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Under normal circumstances, Washington University’s spring athletes would currently be at their annual peak. In the middle of their respective seasons as the academic year rapidly comes to a close, they would be working near-constantly to remain healthy and ready for the next competition.
Now, they are aiming to stay in shape from home. With the closure of the nearly 40,000 gyms in the United States to slow the spread of COVID-19, Wash. U. athletes have had to turn to alternative methods to keep in shape both physically and mentally.
“It’s tough. There’s no way to replicate that kind of, being with the team, having the facilities at hand that we have at Wash. U., having the coaches there,” said junior Tim Tague, a pitcher for the baseball team and punter and quarterback for the football team. “[It is] definitely different when you’re on your own.”
Athletes are working closely with faculty and coaching staff to make sure that they remain focused at the task at hand: keeping an active lifestyle.
“We [were given] three days of body lift workouts and conditioning. So I do those and that’s kind of like the team requirement,” said sophomore Nicole Hay, a utility player for the Wash. U. softball team. The team typically plays six days per week during the spring, with games on the weekends, days off on Mondays and practices during the week. Now, without that schedule, the players are adjusting their methods.
“Outside of that team requirement, I try to do 30 minutes to an hour of yoga every day,” Hay said. “I take my dog for usually a three mile walk and if I still have the energy in me, I’ll do a high intensity interval training or sprints.”
Other teams have gotten guidance from coaches and trainers as well. “There’s [a program] for body weight if you don’t have any weights that you have access to right now and there’s a second program if you have full access to a weight room, which not a lot of us do,” said sophomore Matt Lopes, a pitcher for the baseball team. “So what I think most of us are trying to do is find a medium balance between some of that.”
With recreational facilities and public tennis courts shut down, men’s tennis junior Koki Takabatake has searched for new tactics to remain strong. “If you don’t have a pullup bar, you’ll have to kind of go find a tree or something and do some pullups there,” he said. “What I’ve been doing is just grabbing the ledge of my table and doing some pullups, so you have to kind of modify…Even the body weight workouts—you might not have the proper ledge or proper environment to do those kinds of workouts.”
A balanced diet is often also an important aspect of an athlete’s lifestyle. Many players have adapted to their newfound eating regimen.
“It’s sometimes tougher at Wash. U. to be able to eat enough. Obviously, there’s great food everywhere you turn, but with going to classes and having more time spent at practice—I often find it hard to sometimes eat enough,” Tague said. “Now that I’m home, I’m very fortunate to have my family home, my parents and my sisters as well. We’ve all been kind of splitting cooking duties and stuff like that, so I’ve found that it’s been very easy, if not easier, to eat the right stuff—to eat enough.”
“I’ve just been cooking by myself now. I only know how to cook Asian dishes mostly, and maybe a little bit of Italian,” Takabatake said. “It’s a different type of cuisine than what Wash. U. offers—but I’ve been doing just fine.”
Despite the various ups and downs that have accompanied the widespread “stay-at-home” orders around the country, players remain with a sense of hope and optimism. They say they will return to Wash. U. with a mindset of taking nothing for granted.
“We’re going to keep the seniors in the back of our mind and really have them motivate us because they didn’t get to play 31 games that they were supposed to,” Hay said. “There are obviously days where I struggle with waking up at 5:45 a.m. and I’m like ‘Why am I doing this?’—I keep going because I have all of these girls to support me. I get through the workouts and I feel really good about myself. When I put in the work, it shows on the field—so I think it really adds up.”
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