‘Bollywood template of big biceps & 6-pack isn’t fitness, living healthy is’

Jonty Rhodes, who terrorised Indian cricket fans with his electric fielding, is now half-Indian, with a house in Goa and a daughter named ‘India’. Still supremely agile at 56, he walks TOI Health+ through his fitness mantras


You said in one of your interviews: ‘I can teach a cricketer to catch a ball, but I can’t teach him how to get to the ball to catch it’? You are 56 and still look like you could get to any ball that is up in the air...

If you were to describe your own fitness, how would you describe it?


I think fitness is such a multi-meaning word. For me, it’s about wellness. I can’t run a marathon, but I surf, I cycle, and I love to walk. When I’m back in Cape Town, we go into the mountains. In Goa, we live in a tiny fishing village because that allows the kids to be in the ocean all the time. My fitness is functional. At my age, a lot of it is about mobility. Three things that we focus on as a family to keep fit — sleep, nutrition and movement. Food is important, obviously, because if you’re not fuelling yourself, if you’re eating a lot of processed food, you’re not helping yourself no matter how hard you’re training. And then sleep — it’s the cornerstone. We have no TV in Goa and no TV in Cape Town. Evenings are spent reading. We wind down around 8-8.30pm and by 9 pm, the whole family is fast asleep. I am the best sleeper in our family.




Tell us about your diet...


There is no diet plan. If you are following a diet, then a cheat day is required and that knocks you back. Our kids can eat anything in the house. But when we purchase things, we do it with a clear intent. And the intent is to consume clean, natural, fresh food. We don’t have any sugar in our house. We use honey if we need a sweetener.


What about exercise?


Again, no training regime. Movement for us is exercise. I’m no longer running. When I retired, I said, that’s it. I’ve been a hockey player, a cricket player. No more running. I have a mountain bike and a surfboard. Surfing is a real workout for me. Surfing builds upper body strength because it involves heavy paddling in the ocean. With the mountain bike, I get my endurance, my cardio. It is always 2-3 hours in the hills. My wife does yoga every day. She is a yoga teacher.


What are the three habits you believe make the biggest difference for long-term health after 50?


Managing stress is obviously massive. People work really, really hard in India. It’s 5.10 pm and they (referring to the TOI building’s 4th floor in Mumbai, where this conversation happened) look like they’re just checking in. In South Africa, we’re already on the road, going home. I think being out in nature is important. Movement in the outdoors is such an important part of relieving stress. The second important thing after 50 is mobility with strength work. I use a resistance band as I can take it with me when I am travelling.


Stress must have been a real thing when you were an active sportsman...


We must understand there is good stress and bad stress. That’s a great thing working with longevity experts like Dr Marcus Ranney (author of the book, ‘Good Stress Bad Stress — Powerful Tools to Help You Thrive Under Pressure’) It’s always been the two sides of adrenaline for me — it can induce fear, but if you embrace it, it can make you sharper. I used stress to prepare better. The night before (a big game), meditation played a big part.

There is concern in India about very young men, apparently fit, dying suddenly — on cricket fields, on badminton courts, at weddings. Are you aware of these incidents and what is your reading?


A big issue for me in India is the Bollywood fitness template — big biceps and six-pack. You need to understand what’s going on in your system. And that’s where the important question comes in — how are we living our lives? You need to lead a healthy life to be fit.

Did you take supplements when you were a sportsman? Do you support protein supplements?


I didn’t take any supplements as a sportsman but during my playing days, we had only three options for drinks on the field — water, Coca-Cola and Coke with water. That was it. This was way before energy drinks and sports drinks came in. In a perfect world, you should be able get everything from your diet, but we know you’re never going to. So, we take magnesium for sleep. I have taken supplements and I’m not against them. Creatine is something I haven’t yet taken, but I’m investigating it.


Is over-exercising a problem?


I don’t think so, but understanding your body is important. At my age, if I bust myself in the gym, I will feel it very, very quickly. I can put in maximum effort, but it’ll take me two, three days to recover. Recovery is a big part of my focus now as opposed to just doing the training.

How much is fitness about engaging with life, being happy and being functional vs working towards longevity?


Longevity is not about living to be 100. If I die at 80, but I’m running around chasing my kids, then that is longevity for me. It’s about making sure that the years on this planet are good, healthy ones. Because I have a blended family — I’ve got kids and soon will have grandkids too (from my first marriage) — I’m not biohacking to be 150. I’m just ensuring, through lifestyle, that as long as I’m on this planet, it’s a healthy journey.


One image of you that will always stick is of you riding an Enfield in sweltry Mumbai….


As international sportsmen, you’re told — seize the day, carpe diem. And that’s always my story. In India, often the case is that when you’re trying to seize the day, there’s a door that’s closed and you’re trying to bash it down. But there is also a door that could open another path. But because you haven’t given yourself the opportunity to embrace other scenarios, you miss the path that you should be on. So, this is more about me embracing life around me.