Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Introduce us to a day in the life of a figure skater, preparing for the Olympic Games.
Ms. Katarina Witt:
My typical training routine preparing for the Olympics was to practice all day long. By the time we had 2-3 hours of a day off-ice training, almost 3 hours of figure skating a day where I rehearsed my drums, my spin, my step-sequences, and I had to run through my programs, my short program and my long program, and besides ofcourse I had ballet classes, 3-4 times a week, which I did not enjoy as much because classical ballet I’d rather watch on other beautiful ballet dancers but still it was part of our practice routine and it helped me for my off ice-training and my programs and ofcourse we had lots of hours of athletic training. Workout hours doing weight lifting, doing jumps off the ice, and lots of routines for strengthening your body, your legs, your arms, your back.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine that you may like to share?
Ms. Katarina Witt:
I think figure skating in general is a great exercise for the entire body. By strengthening your legs, your butt, your upper body, learning about balance keeping and ofcourse for conditions. So I would suggest whoever likes to have fun and have a good time, Start figure skating!
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
What was your diet like, that you followed to remain healthy and physically fit?
Ms. Katarina Witt:
Ofcourse being a figure skater, you need to be very strong, have lots of muscles to be able to do all the triple jumps and get through your routines. And at the same time you need to be slim and for this we had mostly meat and vegetables, and salads and maybe sometimes potatoes and pasta, because by that time science and food was not as advanced as it is these days. But being a teenager, I liked sweets, so I did like chocolate and ice cream and sometimes over the summer I would put on some weight but with the right training and diet, I started to lose weight again and I gained the body I needed for figure skating.
Ms. Namita Nayyar:
Training for professional sports requires you to also take care of your hair and body. Share with us your haircare and skincare routine.
Ms. Katarina Witt:
Honestly I have very healthy skin and hair, I have to do nothing for my hair except shampooing and a little bit of conditioner, nothing extra. For my skin, I have regular nice cream for the day and for the evening, nothing special, just to get moisture into the skin. And I think here it really helps, when you do your workout and you start to have a sweat and you get your blood running through your body, I think, that shows in your healthy skin as well. With healthy food, regular workout, drinking enough and just taking care of yourself but nothing really special just trying to do healthy things all around.
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