Coronavirus halts events, not fitness

Almost all sporting activity around the globe has come to a halt due to the coronavirus pandemic and there is uncertainty around the resumption of postponed events.  

While postponing sporting events has been the need of the hour, it is equally important for athletes to maintain their fitness levels during this unexpected downtime. Because, once the situation is brought under control, the players will once again have to gear up and perform, without excuses.

For athletes, regular sporting activity provides the opportunity to remain tuned. Be it international assignments, domestic series or even training camps and practice sessions, players always keep themselves up and ready for the next challenge.

With all that coming to a standstill and in the backdrop of the disturbing spread of the virus and the toll it has taken on populations around the world, players and club officials around the globe have been determined not to compromise on one aspect -- fitness.

Leganes, a Spanish football club has adopted an interesting method to keep players in shape -- an online training session. Pol Lorente, the fitness trainer for Leganes, started his demonstration using an elastic band, a couple of large water bottles as weights and a chair for the players who had to follow his instructions from their respective homes on Monday, in the midst of the lockdown in Spain.

The online session that was transmitted through the Twitch app was made public with the intention of sharing it with fans. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was seen training at his home gym with his three kids playing by his side in a video he posted on social media. Similarly, Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegan was seen jumping ropes and doing other exercises in his backyard. 

In Bangladesh too, sporting activity has been postponed till March 31, following a press release after a meeting with different federations at the secretariat on Monday. But just like other clubs and players around the globe, Bangladesh athletes are focused on staying fit during this unexpected break in action. 

"It has just been a day [since the second round of DPL was postponed]. We have just been told by our team that one fixture has been postponed. Other than that, we are all focused on staying fit and we will be training individually. The moment there is a resumption of matches, we will shift our mentality back to playing," said Bangladesh batsman Soumya Sarkar after his training session with DPL side Gazi Group in Mirpur yesterday.