also play, it should be, but for your child, you should play your own game. This you have

Ryan: When you were the head of Sports Medicine in Essex, for the team, what did you see of the culture there?

Kaushik: There? The culture is completely different. The culture is that you take pride in your running, your cycling, your swimming, your sport, the seasonal sport.

So, there is, it is a part of your culture. And it is or was a part of our culture too, we also have so many traditional sports, in our villages, kabaddi, wrestling, these are a part of our culture, but when you come to cities, space is available or not available for these activities.

Ryan: In the city, you don't get a 50m pool for swimming.

For swimming. In Bangalore, you will find 3 pools for swimming. Pool, right? So right, I think I understand your point that we can't expect somebody to get us a medal unless we have a much larger number of grassroots level children working out and all.

Kaushik: Exactly. Everybody, whether they're playing on the rooftop, everybody is playing cricket, right?

You've played, I've played too. So where is our cricket team? We watch cricket, appreciate cricket, play cricket. But we are addressing that sport from all aspects. Do we run, watch running, support running? Do we watch, play, support volleyball? Do we play, watch, support football? I think if engagement is there on multiple levels, this is my kind of philosophical, you know, angle to it.

Ryan: From philosophy to physiology, physiotherapy, many people think that physiotherapy means something broken or injured. I've got some injury. Correct. So, I need to go to a physiotherapist. Correct. Uh, but what I see at yours is a whole different, uh, image. And, uh, everyone wants results quickly.

Hmm.

Ryan: To one, physiotherapist means, oh if you go to him, my condition is bad. Hmm. Later, I quickly - quickly. So what is your experience in yours and in the National Cricket Academy with a player

Kaushik: and the common man? I think everybody appreciates honesty. Everybody appreciates honesty. Where I would like to see a change is in the accuracy of diagnosis.

Did you understand the problem? As a clinician, if you understood the problem, and then you communicated it properly to the client or player who came to you, and then made a proper plan for it, and then thought about why the injury happened—if you covered all these aspects, then you did a great job. Whether it's the BCCI, the National Cricket Academy, the NHS, Essex, or Kogla Ben Ambani Hospital, where I have worked, anywhere.

The systems you were talking about, setting up a system means this, right? That you will accurately measure various parameters, so you will accurately diagnose it. You will make an accurate plan for it. And then, through a lot of other expertise and the help of other people, you will establish why it happened.

You see, many injuries happen repeatedly. The same injuries occur again and again. The same athlete becomes unavailable due to the same injury repeatedly. Why is that injury happening repeatedly? So, the rehabilitation they do is very temporary. So, in those four aspects, something was missing if we managed it unsuccessfully, and if recurrence is happening, I would call it to some extent unsuccessful management. Either we didn't measure something correctly, which caused our...

The diagnosis was affected. The measurement was affected. The diagnosis was affected. Or our diagnosis was correct, but the planning and treatment were affected. Or we didn't understand why the injury happened. So, the injury was managed well, but the reason behind it wasn't addressed, leading to a recurrence. If you want to do fast bowling, you'll return to fast bowling after treatment. And if the injury happened due to fast bowling, then the same outcome is likely to occur again. In your profession, any...

Ryan: An athlete who was like a googly for you physiotherapists. You will manage it. Don't worry about it, but you will manage it. So

Kaushik: There was a young bowler who came from Hyderabad.

At that time, I was at the National Cricket Academy. And he had a very peculiar injury in his lower abdomen. Okay. Right here near the waist. So whenever he bowled, after one or one and a half overs, he would start feeling pain.

Yeah, even now, I don't know why we couldn't help him. We did all kinds of scans, analysis, biomechanical... and were the scans clear?

Everything. Everything is clear? Everything was clear. And many times, and I am huge on referred pains, so... Now, what does referred pain mean? It means that the problem is in your back, but you feel it in your knee. The problem is in your hip, but you feel it in your foot, sometimes even in your lower back.

Ryan: And people don't understand this, they think if there's pain in the knee, they don't consider that there might be a problem in the glutes. I was thinking about myself, like, oh man, I had an ACL problem. So the doctor said, your hips are tight. So you rotate in the knee. So the same thing happens, there's pain in the knee too. So there's an association in India that the body doesn't have a problem. Pain cannot only be at one place, it can come from everywhere.

Kaushik: So, a lady once came to me, actually this was in England, and she said, I have pain in my ankle. And I distinctly remember this because it was, you know, an uncomfortable discussion. She said, I have pain in my ankle, I assessed her and said, your ankle is fine, your knee is also fine.

But you have severe arthritis in your hip. How do you know? You've not even asked, you know, you don't have an x-ray, you don't have this. I said, look, as clinicians, we are trained to understand things and diagnose them. And I'm writing a letter to your GP and you must now undergo an x-ray of your hip. And then subsequently, she wasn't convinced at all.

And then she said, whatever, but I'm not happy with this consultation. And then she left. And then she came three weeks later, walking on a stick, and she said, I want to thank you because it was such severe arthritis that they put me up for hip replacement surgery. And she got her hip replaced. It was so severe.

But there was no pain in the hip at all. The pain was in her, in her ankle. And that's how far you can refer the pain. So this is one way it gets referred, another way you've probably heard of is sciatica. Many people call it cervical, but cervical is just the neck. Cervical is spondylosis. If a nerve gets irritated or pinched, then along the path it travels, it can...

That pain can be felt. So, neck pain can cause tingling in my hand, or pain in my hand. This is the second way, referred pains, somatic referral and neural referrals.

Ryan: So, this googly case can sometimes happen.

Kaushik: This can happen, it's one case, they still call me, I don't know where they found my number, they still call me, saying, "Brother, do you remember, you couldn't solve my problem." I said, "Yes, I remember."

Ryan: It's always the difficult ones that we remember, the ones that we lose and don't, it gives us nightmares sometimes.

Kaushik: No, so there's a story. What we did was, we had started insisting at the NCA that we would conduct regular tests. That's what I'm saying, measurements.

Ryan: No, no. You're talking about the VO2 max test, beam test. No, no.

Kaushik: So we were doing force plate analysis. We were doing muscle strength assessment. Explain a bit.

Ryan: do it four four,

Kaushik: little, little bit.

The rate of force generation, when you jump, at what rate do you push the ground, and then at what rate does the ground... There's some test for this, force... There's testing at the force rate, muscle strength testing, it happens in different ways. So, we had quite fancy gadgets there, NCM, with which we did all those assessments, but you go to your own physios, you have quite a lot with you, to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent injuries.

So

Kaushik: With that obsession, I used to, you know, to a lot of people's, uh, you know, irritation. Kept insisting on regular testing. So, regular testing for an athlete at least twice a year? We used to insist on four times a year. Four times a year? Four times a year we used to insist. Because you see, can I prevent the injury?

Yes. Because if I get injured, then, no, for me, I was like, I've been saying this for 20 years, if I get injured, we'll manage it, but how do we prevent it? Right? That was the next level. And, uh, we were wanting to

Ryan: do that. Many will go to Ashish, NCA, and if they say it hurts, they'll remove me from the team, so can they hide it?

How will you hide it in testing? I'll bite my teeth and I'm like, he'll do something.

Kaushik: How?

Ryan: One is me. You can hold it. One is me, and on top of that, my technology. How?

Kaushik: put it

Ryan: like that.

Kaushik: Because passion is so strong.

Yes. The passion is so strong, the determination is so high, the desire is so intense. That is all they want to do. They are willing to break down their body to play for one more day. So there was a player, actually, this is a fantastic example. There was a player who had a very unique bowling style. And, you know, kind of in their maturity.

And I said, you know why your, why your hamstrings keep going. He said, uh, Ashish bhai, I know that the way I bowl causes my hamstring to go. So I said, why don't you change it. This is what is making me effective, I can't touch it. I am happy for that muscle to tear every three months, four months, whatever it is.

You deal with it with so much passion.

Ryan: So you brought all this testing into it. So, what are the stories of testing? Was there irritation, a funny story?

Kaushik: Yes, there were irritations, funny stories, someone, I... there's a player, in my naivety and kind of, you know, unfortunately, I can't always cover all bases to ensure that people don't take it otherwise.

So I sent a long email explaining my findings in my excitement. I said, look at this finding, in my excitement, and it's quite likely that this person might break down in this tour. I didn't realize that that person was also marked in that email, right? And that person got extremely upset. How can you tell me?

And rightly so. I was going on a tour. You are telling me that my chances of breaking down are very high. That was stupid of me.

But

Kaushik: It was inadvertent. I didn't mean it that way. Unfortunately, they did break down.

Ryan: So sometimes when I'm stressed, if I want to, I do it with love.

Kaushik: I want to speak

Ryan: And

Kaushik: we hide the real truth.

But what will you do? See, the scientist in me is saying, this could happen. Right? What are the odds? I don't know what the odds are. We are at high. What do you do there? What would you do? You know, a guy in your squad, who is very important, his role, everyone's role is important. He might get injured. But

Ryan: Isn't it your responsibility to prevent their injury and

Kaushik: Is it to stop it?

How will you prevent it without informing? First, we need to accept the problem together, right? Yes, this is a problem, let's address it. First, you will accept the risk, right? What if highlighting the risk itself becomes a problem?

Ryan: Ashi does a lot. All these things are for athletes, there are four times testing, but for us, your Yoska clinic, my Quanrshin clinic, 90 percent of the people are common folks, this fear

Kaushik: Are you getting a blood test done?

Ryan: No,

Kaushik: I mean, people need to

Ryan: You have to convince.

Kaushik: Do you get it done or not? I do. Four times a year. Do you do it? You should do it, right? Because it's free, that's why you do it. No, I do it. I also do my testing, my hamstring, quadriceps, whatever force plate testing, because if you go back a few years, blood tests weren't done. Correct!

Now it's happening. Correct! I'm saying... that now it's our responsibility to inform people that it's very important for them to get these tests done if they want to prevent heart ailments, diabetes, and such diseases. Why don't you want to prevent knee pain and back pain? What are you doing for their prevention? Why isn't there any focus on it? Because it's very important for you. Knee and back pain can also affect your diabetes. How?

You can't walk. What's the first thing the doctor tells you? Now let's talk about diabetes, you should exercise, walk. Exercise is a medicine for a lot of things. "Exercise is medicine" was a slogan given out in the 90s.

First of all,

You go

Ryan: Will you? But everyone thinks they are Virat Kohli and play cricket, 50 years old and then they come with a torn shoulder to you and stuff like that.

Kaushik: So

Ryan: How to do the testing

Kaushik: Is it? Testing and that is the thing, right? You can be tested even before you get injured to prevent injuries from happening.

From that testing, you'll get a program that will fill your gaps. You'll find out which vitamin you're lacking, they'll tell you this vitamin is low for you. This is your supplement, same with the human body, this muscle of yours is weak, this aspect of your fitness is lacking, top it up. Why is everyone's muscle getting weak? What are we doing, nowadays in cities, in which position do we spend most of our time?

Right now, what position are we in? Sitting, right? Not lying down. Sitting is the new smoking. Sitting is the new smoking. It means, if you sit, it's like you're smoking. Yes. So, just like air pollution causes smoking, sitting is also the new smoking. Imagine what's happening to our systems. Why is sitting the new smoking?

Because everything, your cardiovascular system is not working. Now imagine the position that your back is in. Right, I will just demonstrate to you. If from sitting, I were to just straighten up my knees, watch the position of my back.

I have not done anything. This means, if I sit like this and bend my knees, I am sitting.

So, I'm sitting with my back bent the whole time.

Ryan: 8 hours, 10 hours a day.

Kaushik: 8 hours, 10 hours a day. Now that...

Ryan: Can you sketch a little? Yes, yes, yes, it's been quite a while now, it's filled up. Today's second podcast, everything is tight, so people call physiotherapists, are you a masseur? Do you give massages?

Kaushik: They used to say, no, they are not masseurs, so they don't give massages.

What is our job? Our job is to treat musculoskeletal conditions, or actually, there are neuro-physios who work on neurological conditions. Uh, there are cardiac physios who do cardiac rehabilitation.

Ryan: There are also cardiac physiotherapists.

Kaushik: cardiac rehabilitation, so if you have a heart ailment, if you've had a heart procedure, how do you return to function from there?

So there are physios who will then gradually get you back to function. There are pediatric physios, uh, there are so many geriatric physios, uh, for the care of the elderly, and there are sports physios as well, sports physios.

Ryan: So, sports physios get the limelight because everyone plays IPL and other sports, but for the common person, you said that sitting is the new smoking.

So, one thing is that in 2025, I am telling everyone to download my app, follow the diet plan, but I am also telling them that they have to exercise 20 to 30 minutes a day.

So

Ryan: If you are a physio, you are an expert, which could be the best exercises for different age groups?

Kaushik: First of all, there is a base level of cardio fitness that you absolutely require.

Base

Ryan: Level cardio means?

Kaushik: Base level cardio means your cardiac ability to handle exercise according to your age.

Ryan: Okay,

Kaushik: So that, that equation,

Ryan: 220 minus your age?

Kaushik: Your cardiovascular fitness age should be matched. That is, at this age, your cardiovascular fitness should be like this. So, I heard from a story. There was a big debate about VO2 once, about yo-yo.

Ryan: Yes, what is this Yo-Yo?

Kaushik: Yes? Yo yo, yo yo was a test of your cardiovascular fitness.

So that's one test, there are many such tests. To simplify it further, I'll give you, your car

Ryan: How much?

Kaushik: What is the average? In one liter of petrol? Eight kilometers. Which one? Is it a tractor? So what output does your body give in one liter of oxygen? Understood, got it. If I give you one liter of oxygen then

Ryan: If you get more, it's very good for your body.

Kaushik: If not, if I give you only one liter of oxygen, how far can you go with that?

Ryan: Okay, that

Kaushik: Since you have cardiovascular capacity, this UU test measures that. Yes, this is one of the measures. There are many such tests, like the two-kilometer test, for example.

Ryan: All the athletes call me and ask, "Raheen Bhai, my user test is in three weeks. What food can I eat to pass it?"

Kaushik: So, for cardiovascular and fitness, which is the basis of our fitness,

Ryan: Look, cardiovascular fitness comes when your blood circulation is good. So, is your blood thick or thin? Thick means platelet aggregation. Correct! Chance of clots, chance of heart attacks.

Kaushik: Correct!

Ryan: So, turmeric. Blood thinner naturally, your turmeric. Very good? If you can drink your healthy milk, then blood thinner chocolate has the highest amount of polyphenols. Research shows that chocolate can increase VO2 max ability by up to nine percent.

Kaushik: What?

Ryan: Omega-3

Kaushik: reduces

Ryan: platelet aggregation. So your blood becomes thinner. When your blood is thinner, removal of lactic acid, which means chances of exertion fatigue, is lower. Green peas have the highest arginine content.

So

Ryan: The peas you have, they have the highest arginine content. What is arginine? Arginine is a vasodilator. Third is, and the fourth one, I don't know where it went, the fifth one is watermelon. So, the white part of it, but the white layer that we usually throw away, in my house, my domestic help thinks I'm stingy because I'm using a fruit peeler and scraping the skin. He says, "Mona?"

Put all of this into the mixer, because the white part has citrulline malate, and when citrulline malate is taken, it breaks down in the body into two molecules of arginine. Fantastic, right? This is brilliant. Third, citrulline malate from watermelon is a natural fat burner. When your BMI is high, you can't run fast, but with weight loss, cardiovascular output can increase because it has two molecules of arginine, so it breaks down in the body, reducing the load.

There are hundreds of foods but the number one that helps the heart is portion control.

We are eating too much.

Ryan: we are eating a lot. We are hunter-gatherers. In the last few hundred years, we used to have just one meal a day. Now we have breakfast, lunch, dinner, pre-workout, during workout, post-workout. Even if we don't work out, we still have pre, during, and post meals.

Kaushik: It was your own colleagues or people in your profession who first told people to have 6 meals.

Ryan: I think what happened is that our medical training got linked to the industrial revolution. Everyone needed to be in the factory, right? So if you give a person one meal in the factory, how will they work? How will a sportsman work? So what's happened is the hard work that our grandparents did in the factories, walking, today we are walking much less, less than 3000 steps on average. So what's happening is, I think that is our biggest problem. Weight has gone up because we are eating those three meals, but there's no portion control.

Correct. Outside food is

Kaushik: Yes. Correct. Outside food and now you imagine combining those tips of those foods that you have mentioned with the right kind of 20 to 30 minute exercise every day. Imagine the kind of longevity it can give you. Imagine the kind of long-term benefits to other health conditions.

back to our common man on this, which exercise should they do?

Ryan: back to our common man on this, what kind of exercise should they do?

So I think, they don't need VO2 max. What is your advice to anyone who is not playing competitive sport? Recreational athletes, within a week, 7 days a week, how much exercise or how much workout or what to do? Yoga, Pilates, Walking. Everyone is confused.

Walking is good. I say walking is very good, it burns fat. But my Pilates friend's instructor says, Pilates is the best exercise. My gym trainer says, bro, this is the best exercise. Whose

Kaushik: The exercise that works for someone is the best for them, right? If walking isn't benefiting someone, then it's not the best for them.

So everyone is talking about walking, but what is walking? Walking, I agree with you. Walking, mobility is life. Mobility is life. And life is mobility. If you, if you can't, a lot of other mammals will actually die if they can't move. So how does exercise affect this disease? So in exercise, there is, there is, uh, you know, and after exercise, we also talk about happiness.

The first thing that has to be done is for people to move. Right, it, it, walking, running, jogging, anything, but you need to move. Playing a sport, you need to move. Can I put a cycle in front of the TV? Will there be mindfulness in that? Go ahead, it's the second-best option for me.

Ryan: Yes.

Kaushik: But don't you talk about mindfulness a lot?

The mindfulness of being, of doing an activity. I don't believe in a distracted form of activities. You know, I see a lot of people putting music on while they are walking, while they are running. I think that activity needs to be absorbed. It needs to be enjoyed to its fullest. And how do you do that if you're distracted?

That mindfulness, and that's also a time to actually, again, philosophically speaking, that's a time also for you to reset for mindfulness.

When

Kaushik: you're walking those 20 to 30 minutes and you are with yourself a hundred percent. You're available a hundred percent. It sets the tone, right? It sets the tone so W.H.O.

talks about one hundred and fifty minutes of exercise a week. Now you can slice it any way you want. You require a certain amount of physical cardiovascular exercise. And there are some guidelines for it. Living space, Pilates, yoga, not all of them are the same. And every body is different. Some will benefit more from certain exercises. Some will benefit more from complete exercises. Some will benefit more from specific exercises. We all know the benefit of muscle mass.

If it has become a muscle, then it should be exercised to know what

Ryan: It's true that I read an article which said that muscle is one of the only age-reversible organs. I

Kaushik: agree with that 100 percent so

Ryan: It means that if a 60-year-old man or woman uses resistance training or resistance bands under the advice of a physiotherapist or an SNC, strength and conditioning coach, they can go to the gym for resistance training.

Kaushik: Even at 90 years old, 100 years old, everyone should go to the gym.

Ryan: But people say, "Brother, the gym is not for our age, it's not for our lifestyle."

Kaushik: To go. No, so that is why we are setting up centers like yours, which are completely, completely open.

So, we have, we have, and you must have seen it when you were there, that we have a 70-year-old also working out, and a 17-year-old also working out, in the same space. The objectives are different, hence the programs are different. The weights given to them are different. The exercises that they are doing might be different.

But exercise is necessary, right? Osteoporosis is again a huge area, right? Massive issues around that, around bone health and joint health. Joint health is also a subset of bone health. For bone health and osteoporosis, tell me, as a health professional, what is that one thing?

If you work in the fields, if you enjoy gardening, if you play sports, then, then, it makes sense. But if you're not doing any other activities, then go to the gym.

Ryan: You should

Kaushik: A question

Ryan: They ask that inside the gym, I have seen in many gyms in India, our trainer was in a gym, this was in Chennai, and for the first three months, I went there, and there he asks a question.

He was a good guy, doing housekeeping.

Fourth

Ryan: In the month, he wore the gym trainer's t-shirt and was giving instructions to everyone.

So

Ryan: I think this is India's most alarming problem.

Kaushik: Right, right.

Ryan: that everyone becomes a trainer.

and

Ryan: They speak well, show good muscles, and Ryan Fernando will go inside the gym. Sir, you are very thin now. Start powerlifting, drink two liters of Pepsi, eat two kilograms of butter chicken, your weight will increase. The worst is taking injections, influencing teenagers. Correct, what should we look for? It will increase because you are in BCCI, if it increases, it will increase a lot, which when you...

Kaushik: It will increase by coming into the diet...

It's not for your benefit, even if you don't fast every day. So your smart...

Ryan:What is the criteria?

Kaushik: Is there a smart criterion here?

Ryan: Protected

Kaushik: Title? Ah, physiotherapists have protected titles. Doctors have protected titles. Engineers have protected titles. Strength and conditioning coach. Because this is a very recent profession. This means that if I am not qualified as a strength and conditioning coach, does the qualification given to you by a trainer provide enough education to understand how to safely take someone from point A to point B in fitness?

Safely, that is the question that needs to be asked. How will you find out if your trainer is qualified or not? Certifications, you can check their certifications, and we will list below all the certifications that are generally recognized for you to consider.

Ryan: But people tend to think about money, they are a bit stingy, and so they say, "Oh, this personal trainer is available for five thousand, but a qualified, certified trainer is charging twenty thousand rupees." So, you are a physiotherapist, you deal with injuries.

What is the cost of an injury, for example? To tell India, invest well in prehab, invest in doing your testing, invest in a good quality trainer, because later you will regret it.

Kaushik: So, economically speaking, that is why low back pain is one of the most funded areas of research. One of the reasons is because the impact of low back pain on the economy is tremendous.

If you can't go to work because of low back pain and you're not becoming a productive part of society, it ultimately impacts the entire economy, right? So, it's not just about you, but if you look at us as a society, we want to maintain our USP of being a young and productive population.

For that, you need to stay fit. What will just numbers do? In India, what's the average age, thirty-six, thirty-eight, whatever it is? What do I do with that if they can't even function? If they are not functioning like a 35-40-year-old person, then what's the use? So, what's the second reason to exercise?

So the second thing is, we are, again, philosophically speaking, we all want to be happy, right? What are the four hormones, the chemical mix of happiness? Which are the four hormones that keep you happy? Endorphin, Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin. What is that one thing that can give you all four?

Exercise. Will you ever get bored of exercising? Of course you will. And then what do you do? Which is the one thing that will ensure that you don't get bored of exercising? That's a googly. Playing a sport. Playing a sport. Playing a sport is going to give you the best chemical combination, the best opportunity to be happy.

And you don't get bored of it because you picked it up, right? You picked up your sport. You said you want to play badminton, you want to play tennis, you want to play kabaddi, you want to wrestle. You chose what you enjoy. So you won't get bored of it. Or you play two sports, three sports. We all need to understand the importance of these sports. That's why, yo, Your Sports Health. Sports Health doesn't mean I'm looking at sportspeople and considering you a sportsman or sportswoman. Because your sport could be walking your pet. You really enjoy playing with your dog, you go to the park with it, play fetch with it, run with it. That's your sport.

That's fine. There is a, there is a lady in the house. She is a housewife and has small children. And she plays with them. And they go up and down in the house. There are grandparents. My father plays with my children. So that's their sport. So we should define sport a bit loosely in society.

The activity you enjoy is your sport. And that sport will give you long-term happiness and numerous health benefits. So, let's start calling ourselves sportspeople.

Ryan: But this isn't the kind of sport, right? It does release dopamine, we play video games. It's also an e-sport today.

But I don't think that releases the same sort of oxytocin and dopamine that we need. But

Kaushik: Oxytocin can't be there, right? Where is oxytocin from? A pat on the back from physical contact, that's oxytocin. How will oxytocin come from that? How will serotonin come? How will serotonin come? We'll get bits and pieces of whatever.

But complete happiness formula, sport. If sports are there, exercise.

Ryan: So today we learned that you can test, you can play a sport. Uh, it all moves towards happiness. Is there any athlete in your life who has inspired you?

Kaushik: Who inspired me? Yes. You were saying at the beginning that you are awestruck. I am awestruck, I am completely awestruck by the entire sports population.

How? Because their dedication, their spirit, their passion, it is so beautiful that it is inspirational. When I wake up in the morning and think that today I am going to work with these athletes, cricketers, footballers, runners, badminton players, you know, tennis players, the excitement and energy they bring, I am a fan of that. That is my awe, I am in awe of that, of what they bring to the table.

And I think, I believe, that they are able to do that because they are sportspeople. And we can all do that if we start functioning like sportspeople. The energy levels, the happiness quotient, it's just tremendous.

Ryan:So, Dr. Ashish, sometimes we wonder why we chose this profession. Sometimes we have days where we are frustrated.

Sometimes we have amazing days. Any athlete or any moment that you can remember which is like, wow, I love this profession?

Kaushik:So many, so many. Every time anybody, athlete or non-athlete, achieves something that they've set out for. So, so many people come to us saying, I want to run 10 km.

I feel like I want to do this trek. But, I don't think I can do it. I'm not, my knees hurt, my back hurts. From here... How will I become fit enough to do this? And you set off on that journey with them. And you become a part of that journey. And then when they achieve something, it becomes your achievement, right?

I mean, sometimes it becomes so overwhelming and emotional when you see that they have achieved it and you were a part of their journey. So, there's a distinct example of a Junior World Champion in wrestling who once came to us. At that time, he was working in a hospital. Back then, junior level wrestling didn't get much publicity. He was a player in a youth championship and had undergone ACL surgery. He was facing some problems during his rehab. His rehab was very complicated, involving back and forth visits to the surgeon. But that kid just never gave up.

And he was there every day, giving a hundred percent. From there, he came all the way back, became a wrestler, joined the army, and won a medal for us in the World Army Championship. And I thought, what an amazing thing. And I kept asking him, sir, why? I mean, it's a lot of struggle. He said, no sir, I have to do this.

Because in my village, people have expectations from me, my family is supporting me, I need this. So you take that and you take it to the level of excellence.

If

Ryan: You are not a physiotherapist, you will tell the garden about the past life, send me back. So who do you want to go to? A profession or what? Progy, progy, progy, progy.

Kaushik: Cricket's popularity? Easy to save. It's easy to save. Want to be a tennis player. Tough sport. Tough sport. Tough sport.

you are alone there. You are struggling. Very technical.

Ryan: You have demons. What's going on in your mind? Has it been three sets? Are you going to leave it?

Kaushik: Such a beautiful sport. And, of course, you know, cricket is cricket. If I were a cricketer, I would have loved to be a fast bowler. Would have loved it.

Probably the toughest sport in the world is being a test fast bowler. Probably, get out there. There's so much load. A lot on the body, I mean, it's truly an unnatural thing to do, right, fast bowling. And then you go and go and go, five test match series, four test match series.

They definitely need to do that for the sake of it.

Ryan: Will go.

Kaushik: And

Ryan: Here we are discussing Bumrah's bowling action and its impact, and what its impact is.

Kaushik: He is a criminal. This is his fault. The study has not taken into account what happens when the back leg moves forward. Because they measured the force plate on the back leg, measured the front leg 3-4 times, and the back leg 8-10 times, but when the back leg moves forward to stop you because you shouldn't go into the danger area, you need to follow through, we don't have a measure for that yet, or maybe it exists, I don't know. Plus, we are all just obsessed with that 8-10 times, and rightly so. So this is the load on our body, this is on our body.

Ryan: In fact, there was an article once that said that, uh, one of the famous cricketers has said that all fast bowlers should eat non-veg, red meat.

That's why the Pakistani bowlers are so strong and fast. Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar. And, uh, obviously, I was asked as a nutritionist whether there is any truth to this or not. The problem, I feel, is not the non-veg. Our Indian diet, when players play, is not balanced. Right.

Because if it's six times the load on that, imagine the damage that is happening. Every day's muscles, ligaments, and cartilage need to be repaired and reproduced. There should be a repair process in place, right? It needs to be repaired in the evening to be ready for the next day. You need very good raw material for that. If you eat samosas, batata vada, chai, ice cream, gulab jamun, it won't work. You'll turn into a batata vada. So, Dr. Ashish, we create diet plans for athletes, do genetic testing, blood testing, four times a year, but after that, those athletes come to you.

Kaushik: Correct. With other testing, what are we trying to achieve? That we can prevent illnesses, ailments, we can prevent them. But we are only preventing the medical side of things. What about the physical side? You need to prevent knee pain, you need to slow down arthritis, you need to prevent back pain, its prevention is also possible. So if you want to prevent diabetes, thyroid problems, and other lifestyle ailments, then make this also, Musculoskeletal health, a part of it. Prevent that too. So if you do an Annual Health Check once a year, this should also be a part of that Annual Health Check. Absolutely.

Ryan: It's important for everyone, so doctor, for the common person, when is the best time to come to you to get tested?

Kaushik: The best time is when you are not injured. Come when you have no injury, get tested, and hopefully, we can minimize your injury risk. So,

Ryan: So, this means that people who go to the gym, do Zumba, aged 20 to 50 years, before starting any exercise, should get tested.

Kaushik: Absolutely not, why are you doing it?

What are you doing? What do you want to achieve? What are the gaps in that? First, we will identify the gaps.

Ryan: Because everyone comes to our clinic saying they want to lose weight. So, you can reduce your diet, but you also have to exercise. But the last time you exercised was in college. And this is 20 years later.

Kaushik: Exactly. That is the use case for yours.

Exactly. That is the use case for yours. Whether you are starting an exercise routine or a sport, you've taken out your racket, your golf club, or you want to learn a new sport. Are you fit for that? You are doing it for fitness, but are you fit enough to take on that activity? Or are you more likely to get injured now that you are starting that sport, with fewer chances of getting fit?

Address that question once, and if you get injured, immediately reach out. If the injury is something that will heal on its own and isn't serious, that's good, but at least you addressed it.

Ryan: Okay, I have a confession to share, 48 videos ago my partial ACL tore, when I came to you, and you guys told me my hamstring to quadriceps ratio, 20 videos later it got better, because I couldn't do a punch and kick properly. But I invested in getting strength training done so that the muscles could take the rigors of the sport. So I think, for those in middle life, absolutely focus on your exercise because this is my advice: whatever sport you are taking up recreationally, you want to be doing it in your 50s, 60s, 70s, 80 years of age, absolutely. And if you, what is the word, when you are a self-expert, you think you understand everything,

Right?

Ryan: I am the expert and I will do the activity. Then, when you injure yourself, chances are, you cannot come back from that injury. Ah, that you have to stop.

Kaushik: Sports, absolutely right,

Ryan: You are absolutely right

Kaushik: You are right.

Ryan: That's called recreational retirement. Yes,

Kaushik: Yes, you shouldn't be retired hurt either. Shouldn't retire?

You shouldn't retire hurt. You carry on. You have to come back to the sport or you have to continue with that sport. Who's

Ryan: been your oldest client?

Kaushik: Um, I think we had an 80-something year old who said...

Ryan: 80-year-old?

Kaushik: 80-something. He was above 80. And he said, uh, do you think it's possible for me to do a 5K?

And I said, do you think it's possible? He said, it should be. I said, yeah, of course, it is then. We assessed him completely medically to make sure that we were covering all angles. Uh, and he did it. He did it. I think it took him about, just over three months. He did it at a slow pace. Of course, you know, he didn't sprint through 5Ks.

But in

Ryan: ADK to even walk at 80 years of age, to walk 5 km, is still pretty rough, no? Like rapid sprinting, Dr. Ashish, rapid fire round, okay, tell me, in a hundred meters dash, what is the most common injury and treating it was your challenge, backs and knees, backs and

Kaushik: Knees are very common, but whatever you prefer. You will need to diagnose it. It won't be a problem. Whatever feels right to you.

Ryan: I want both.

Kaushik: Apply both, contrast. Yes. Yes, apply both.

Ryan: Nothing happens.

Kaushik: Nothing happens

Ryan: Yes. Everything

Kaushik: Something happens.

Ryan: Whatever my body likes. Exactly. When your body tells you that you'll get slapped, you need to pay attention, right? Fastest recovery you've seen?

Kaushik: A lot of success stories, one stands out, early 2020 when Ishaan Sharma twisted his ankle, and we did everything that we could, innovation, creativity, applied sciences, everything combined, I think that was the fastest that I have seen anybody.

come out of that kind of an injury. So we were obsessed to that level because he had to travel to New Zealand after that. Through that entire recovery, all of us turned our clocks to match New Zealand time. So we were getting up at 1 in the morning. His day would start in New Zealand time so that when he reached New Zealand, he would already be acclimatized.

So, that was the level of obsession we had to ensure that every detail was executed to the best of our ability.

Ryan: I did this at the Olympics. Right? There, the athlete was going. And he wasn't going out at night. So, for the athletes who were on the Ryan Fernando diet plan, I said, your...

Your.

Ryan: Wow, fantastic. It makes you happy. And then it takes two months for them to come back from an IPL, uh, uh, schedule. So imagine the India team going for an IPL, uh, T20. And then you shift to an international T20 on the other side of the world. Jet lag, different dietary timings. Do you also have a potty problem? Do we still say potty?

What morning, man? You

Kaushik: Come in the morning

Ryan: was,

Kaushik: Now you are calling in the evening. So

Ryan: everyone gets it, right? So, it's there. You mentioned back pain, the most common injury, these exercises to

Kaushik: Prevent back pain. And this, this is a generic thing that I'm, I'm saying. These are my three favorite go-to exercises for back pain generally. Right?

Ryan: But consult your physio before you actually start doing it.

Kaushik: Of course, of course. This is not a cure. These are, probably will be there in your, in my program. It's bridging, uh, upper back mobility and extensions.

Ryan: Next. How is this Surya Namaskar?

Kaushik: Yes, it has everything.

Ryan: Correct. Has everything. Now it is very beneficial. But people say, I do 100 Surya Namaskars, and then I get a back injury.

Kaushik: No, back, besides that you also sit in traffic for 3 hours.

After that, maybe you lift 100 kilos in the gym with improper form, I mean, we don't really know, right? What else do you do?

What?

Kaushik: So, to pin it down to a particular exercise, if it's about him, then you do it with perfect form. I do it, if there's no structural problem, that could also be the case.

Ryan: A golf player, with a small ball and club, is doing a 120 kg deadlift. It's acceptable to give a pat on the back for that.

Kaushik: No, it's acceptable. If he is able to do it correctly, the reason why he is doing it and how much benefit it will have in golf is unknown. But why can't he do it? Lifting is not a problem if it's done with the right form and you recover enough to then do it again if you want to.

It's a high risk reward. Right? The risk is high. You need to decide whether to take it or not, and whether it will help in your sport. That's the decision you make.

Ryan: And who makes that decision? Does the SNC make it or the physio? The SNCs.

Kaushik: generally take it. Generally, SNC's will make that decision.

Ryan: If the athlete is injured?

Kaushik: No, if they're injured then obviously the physio.

If it's professional sport, then there are certain requirements, and why are we doing it? Is physical recovery challenging or

Ryan: Is mental recovery challenging?

Kaushik: Mental recovery.

Ryan: Your favorite success story in your career?

Kaushik: Yuvraj Singh.

Ryan: Why?

Kaushik: Overcoming cancer and returning not just to normal life but to international sports. Even now, I'm getting goosebumps.

If

Ryan: If you get the chance to become the Sports Minister for a day, what would you change? Or what would you do better for Indian sports?

Kaushik: So I would have a physio, a strength and conditioning coach, and a nutritionist in every school and collect a ton of data. In every school? In every school and collect a ton of data.

Why? Because that is where I will start grooming talent. That is where I will teach my society how to be fitter and better for whatever it is that the society wants to achieve. Dr. Ashish, it's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time today. You're very welcome. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Ryan: Thank you for watching this far. It's been an amazing episode and I'm so grateful to have you till the end. If you like this video, please share it with your loved ones. Even better, gift me a subscribe, a like, or even a comment, and we'll come back to you.

Now it's your turn to decide whether this episode is worth watching or missing out on. So what is it going to be?  

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