Games-From barefoot hockey to Asian Games, India's Lalremsiami chases golden dream

In preparation for the Asian Games, elite athletes are using increasingly sophisticated, pocket-sized devices to monitor their performance in real-time. These compact gadgets, which can fit inside a swim cap, between shoulder blades, or even on a swimmer's head, provide detailed data on heart rate, stroke rate, speed, and symmetry of movement.

For example, the GPS tracker from Catapult Sport, used by Indian hockey players, tracks distance, speed, and sprint efforts, while the Polar Verity Sense and TritonWear devices monitor heart rate and stroke rate for swimmers. Lombard, head of athletic performance for the Indian women's hockey team, uses this data to optimize training and prevent overexertion.

Decathletes like Tejaswin Shankar use lactate monitors to gauge their fatigue levels after each event, adjusting their recovery strategies accordingly.