In badminton, recovery does not wait until the match is over. At the highest level, every rally demands another sprint, another stop, another change of direction. The body is pushed into repeated explosive efforts, while the mind has to stay clear enough to make fast decisions under pressure.

For Danish professional badminton player Mads Christophersen, that is part of what makes the sport so demanding — and part of why every detail matters.

“I have always chased that extra percentage.”

That mindset has shaped the way Mads trains, prepares, recovers, and competes. From sleep and conditioning to focus and nutrition, he is always looking for small improvements that can help him become a better player. Unbroken has become one of those details.

Chasing the best version of himself

Mads started playing badminton when he was around seven years old. His brother and sister also played, and before long, badminton became more than just a sport he enjoyed.

He had tried football and handball too, but badminton gave him something different.

“There was something about being there alone on court. You could only blame yourself if it went bad, but if it went well, you could also be proud in your own way.”

That individual responsibility became part of the attraction. Badminton gave him direct feedback. If he improved, he could feel it. If he made a mistake, he had to own it.

As a junior, he was not immediately the best in Denmark. But when he started competing internationally, something changed. He began beating some of the top players from England, the Netherlands, France, and other European countries. That gave him belief. “I felt that I was actually one of the best in Europe", said Mads.

Later, as a senior player, Mads started to build stronger and more consistent international results. He won tournaments, moved up the rankings, and broke into the world’s top 50.
But for him, the goal has never been only a number: “My goal is to become the best badminton player possible.”

If that takes him into the top 20, that is the dream. If it takes him back toward the top 40, he still wants to know he gave it everything. “If I didn’t feel that I was improving, I think my motivation would go away", says the player.

The small gains that matter

To keep improving, Mads looks beyond the obvious. Training is one part. But so are sleep, nutrition, conditioning, routines, and mental focus.

He has experimented with cycling intervals, the assault bike, and running. Recently, he added some running into his training and noticed that it did more than support his cardio; it also helped him feel quicker on court.

He has also made changes to his sleep environment. Since becoming a father, waking up during the night is part of life. To avoid being fully woken by harsh light, he and his wife use a red lamp in the bedroom. He also sleeps with an eye mask to block out extra light and help him sleep more deeply.

Then there is focus. Mads sometimes meditates for short periods, often just five minutes. It sounds simple, but for him, it connects directly to performance.

“I try to focus on my breathing. As soon as I get another thought, I notice it and go back to the breathing. That happens maybe 10 or 20 times in five minutes. But it also happens when I play.”

In a match, distraction comes quickly. The score. The last mistake. The next shot. The feeling of fatigue. The challenge is not to eliminate every thought. It is to notice it and return to the next rally.

What fatigue feels like in elite badminton

From the outside, badminton can look light and fast. Inside the match, it is relentless.
The starts and stops are constant. Players accelerate, brake, lunge, jump, recover, and go again, often with very little time between points. Mads tracks his heart rate during training and matches. What he sees matches what he feels. “If I meet a guy on my level, I feel like you can be in the red zone for over an hour", says Mads.

Sometimes, fatigue can arrive early. Before the first interval, he can already feel that a match is going to be tough. But focusing on that feeling only makes it harder.

“The fatigue is just there waiting for you. As soon as you focus on it, it also hurts a little bit more.”

So Mads brings his attention back to what he can control. The next rally. The next breath. The next decision.

Why recovery has to happen during the match

For Mads, the challenge is not always one match. In tournaments, he may play twice in a day. He may play five matches in three days. He may finish one tournament and prepare for another the following week.

That means recovery cannot only be something that happens at the end of the day.
“If you play for one hour or one and a half hours, it’s not enough to have eaten two hours before the match or drunk something 30 minutes before. There is a lot of energy leaving your body in that match.”

At that level, preparation has to continue while the work is happening. That is where Unbroken fits into his routine.

How Mads uses Unbroken

Mads discovered Unbroken while looking for a nutrition partner. He had been searching for a brand that felt right: something credible, simple, and useful for the way he performs.

When he saw Unbroken’s partnership with Lidl-Trek, it caught his attention. As a cycling fan, he recognized the team: “I know these guys. Maybe it’s legit", says Mads.

From there, he reached out.

Today, Unbroken is part of his training and competition routine.

On tournament days, Mads often starts the morning with two Unbroken tablets. Before the match, he prepares another bottle and begins sipping from it around 15 minutes before play. During the match, he continues using it as part of his routine.

If the day is more demanding, he adjusts.

“The more I do during a day, the more tablets I use.”

When he is training less, such as during his current injury period, he keeps it simpler: often one tablet in the morning and one in the evening.For Mads, the routine is flexible. It follows the workload.

The test: 10 matches in 10 days

The clearest moment came during a demanding competition block. Mads played 10 matches in 10 days. Some days included multiple matches, while others gave him a little more space to recover.

Normally, after five matches in three days, he would expect to feel heavily fatigued and tired. Especially after a long period without that kind of match load. This time, he felt different.

"I actually felt that I was pretty good after the tournament. Of course I was a little bit tired, but I felt better than normal.”

After one day off, he was able to return to practice and prepare for the next tournament. Then he played another five matches in three days. Again, he felt good.

“My body was not the problem at all.”

For an athlete, that is the difference that matters. Not a promise. Not a shortcut. A feeling that the body is ready to go again.

Staying sharp when the heart rate is high

Mads does not describe himself as a data-heavy athlete. He tracks sleep and heart rate, but he also listens closely to how he feels. During matches, he noticed something important.

Even when his heart rate was very high, he still felt physically capable and mentally present. That matters because in badminton, fatigue does not only affect movement. It affects decision-making. “Sometimes when you get really tired and your pulse gets high, you start to stress a lot and take some bad choices. In badminton, you have to take fast choices all the time", he says.

During his recent competition block, Mads felt that he could stay focused, even under physical pressure.

“The way I was feeling was just super great compared to earlier.”

Finding the right partner

For Mads, Unbroken is not just another product in the bag. It is something he had been looking for. “I have been looking for the right partner and the right collab", he says.

What made the difference was that he felt it fit his needs as an athlete.

“I finally feel like I have found something that is actually helping me in a way that I really like.”

That is what makes it part of the routine. Not hype. Not a quick fix. One more detail in the system he is building around performance, recovery, and long-term improvement.

Ready for the next rally

Right now, Mads is recovering from injury. It is the first time he has been on crutches, and he knows he has been lucky to avoid that for most of his career.

But the goal remains clear. Get healthy. Keep improving. Stay curious. Return to the court ready to compete. Because in badminton, there is always another rally coming. And for Mads Christophersen, every detail matters.

Train. Recover. Ready for what’s next.