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The past month of lockdown and home training has presented all of us with new challenges. Coping will have been easier for some than for others, and it’s more important than ever to keep in touch with clubs and maintain positivity and motivation to train. As a member of my university rowing squad, the past few weeks have given me time to get used to a new training schedule – using both the programmes designed by coaches and a few ideas of my own – and balance this around writing essays and preparing for imminent exams. I’ve found that being part of and staying in touch with the squad has been the most useful thing in terms of structuring my days. Here are a few suggestions of things to try to keep the club atmosphere alive and well during lockdown!
One of the very first things my squad did at the start of lockdown was to create club Instagram and Strava accounts to stay in touch and hold ourselves accountable for training. It’s a really fun way to see what everyone has been getting up to, as well as providing motivation to get out to get training done, even on days when any motivation to move seems to be at an all-time low and the prospect of spending a day binge-watching Tiger King on Netflix is much more appealing! I’ve also found it inspiring when getting bored with my routine, as everyone has been doing slightly different things to keep their training varied and its proved helpful to get some new ideas.
Staying in touch with coaches and friends is of utmost importance, both for wellbeing and to ensure that these connections stay strong when returning to group training next season. We have weekly updates scheduled so that everyone knows where they stand, and coaches have been available to speak to whenever, both to give advice on new training plans and to help with any personal or general university questions. In addition to this, as a fun twist on what can quickly become a tedious home training timetable, we’ve been doing The Body Coach’s P.E classes and HIIT workouts together over video call to keep training fun and inclusive!
Recently, we held the first whole-club virtual pub quiz via Zoom! It was really fun to get everyone together with their families and reintroduce a bit of a competitive edge to things, and also nice to see everyone in a more relaxed setting – after all, the erg room is never the best place to socialise! We have also introduced a ‘challenge Friday’ concept, where each week someone suggests a new challenge to complete. This can be a personal goal for the week or a more general one which everyone is welcome to participate in, but again it has proved effective when wanting to change routines up and ward off de-training!
Finally, and on a slightly less fun – though equally important – note: training plans! It can be easy to only think short-term about this and start to slack off on training (which is to be expected to a certain extent!). However, when considering more long-term eventualities, it’s much better to complete the amount of training set for you. Maybe no one will ever know that you skipped two of the planned cardio sessions, but when you do head back to a full training programme I guarantee that you will regret not having gritted your teeth and got on with it! Our training programme has been cut down quite sizeably in terms of intensity, but it’s important to keep up with it so that despite the inevitable loss of strength, coming back won’t be quite so much of an uphill struggle.
If you haven’t been provided with a training plan or are struggling with the one you’ve got, get in touch with your coach to see what they’d recommend. Even if you don’t follow the plan you’ve been given super strictly, make sure that you’re still balancing the set amount of cardio sessions with strength ones (whether this is through completing at-home workouts, going for a run or playing badminton in the garden) as this will pay off hugely in the long-term.
“Staying in touch with coaches and friends is of utmost importance, both for wellbeing and to ensure that these connections stay strong…”
For most of us, it hopefully won’t be too long until we’re back training in the same room as others again, but for now, look at this as a test of personal endurance: the more effort you put into continuing to train and staying in touch with your club now, the more you’ll thank yourself when it’s over. Plus, if you don’t have an erg at home get out on the bike or a run – you’ll be dreaming of sunny outdoor jogs come winter season when you’re plodding through the miles in the erg room and it’s blowing a gale outside!
Training alone doesn’t have to be lonely – reach out to crewmates or suggest some ideas to your coach – you’ll soon find yourself back training together and staying in touch (even if it is over FaceTime)!
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