Reaching Peak Performance in the Maldives

I started practising judo when I was ten years old. Eventually, I trained hard enough to join a national team and won a few championships as well. I spent a good 15 years competing before I decided to study physiotherapy. I studied in Kiev, Ukraine, before heading to the United States to work with the Bollettieri Tennis Academy as a coach and physiotherapist. After that, I returned home and worked as a physiotherapist for football teams in Croatia, Iceland, and Kuwait.

Judo is very physical. By the time I was 20 years old, I already had surgery done on both my knees and numerous other injuries. Going through my own journey of rehabilitation and pain management allowed me to better understand what my athletes are feeling: what kind of pain, where the pain is, and how to best treat it. I’ve worked with quite serious injuries — potentially career-ending — using a combination of techniques including holistic massage. 

Footballers usually face a higher degree of injury because it’s more physical. For tennis players, it’s usually about injury prevention and conditioning the shoulders, rotator cuffs, and making sure the knees are also protected. The approach depends on the degree of injury and the player’s own condition. Being a physiotherapist for elite athletes also includes caring for the players’ emotions and mental wellbeing. People give their whole lives for their sport. Their career depends on their health, and with such high stakes and pressure, it’s easy for them to panic and get stressed whenever they get injured. I usually try to calm them down with encouraging words.

You have to stick to the programme. People expect results very quickly, but it is more important to manage each condition carefully so that the results can be maintained in the long run. 

I always recommend a session of assisted stretching, even though it’s something that no one likes to do. When I’m training athletes, they want to get right into the heavy lifting or play a practice match, but I always tell them stretching is also part of training. During training, your muscles get a good workout and become tense. Specialised stretches for each muscle group can help improve flexibility, which helps prevent injury and extends its lifespan. I try to make my stretching sessions as fun as possible.

For athletes — especially tennis players — and people recovering from knee or chiropractic surgeries, I often turn to kinesiotaping. It involves using an elastic therapeutic tape to support a muscle. When done by a professional, it helps to reduce pain, increase circulation, and supports muscles and joints.

I’m teaching a self-defence class at COMO Maalifushi with insights that draw on my judo experience. Judo is special; it’s more than just a sport. It trains both your mind and body. It’s not aggressive, there’s no blood. You have to think quickly and make the best use of your opponent’s force to overcome them. We all face stressful and critical situations in life, but I find that I’m able to keep my cool and make good decisions because of my judo training. During the classes, I try to impart these teachings as best as I can.

Anyone who exercises! No matter what sport you play, fitness and personal training is always essential and not something to avoid. Even chess players have fitness programmes. Each session looks different — a guest might want to focus on endurance, another might want to enhance agility or specific skills for their sport.