Life lessons from athletes on overcoming COVID-19 uncertainty
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Life lessons from athletes on overcoming COVID-nineteen doubt
Three sportspeople – endurance athlete Cheryl Tay, national boxer Leona Hui and mixed martial arts fighter Stephen Langdown – share their top tips on keeping fit and staying positive in times of adversity.
From left: Stephen Langdown, Cheryl Tay, Leona Hui. (Photos: David Ash; Cheryl Tay; Leona Hui)
27 Jun 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 05 Jul 2022 01:30AM)
The gyms and the sports facilities are open. The once-deserted beaches and pools accept come up live.
But fifty-fifty as Singapore emerges from its coronavirus containment measures in the concluding few months, the post-COVID-xix earth remains an uncertain one for athletes and sports enthusiasts who have put their regular preparation routines on concur in the final few months.
CNA Luxury spoke to three local sportspeople who share how they overcame the isolation blues and the important lessons they learnt amid a time of uncertainty.
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CHERYL TAY, 33
If the pandemic has not upended life as we know information technology, endurance athlete and fettle influencer Cheryl Tay, 33, would have covered some 500km by bounding main, bike and foot in various endurance races this twelvemonth.
Only the threat of COVID-xix has led to mass cancellations and postponements of major long-distance races effectually the world such as the 2022 Claiming Roth in Germany, Berlin Marathon and Ironman 70.3 World Title in Taupo, New Zealand, which Tay had been gearing up for.
"At that place were all these exciting international races lined upwards, merely then 'boom', at present all of them can't be done," she said.
Tay, who considers herself a "lifestyle athlete" every bit she juggles full-time work while training for races, started participating in triathlons four years ago – effectually the fourth dimension she founded Rock The Naked Truth, a trunk positivity movement that encourages people to be comfortable in their own skin.
Tay used to remember that triathlons were "insane" but soon discovered her passion for the sport, completing 12 half Ironman races and one full Ironman race in three years.
"Who would want to go run a total marathon after 180km of cycling? I thought information technology was madness. But the more I did triathlons, the more than I discovered how interesting the listen actually is," she said.
"When you meet how the trunk is constantly beingness challenged, you volition realise that a lot of it is all in the mind. If you lot tell yourself you lot can't do it, half the boxing is gone."
Having struggled with eating disorders for a decade, Tay said she found her self-confidence through sports and fitness. She currently also runs a running social club ROCKrunners and a tri-enthusiast gild ROCKtri.
"When I discovered my confidence through fitness, I started to see what my body was capable of instead of worrying how I wanted it to look similar," she said.
"The more I did triathlons, the more than I discovered how interesting the mind actually is… If yous tell yourself y'all can't practice it, one-half the battle is gone."– Cheryl Tay
HOW TO KEEP GOING WHEN MOTIVATION IS FLAGGING
Despite her love for fitness, Tay found herself struggling to keep with a structured preparation program during the early weeks of the circuit breaker menses.
Not knowing when the next race would come around made it even harder to remain motivated. It did non aid that her regular grooming is unremarkably done outdoors or with a group of friends.
"When you are doing it every bit a hobby, your motivation is very unlike from that of a national athlete. As a lifestyle athlete, I need the abiding races to go on myself motivated, otherwise why would I wake up at 4am or 5am to railroad train?" said Tay, who has a full-fourth dimension task in digital marketing and as an editor of Run Singapore.
When she institute her motivation flagging, Tay roughshod back on the thing that has kept her going in the concluding iv years of preparation – field of study.
In the by weeks, Tay used an indoor wheel trainer and a multiplayer online cycling and concrete training programme that enables users to interact, train and compete well-nigh. When the pools and beaches were airtight, she substituted pond practice with resistant band workouts.
"I've been doing this triathlon routine for well-nigh iv years. I realised that I still similar working out, so I'm back with my usual training," she said.
While she is in no bustle to go back to the races, Tay said she misses them. She thinks it will probable have some fourth dimension, or until a COVID-19 vaccine is available, before the large-calibration races resume as some of them may involve tens of thousands of people.
In the meantime, self-discipline and her passion for the sport volition sustain her till the next race.
LEONA HUI, 33
While stuck at home in the final few months with no sparring partner and proper preparation equipment, national boxer Leona Hui returned to the basics of the sport to continue herself going: Sheer force of discipline and the power to adapt to e'er-changing situations.
Past creatively incorporating common household items like laundry bottles, chairs and tins of canned food into her workouts, the 33-year-old athlete continued to stay in shape even every bit the earth of competitive sports came to a complete standstill considering of the coronavirus.
Pre-pandemic, Hui, who was function of Singapore'southward first women'due south boxing team to compete in the 2022 Body of water Games, would train two- to three times a week with her squad mates at Bedok Sports Hall. She as well does her own boxing and conditioning preparation, and meets some of her team mates for morning weekly runs.
During her fourth dimension in isolation, Hui roped in friends for daily virtual workout sessions and practised shadow battle, an practise commonly used in the training for combat sports.
"We idea it would assistance u.s. hold one another accountable to a certain extent, and to remain motivated. Surprisingly, it worked and that really helped keep united states active," said Hui, who has a day job running This is Anagram, an events company she co-founded.
Hui chanced upon boxing a decade ago while working at an event held in conjunction with the 2010 Youth Olympics. At the time, it was a piffling-known sport, especially for women, she said.
"There was a try-out at the issue. I put on the gloves and tried it out for fun. Somehow, I fell in love with it and took it from at that place," Hui said, calculation that she was i of the few women in her battle class back then.
Ane of the things Hui especially loves nigh the sport is the sense of adrenaline and raw force that comes from facing an opponent in the ring.
"It comes from knowing that you can only depend on yourself. No affair how hard you've trained, how skillful you think y'all are, y'all are left to confront your opponent on your ain," she said.
At present that the sports facilities accept reopened, Hui is looking forward to regular sparring sessions. "I tin't look to hit someone and for someone to hit me," she said with a laugh.
POSITIVE LESSONS LEARNT FROM A PANDEMIC
Hui said that one of the positives that take emerged from COVID-nineteen is a heightened awareness of personal hygiene among Singaporeans.
"People tend to take the mentality that it's okay to go to work, school or the gym when they are ill. Right at present, I believe people will be more than mindful of staying home or putting on a mask when we are unwell," she said.
The unpredictability in the last few months has also given combat sports athletes similar herself an of import lesson in adaptability.
"I think we are now better equipped to deal with such a situation should it ever happen again (bear on forest!)," she said.
"There are and then many things that we can do fifty-fifty in isolation, like shadow boxing, working on drills and footwork. Zoom workouts take also opened up a whole new world of possibilities for fettle. Even battle coaches have taken lessons online."
Looking forward, Hui and her squad mates on the national battle team hope to be able to assistance battle grow as a sport for women in Singapore. They are organising all-women sparring sessions for girls and women who have an involvement in boxing and desire to larn more than, also as those who accept taken up boxing but do not accept plenty sparring opportunities in their gym, Hui said.
"Battle has opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I hope to be able to assistance inspire the next group of girls to come on board and love this sport too," she said.
"Boxing has opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I promise to be able to help inspire the next grouping of girls to come on board and dear this sport too." – Leona Hui
STEPHEN LANGDOWN, 27
While some people rushed to get their retail fix or meet up with friends for a meal, the first affair mixed martial arts fighter Stephen Langdown did when the restrictions lifted was to exist reunited with some of his favourite gym equipment.
Barbells and weight plates, he said, were some of the things he specially missed during his fourth dimension away from his preparation studio, Slingshot Lab.
"I even missed the flooring at the studio," he said with a laugh. "At home, I had to worry nigh non making too much noise. I've could not do too much jumping because it'd touch my neighbours downstairs."
Pre-COVID-19, the 27-year-onetime onetime fighter for One Championship usually spent half the 24-hour interval grooming and coaching at his studio, which he co-founded with John Wilkinson. Wilkinson is a football analyst on TV and old professional footballer.
The studio at Lorong Telok, which offers cross subject area fitness training focusing on football game, combat also as strength and conditioning, is now open up after being closed for more than than two months.
Langdown, whose father is English language and mother is Singaporean Indian, was the youngest Singaporean to fight for One Championship in 2013. At the time, he was only twenty and fresh out of National Service.
As an athlete, coach and business owner, Langdown was striking difficult by the restrictions in the last few months. But he was not surprised to hear that gyms and sports facilities had to remain closed after the excursion breaker measures were lifted in the first phase as sports equipment are high-touch surfaces.
Now that sports and fitness facilities accept reopened, Langdown said gym life volition look quite unlike from the pre-coronavirus days, with enhanced physical safe distancing and safety rules.
"Concrete safe distancing on the flooring volition be the future of gyms. For example, we will space out our grooming sessions and do one-on-one sessions at the moment. Equipment will non be shared between clients and they will be disinfected after each session," he said.
"We can't command the virus, but we can control how nosotros railroad train." – Stephen Langdown
MAKING THE BEST OUT OF A LESS-THAN-Ideal Situation
An important lesson Langdown has learnt during this period of dubiety is to take multiple fill-in plans and make the best out of a less-than-platonic situation.
He said, "This whole situation has highlighted how of import it is for people to be able to pivot quickly, whether for their workout routine or streams of acquirement."
Like many trainers, Langdown turned to virtual coaching sessions when his studio was closed. At dwelling, he continued with his own preparation routine by incorporating exercises that are important in mixed martial arts preparation, such as weighted shadow battle, burpees and Turkish get-ups.
Using weights while shadow boxing was also the closest thing he could become to the intense workout of hitting pads, without having a punching bag or coach to hold the pads. Doing burpees replicated the ever-irresolute pace of fighting, from grappling to hit, while the Turkish get-up worked the shoulders, core endurance, coordination and balance.
"We can't command the virus, but nosotros can control how nosotros train," he said.
The downtime gave Langdown the take chances to pay more attending to certain aspects of fettle that he previously did not, such as mobility and flexibility. "I've even done a few follow-forth yoga classes, something which I've never washed in my life," he said.
Scheduling fixed workout timings as well helped him remain upbeat and motivated. He recommends this for anybody, athlete or not, fifty-fifty when life returns to normal.
"If you ready a time to piece of work out every day for example, at eight.30 am, that helps frame your mindset for do versus simply sitting around and telling yourself 'possibly I'll practise it a scrap after, after lunch or afterwards dinner'. When you lot allow information technology drag on, information technology might never happen," he said.
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