From football and rugby to cycling and golf, how athletes are staying sharp during Coronavirus pandemic

Sports stars worldwide are being asked to complete individualised programmes as teams try to keep their players fit during the Coronavirus pandemic.

However, there is concern that the season may already be finished in some sports, while others fear the imbalance in training sessions will have players returning at different stages of fitness if competitions do start up again this campaign.

Footballers –  many of whom have gyms in their homes – have been assigned with fitness regimes during the restrictions.

But not every player has access to a fully-equipped gym, therefore strength and conditioning coaches have tailored each programme depending on what players have available to them at home.

Bodyweight exercises like press-ups, sit-ups, squats and lunges can all be done with ease and give players the best possible opportunity to maintain their fitness levels.

Sergio Ramos, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Alexander Lacazette, Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala are some of the players to have posted videos of themselves having completed sessions on bikes and treadmills in recent days.

On bikes and treadmills, players will be told to hit certain targets in terms of time or distance covered, or complete high-interval sprint sessions with little rest in between sets.

Away from cardio and weights training, players have also been provided with mobility and stretching plans to ensure they remain mobile.

La Liga side Leganes conducted an online session for their players through fitness trainer Pol Llorente. From his living room in Madrid, he used an elastic band and a chair to show exercises that the players would carry out while in lockdown.

What was remarkable about the live session was that anyone could participate through Twitch.

“The idea was to work a bit with the players, and since the state of emergency was declared, the club thought it would be good to open the session for everyone else who wanted to follow it,” said Lorente.

La Liga champions Barcelona, meanwhile, prepared individualised programmes for its players and their strength and conditioning staff were monitoring them daily.

“The coaches will be in constant contact with the players to supervise and monitor sessions,” the club said. “At the moment, these training programs are scheduled for the next seven days and will be renewed until a return to group training.”

In the league of Ireland, Bohemians have given their players GPS vests to monitor their fitness levels, while on a sadder note, Division 1 side Drogheda have suspended payments to players and staff amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In cycling, the UCI has extended the season from October 20 to November 1 because of the major disruption to the calendar. Dozens of races have been cancelled or postponed, including the Giro d’Italia and Paris Roubaix.

With no clear end in sight, riders have continued to train individually and follow programmes devised by their respective teams.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is training down in South Africa at present, while his Team Ineos team-mate Geraint Thomas has been participating in online games on GoZwift to stay fit.

Other big names like defending Tour de France champion Egan Bernal, sprinting supremo Caleb Ewan and rising star Tadej Pogacar are currently navigating the hills around Monaco to stay sharp.

Closer to home, UAE Team Emirates cyclists have ended a period of voluntary quarantine in Abu Dhabi following a team member’s positive test for Covid-19 during last month’s UAE Tour.

Italian champion Davide Formolo was one of the team members on lockdown for 15 days in the UAE capital.

Despite the boredom of being consigned to his hotel room, it was a rigorous indoor training programme twice per day that kept the 27-year-old motivated and made the time pass by quicker.

“It was not easy, especially in the first few days when we can’t wait to go back home after a hard week of racing and training here in the UAE,” he told Sport360.

“The first day was definitely the worse as we were all thinking quite negatively. How could we possibly spend 15 days on lockdown in a hotel room?

“The food was delivered in aluminium boxes, pre-cooked chicken and mashed potatoes with a plastic fork and spoon so not quite a Michelin star restaurant.

“After the first five days of quarantine our fears started to disappear and the days went by faster. We started to have a daily routine.

“We started to do indoor training on the bike, typically 90 minutes in the morning, then watched some movies and news from Italy. We did another 90 minutes to two hours training in the afternoon and the day was done.”

Formolo’s UAE team-mate Jasper Philipsen has been doing a lot of band and balance work to pass the time, balancing on a gym ball, single and double legged, then doing some abductor and core work.

As the Belgian said, this type of training is essential conditioning to maintain strength off the bike.

In rugby, uncertainty hangs over both Premiership and PRO14 seasons, with some players, told the campaign may not re-commence.

One Premiership player told Sport360 that he’d be shocked if his team saw any action before the season’s original finishing date on May 10.

Irrespective of pending decisions from the governing body about the remaining matches, players have continued training on their own or as part of small groups.

Some clubs have been told that training is optional for this week while others have continued running themselves.

Gyms at each club have been deep cleaned over the last few days and small groups with one coach have been carrying out sessions three days a week.

These sessions include fitness and speed drills at the start of training, followed by a work-out in the gym afterwards.

The reason for the low groups is if one player contracts Covid-19 then a small group would have to self-isolate rather than the entire squad.

In golf, two of the four majors have already been cancelled, with no hint as to when both tournaments plan to play their events later this year.

Depending on where one is based around the world, golf courses remain open and it very much remains business as usual.

With golf being an individual sport, each player will have a tailor-made programme for their gym work and practice routines.

All players will be out practicing on a daily basis, sharpening up their long and short game until the PGA Tour and European Tour seasons resume.

Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington has been posting some brilliant tutorials from his base in Rathmichael, Dublin this week.

The Irishman has a gym at his home, an indoor simulator and outdoor chipping green to allow him to carry out daily conditioning.

Of the players to have posted about their training, Spanish golfers Adrian Otaegui and Adri Arnaus have been working out at their homes in Dubai, while others have posted funny videos of themselves chipping or balancing toilet roll around their homes.

In athletics, Dannish Walker-Khan is continuing to train individually three times per week on the track at Dubai Sports City, as well as doing his own circuit and plyometric work.

The 27-year-old English sprinter, who is hoping to make his Olympic dreams a reality for the UAE, clocked 10.50 secs for the 100m and 21.5 secs for the 200m in a recent Ultimate Athletics Racenight.

A race in Belgium on May 23 followed by a meet in London on June 3 could seal his ticket to Tokyo, however, despite the uncertainty, he insisted he must keep training as if he is going to compete.

Some coaches believe the individualised programmes are pointless as elite athletes need to be pushed every day, with some players inevitably losing fitness and sharpness when the seasons do resume.

The fact players will be training at different intensity levels means they will return with different stages of fitness.

And while individual training sessions are no substitute for the normal day-to-day routines of team training, all athletes can do is their best during this time of crisis, until a decision is made on the season’s recommencing.

With clubs across different sports training at their respective indoor training bases, there is a concern that it will not be a level playing field once games resume.