Dina Asher-Smith unfollowed a load of Instagram accounts for her mental health
The first British woman to win a sprinting world title, Dina Asher-Smith, 28, knows how to switch it on when it comes to the track - at the 2019 World Championships, she won gold in the 200m, silver in the 100m and another silver in the 4×100 m relay. But switching off and winding down are crucial to her performance, too (brownies and massages, we're looking at you!). She gives WH a 360-degree lowdown on how she does it all.
1. She trains hard, obviously!
'Right now, I’m in 'winter training' [building a fitness foundation where you prepare for the next season] – I’d say 99% of athletes (including myself) don’t like it. It’s about putting in all the hard work to see fast performance increases, so I train six days a week at a high volume. Yesterday, for example, I did 16 x 100m runs, and then 500 total reps of conditioning exercises like crunches and press-ups. I’ll lift kettlebells, but I don’t do many Olympic lifts or put much weight on my back. I’m hypermobile, so if I compress myself, I risk compromising my flexibility.
2. She fires up her brain
'As a sprinter, so much of my performance comes down to my brain's ability to coordinate itself, so I train with electromagnetic stimulation [where an electric current is used to target specific muscles and increase muscle contraction]. When someone puts a current through you, you switch on. That's exactly the same feeling I want to have when the gun goes. My coach has me doing other brain-teasing exercises too. I might moan whenever he has me standing on one leg, but I know they'll make me faster in the long run [literally!].'
3. She loosens up her diet - when she's allowed!
'I find my athlete's diet boring – the boundaries are essentially grilled protein, steamed vegetables and water. The most exciting things I eat during training season are of passion fruit and kiwis. But as soon as I’m allowed, I’ll be out ordering pumpkin ravioli with sage butter followed by a warm chocolate brownie with ice cream.'
4. She's a team player
'Running a relay is an education in the importance of being honest with your teammates. You need to tell them exactly how you’re doing – both physically and emotionally – because the relay is one of the later events in a competition and everyone comes to it in different states. My race, the 200m, tends to be just before, so I'll need to tell my teammates if I'm feeling tired and less likely to push off as quickly. If I didn’t, the person before me could charge at me at full-speed, which might make me drop the baton.'
5. She manages injuries to come back stronger
'Breaking my foot while doing plyometrics in February 2017 left me with two screws in my navicular bone [located in the mid-foot]. I was told it would take two years before I could sprint again properly. But the World Athletics Championships in London were only five months away and I refused to miss out on racing in front of a home crowd. Four months’ training on a no-impact underwater treadmill paid off when, 10 days before I was due to race, my coach said: "You’re back!"'
6. She believes that her training and skill will pay off
'I used to roll my eyes at phrases like ‘trust the process’, but that’s exactly what getting injured taught me. I had to have faith that this alien type of training would translate when I put my spikes on. I felt so unprepared, but it was fine. [Understatement: she took gold.] It’s made me more relaxed about my running, so now I can channel that energy I wasted worrying into performing even better.'
7. She loves to relax
'I know that the happier and more relaxed I am, the better I’ll perform. So, I have relaxing aromatherapy massages, and unwind by reading – I loved This Is Going To Hurt by former junior-doctor-turned-comedian Adam Kay. Unfollowing a load of accounts on Instagram has helped too. Why should I compare myself to something that’s fake? It’s made more space for posts from my friends, as well as truly inspirational women like Serena Williams.'
8. She wants women and girls to be more body-confident
'The other day, an eight-year-old girl asked me, "How do I lose weight?" It made me really sad. If I could use my influence to achieve anything, it would be to give young women more confidence. It frustrates me that society reduces women’s bodies to their aesthetic. We need to change the conversation. In sport, for example, we’re taught to think about our bodies in terms of what they can do.
9. She loves getting glammed up
'That’s not to say that I don’t like to look good. I’ll go all out with make-up when I’m competing – glittery eyeshadow, highlighter, lipstick – but only because I want to. It’s not to meet others’ expectations. I love to dress up, too. I’m training in Lycra six days a week, so when I get the chance to dress up for an event I’m going for it.'
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