By Reza Murfi, Y12
Understandably, the sports world itself has shrunk as the world has gone into lockdown. But this doesn’t mean that sports have vanished forever. You only need to be on instagram to see footballers doing skills in their backyards, Q&As, or even making TikToks. Moreover, corona doesn’t stop what we as a community can do actively at home. Here are 5 activities to recreate the sports fun while at home.
Note: If you live in France, many of these might not be possible due to the regulations. Make sure to comply with local regulations to stay safe!
- Bike rides
Now is a better time than ever to get on your bike and get a cardiovascular workout. With the streets being more dry than usual, and students having more free time, a Sunday morning bike ride might not seem like the worst idea. If you’re curious enough, you can even explore a bit of your own neighborhood (A nice spot overlooking the lake may give a refreshing view). Breathing in that crisp Geneva air will be a refreshing way to end a long stay-at-home week in front of the computer and also get you up and moving doing good exercise.
2. Home workouts
Usually the first thing that comes to peoples’ minds when they hear Home Workout, involves broken pull up bars, sit-ups in your bed, and angry neighbors filing noise complaints because they can’t understand the importance of your ‘Mountain Climber X Jumping Jack’ cardio routine you saw on a Youtube video. However, this home workout plan has a different feel to it. The key to having an efficient home workout plan is to find exercises which involve multiple muscle groups (compound exercises). So workouts like push-ups, lunges, squats, and burpees which all hit different multiple muscle groups, work out your body quite efficiently (you might still not want to do the last one if you have thin floors though).
3. Go Down to Local Sports Areas
If you live in France, this probably isn’t possible, but for the fellow Genevois, this one could be for you. Many open sports areas like basketball hoops, or street football nets are still open to the public. So if you need to scratch the basketball itch you’ve had while stuck at home, now is a good time to go. Most people are inside anyways, and even if you do meet people there, you can still participate in socially distant activities such as passing a ball or playing HORSE or an equivalent game.
4. Give yourself a Challenge
If you’re the competitive type, then these challenges are definitely for you. Competitive physical challenges such as challenging yourself to do a certain amount of push-ups in a minute are a great way to encourage physical activity and also evoke a sense of competitiveness if you want to challenge your friends or family. If you want some ideas of challenges you can do, Mrs. Smith has a bunch of fun physical activities you can challenge her to. (Warning: I would recommend not to challenge her in a timed burpee contest)
5. Build your sports Trivia
You may live in places where it is not easy to get a physical workout anywhere. But if you’re still really missing sports in your life, why not try and build your sports IQ. Learn about a sports club’s history or even try to learn an entirely new sport. Maybe even start following the main league!
Hopefully some of these activities relate to you and you can try them yourself. Even if none of them interest you, taking a breath of fresh air every once in a while by walking outside helps maintain a healthy lifestyle. Wherever you are, it is important that sports and physical activity stay close to you, even when isolated and trapped from everything else.
