Athletes wage fitness wars from within
While consistency and commitment are already trademarks possessed by most elite athletes, being stranded indoors will require them to be as strict as they can be.
Wesley Botton.
Being able to stick to a training programme week in and week out, and doing so from the comfort of your home, are two different things.
Getting up in the morning and heading to the gym is tough enough for most of us on the best of days.
For those who are required to commit to a daily training schedule in order to succeed as professional athletes, however, it’s part of the job.
But even for the most supreme of athletes, a unique battle lies ahead over the next few weeks as the country’s fastest, strongest and fittest individuals prepare to wage internal wars within themselves in an attempt to stay in shape.
It’s not an easy fight to win, as most of us know, and a quick glance at any collection of equipment gathering dust in our garages generally proves how many of us have lost that battle more than once.
At the gym, on the field, in the pool or on the track, athletes can focus on training without distrac-ion.
At home, however, that same focus will be repeatedly tested.
It’s easy to push back a training session by an hour or two if you’re based permanently in your workout environment, and you have no coach or training partners with matching schedules.
It is, of course, just as easy to not exercise at all.
“I’ll catch up tomorrow,” we promise ourselves.
But most of us never do.
And while consistency and commitment are already trademarks possessed by most elite athletes, being stranded indoors will require them to be as strict as they can be.
Running on a treadmill works just fine for its intended purpose, but it’s not the same as going for a run, and hitting an exercise bike for an hour will get your heart going, but it offers few of the other benefits provided by a long ride on the road.
Add to this the presence and activities of the people who are living with athletes while they’re under lockdown, and staying fit for the next few weeks is going to require a tremendous amount of dedication.
Various distractions will need to be overcome, in addition to the challenges faced by a restricted training environment, if anyone hopes to hit the ground running when the 2020 season resumes.
Indeed, even for the country’s fittest individuals, training at home won’t be easy, but those who are able to do so will be rewarded in the long run.
Those who don’t will be left playing catch up if and when life returns to normal.
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