New Delhi: Paridhi Doshi a fitness trainer and Under Armour India Athlete, is a certified Level 1 CrossFit Trainer and a multiple times State Level Athlete and medalist represented Mumbai Suburb from 2006-2015.
Recently she spoke to Sports Lounge (SL) over various aspects of sports.
SL: What were the difficulties that were faced by you before, during and while preparing for the competition?
Paridhi: From the time I decided to be a competitive athlete, managing time, work, and training, trying to strike abalance in life outside the sport, dealing with several injuries including the recent wrist surgery, and working on having a strong mindset are few of the most important challenges that I have faced. Especially the latter, because the biggest challenge for me is the one that I face in my mind. When you are facing an injury or recovering from it or simply when you aren’t having good training days, it’s very easy for self- doubt to creep in. Will I be good enough once I get back? Do I have to start over? Where will I stand amongst my competitors? That self-doubt will plague you and overcoming it is no mean task.
It’s something that I have worked on consciously, with a purposeful effort, every single day. Your body is one that you will work on with discipline and practice, but it’s the vagaries of the mind that needs to be tackled. Because they can really bring you down or raise you to higher pinnacles, depending on how you tackle them.
Furthermore, I believe that to overcome challenges it is essential to communicate and express. Talking with a person who can help me or just a close friend, can help in leading the way to find a solution. I thinkthere’s so much clarity one can gain in just being able to talk about a challenge and articulate what is troubling them or what they are trying to work towards.
SL: How Under Armour is helping you in building your career?
Paridhi: I firmly believe that you can’t compete, let alone win or achieve excellence alone. It is extremely important to surround yourself with partners that align with your values and bring out your absolute best. As an athlete, one of my most important values is playing and displaying integrity, on and off the field. And Under Armour exudes and exemplifies the exact same value with its products. In a sport like CrossFit, where high intensity marries speed, staying light and cooling fast is extremely important. Under Armour gear helps me achieve exactly that and enables me to keep going even when the going gets tough.
SL: What is your plan to continue, compete and regain the National Champion title in CrossFit Opens and further compete at higher levels of the sport? What are your goals for 2023 to achieve new heights?
Paridhi: Unfortunately, due to a wrist injury and a subsequent operation to fix the same has put the 2023 season on a hold. My plans are now focused on the 2024 season. The goal is the same: to come back stronger, faster and better in order to win the National Champion title back. And, the plan to achieve that is simple:show up every single day. Do the work that is required to be done, on and off the field. And to work with integrity, passion and determination.
