Importance of Training during the Corona Pandemic
In this article, BSP Coach, Samantha Uline, discusses the importance of continuing training throughout this extended period of time away from athletics. Check out her thoughts and the things you can be doing at home.
The world around us is changing faster than we can keep up. As a society we are all aware of the COVID-19 outbreak and what it has done to our everyday life and routine. We can’t go to the mall with friends, we can’t go out to dinner as a family, we can’t go workout at our favorite gym and we cannot attend school or even our jobs. Although, there are a lot of things we cannot do, we want to use this time to focus on the things you can be doing.
It is essential to stay active in this time of question and uncertainty. Whether you are an adult, a high school athlete or a collegiate athlete, it applies to each and every one of you. Exercising isn’t only to better performance, it is also used for our overall health. Going through a workout and focusing this time on yourself will allow for clearer thinking and a better mindset. An exercise session will also increase the release of specific hormones, including epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. These are hormones that are released to trigger an immediate positive feeling in the body, improve your mood and overall self-confidence.
For our athletes asking, “How does this time off from training effect my performance?” It’s what we call residual training effects. After a certain period of time, your motor skills, muscular abilities and other adaptations from training, rapidly deteriorate, with each aspect of training decreases at varying rates.
Residual Training Effects
Muscular and neurological growth isn’t something that lasts forever, it is all about consistency and maintenance. Within five days of diluted training your neuromuscular adaptations will decrease, such as your power output, maximal sprint speed or explosiveness. Our athletes spend so much time in the gym working to improve these areas of their game, the last thing we want to happen, is for them to lose all the progress they have achieved.
After about twelve to fifteen days off, you begin to lose your strength endurance as well as your anaerobic glycolytic endurance levels, meaning your body is not able to sustain moderate to high intensity exercise over time because of the lack of energy (glucose) available. That is only about two weeks of no exercise before your overall strength and ability to sustain an entire session or game diminishes.
The improvements made regarding your aerobic capacity (the body's ability to take in and use oxygen to improve aerobic performance) and your maximal strength will be preserved the longest, at one month. This means your ability to perform at your best will be compromised, by your body’s lack of efficiency to transport oxygen from your lungs to your muscles and by your body’s ability to exert force. Now, all these changes to your performance happen within just a single month, but this doesn’t have to be the outcome just because your favorite gym temporarily closed. There are so many different ways to stay active and maintain your progress.
The question everyone seems to be asking, “What do we do now?” Well, there are a few different solutions to this concern. The BSP family offers free at-home workouts each day on the Brattain Sports Performance Instagram and Facebook channels. There are detailed instructions, as well as, videos that explain how to do every exercise and the correct volume. As a family run business, we find it very important to stay connected with our clients and community. Another way you can stay active, is by simply going for a run or walk, riding your bike or playing a pick-up game at the park (keep it under 10, kids). This tactic will not only make you break a sweat, but it will also keep you busy and your mind engaged. During hard times it is easy for us to dwell on the negatives and the “what if’s”, so taking advantage of what we can control in our lives right now, is extremely crucial.
As a community we are all in a similar stage of unpredictability and we don’t know what the future may hold. As Jocko Willink wrote in Extreme Ownership, “discipline is the pathway to freedom”. We are restricted where we can go and who we can be around, but these times will pass. Exercise and training is an outlet to your emotions and everything you may experiencing, so therefore, use this time wisely and stay safe!