Invictus Performance Lab in Bengaluru spearheading athletes to become 'World Class' - A detailed Guide of their Journey through founder Varun Shetty

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For any sportsperson, managing the body amid the toil of their routine is a crucial aspect. And at the heart of Bengaluru, the Invictus Performance Lab has been providing its catered service for athletes over the years.

Recently, they collaborated with former Rajasthan Royals coach Steffan Jones' PaceLab to organize a fast bowling camp, where India pacer Ishant Sharma also took part. Along with Ishant, a number of young talents joined the programme to enhance their skills.

MyKhel had a chance to be present at the event and had a talk with the founder Mr. Varun Shetty, where he depicted the journey of the institution, along with various angles of their vision, work and future programmes. Here is a complete excerpt of the interview-

The journey of Invictus Lab

"It started eight years ago. The idea was to build an all-inclusive centre for anyone looking for performance, irrespective of sport. The Indian subcontinent and the Indian sporting system are very different from anywhere else in the world. So, I think a key part was also building a program that is adaptable, flexible, but also bespoke to India and Indian athletes. So, while we started very simple, we started with limited resources, but along the way, we were fortunate enough to get the right people involved. I think today we have the most comprehensive testing system that is there in India, I would say in Asia. The level of detail that we go into, from its physiology, the gut, the brain, the physical structures, and the personality and how you shape the personality. You know, sports or cricket in India needs to move forward. I think building a system that is catered and specialised towards fast bowlers and making sure that they're able to get those limits. I think that's where we will make a huge difference and what we need is a support system.

On Steffan Jones and Pace Lab

"So Steffan and I have been in touch with each other, I think, for seven years. What makes Stefan sets aside from everyone else is that he's got a very strong, stepping conditioning and sports science background coupled with his experience as a fast bowler. Typically, you will have a lot of sports science-heavy staff but not enough practicality on what's happening with the bowler or you will have the complete bowler's perspective but not adding sports science. I think the merger of the two is the future of sport, it is expected and Steffan is the one who is actually spearheading it in fast bowling."

The Upsurge among Indian pacers to join programme

"So, we've seen at least a three-time increase in the number of cricketers since we started. I'm talking about even the last two years; we've seen almost 300 per cent growth in the number of cricketers. Especially after the start of WPL, the number of female cricketers we are looking in, especially pacers, is something that India needs to develop, a lot more female pacers and with the WPL that is increasing and will constantly keep increasing.

But again with Ishant, the goal is very different. He's been there, he has done that, he's already a legend. It's a question of what is the untapped potential left in him even if he is 36 years old. Did he keep the best for the last? He is 36 years old, which is considered old for a fast bowler, but, again, if you look at Ishant, he is ready to go; he will do extremely well in the national circuit as well as in IPL and the domestic circle."

The Motto behind Success

I think the number one thing is talent and it is inherent. So, a lot of people have talent there. In India there is no shortage of talent, what is lacking in India compared to most other countries and also in the Olympics the way we perform is testament to that is not the lack of talent; it's the kind of support system that is needed to be able to consistently achieve excellence at the highest level. So it is longevity at the end of the day. We might have great talents, but the talent may not reach where it needs to go because there is no support system.

When I say support system, I'm talking about, you need to look at the nutrition, you need to look at injuries, also you need to make sure that they will come back from the injuries, you need to make sure that they understand the sport, what are the requirements of the sport, what are the lifestyle habits they need to be aware of, what it takes to be a professional and become professional before they become a professional cricketer. So, a lot of time, we wait for them to become professional cricketers after they start becoming professional. Sport is one of those places where that is the exact opposite. You need to be professional even before you become a prominent athlete or sportsperson.

How Invictus provides the Support

"We provide the ecosystem. At the end of the day, you want to go to a place where they have seen what my problem is, they have read about me, and they have done it for hundreds and thousands of people before us, so hence, we will get the best guidance on it, and it is a journey. You are never looking at sport as like, after this tournament, I'll not do any of that. Else, you're looking at a 10 or 15 years of career and every stage in your career is different.

So what we bring to the table is the wealth of expertise that is there, in handling long-term programs and helping people from all walks of life to curate what they need to do. It is a holistic development through holistic assessment and interventions at multiple levels.

Are we World Class? The main focus at Invictus

I think there is a program and it's so cheap. It exists and it's not like it has not made leaps and bounds in the last few years and not like anything is not happening.
But the thing is, in sports sciences, you need to have an integrated setup with all the sciences. Here, you don't treat it as: there's a foot specialist, there's a head specialist, there's an arm specialist. When you're talking about sports and building an integrated system with all the relevant sciences stopping together, that is where you are talking about the sport's high performance.

"To be world-class is what we're aiming at. We are not looking at, 'I'll be the best in India'. The question is, 'Are we world-class or not?' and if that's the goal, then what we need is to inform that the better is not the best."

The Realms of other Sports at Invictus

Football players have also taken the fitness programme at the lab, but Varun says the awareness is not consistent enough in the game.

"So we've had footballers in the past, we've had some national team players as well.
Robin Singh was someone who used to come down. But most of them came for rehab and we had them with them on their personal grounds, on the nutrition side, on their rehab side, all of that. So, a lot of times, we have dealt with elite athletes and a lot of them, of which I cannot mention their names because we have signed the NDAs with them, but we worked as a personal consultant for them."

Apart from that, many Badminton and Tennis players have also worked at the centre to enhance their fitness level over the years. Many Para athletes and Olympic aspirants have also been honing their skills with them.

The Physical Education revamp in Schools

"So one of the programs that we're running, in collaboration with Stefan and a couple of other coaches, to look at reinventing the whole physical education curriculum in school. Right now it is at a state where if you look at what's happening in other countries. The reason why we haven't done well is not what we do at their age level, it's what we do at the school level. Right now we're also talking about other issues that you have or you develop because of non-participation in activities. So school is actually where the crux of the problem is.

Although we might focus on elite athletes, school is where the problems need to be solved for us to do well in all the sports that we participate in. The school program will be running pan-India. We'll either be running it through workshops or we'll be working it through training. We are looking at management as well."