Elite athletes keep on training in lockdown
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF PICKED UP HIS PHONE TO CALL TOP PERFORMERS IN SOCCER, BODYBUILDING AND CYCLING TO FIND OUT HOW SOME OF THE MOST ACTIVE PEOPLE ARE COPING WITH THE LIMITS REQUIRED TO COMBAT THE CORONAVIRUS.
I’M pottering,’ says the voice on the phone from St Alban’s on the outskirts of London. Pottering? Sorry, do I have a wrong number? Is that really Louise Quinn at the other end of the line? This is a woman who has scarcely had time to potter since she first started kicking a ball in the garden of the family home in Blessington more than 20 years ago. Pottering has certainly not been high on the agenda as she has made her way up through the footballing ranks from her local side to be on the books of the mighty Arsenal FC and a regular in an Ireland shirt too.
Pottering? The Louise Quinn we all know and love is to pottering what Rip Van Winkle is to night clubbing. Or at least that was the case up to a few weeks ago. Then this beacon of unrelenting energy was looking forward to making progress on three exciting fronts. First, the Gunner girls were still on the hunt for the Premier League title in England, or at least a top two finish which would admit them to the top level of European competition next season. Second, the club were due to play the famed Paris Saint Germain, home and away, in the quarter final of the Champions League.
And, as though that were not enough, the international scene was brewing up to be pretty exciting too, with key qualifiers against Germany on the horizon. And then along came Covid-19 to put an abrupt end to her gallop. So now, when she answers the phone and the caller asks what she is up to, she is likely to reply: ‘I’m pottering’. Pottering around the apartment she shares with French teammate and goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin.
The implications of the pandemic on the County Wicklow woman’s professional life are taking a while to sink in: ‘It’s still quite unbelievable, tough to get the head around,’ she admits, confirming that she is safe and virus free so far. On the one hand, she feels the lockdown is a challenge we should all try to take in our stride while, on the other, she finds the situation crazy.
Louise’s particular situation means that she is in England while her family is in Ireland, so there is plenty of activity back and forth by Facetime or WhatsApp. But still she comments: ‘It’s tough being away from home’, especially at a time when she expected to be back in Ireland at training camp with the international squad.
She and Pauline have been given reduced calorie diets by their coaches, along with a programme of work-outs involving weights and the exercise bike which they have in the flat. Highlight of the day is venturing out for a run around one of the selection of public parks in their locality. But perhaps the worst aspect of this weird regime is that no end is in sight: ‘You’ve got to take it as it
comes but we don’t know when we will play again.’
* Stephen Nolan is certainly someone who prefers to look on the bright side of life. The Arklow bodybuilder takes the view that being confined to home for most of the day by the threat of a virus is good excuse for increased intensity in his quest to be the best in his chosen sport. Never mind that work as a personal trainer has completely dried up or that his only companion during lockdown is a cat called Pepper. He has his own battery of weight training equipment, a stock of nutritious food and, besides, Pepper is genuinely good company in such circumstances at home in rural Johnstown.
So he spends his time plotting to retain his title as All-Ireland natural bodybuilding champion and, if that goes well, perhaps making a bid for world honours. The 38 year old points out that the national championships are scheduled to be staged in Cork during September when the coronavirus restrictions will have been lifted, with any luck.
Over the phone, the former taekwon do martial arts fighter and cross-country runner recalls how he took up body building four years ago. He found that some of the spring had gone out of his step in athletics but that his new interest opened up fresh possibilities for medals and titles.
Stephen’s chief weapon at the moment is his elaborate cable weight machine housed in the barn at Johnstown, which can be used to perform at least 100 different exercises. Each exercise works to tone up a particular muscle or group of muscles.
‘I was training at home anyway and I have always trained alone so it makes very little difference to me,’ he says of the impact of the restrictions. He confides that the lack of distractions actually means that the effect of the training is improved because he can focus exclusively on what he is doing.
‘You have to set goals and targets,’ he stresses. On the day he takes the call from your reporter, for example, he is concentrating on back exercises (75 per cent) and chest exercises (25 per cent) for up to three hours. The previous day was devoted to cardio drills and leg improvement. As he lives out of town, he can also throw in a four kilometre road run (two out, two back) without breaching the lockdown rules.
When not sending emails to clients or eating fish – his preferred source of essential protein – he settles down to watch a body building site on YouTube.
‘I am constantly learning and Athlean-X is one of the best minds in the game,’ he reveals as the source of some of his posing techniques.
* Lara Gillespie from Enniskerry. Remember the name because the 18 year old cyclist appears destined for high sporting achievement.
The teenager was the youngest member of Ireland’s pursuit team in the velodrome at the recent world championships in Berlin and is also being groomed for individual honours at the top of the sport.
The event was concluded just before the shutters came down and most of Europe went into lockdown. When the new rules come into force, she retreated to County Wicklow and the home she shares with her mother, her sister and her cocoon-ed grandparents, along with an abundance of cats, dogs and hens.
While the rules dictated by the coronavirus dictate that 100 kilometre spins on the road are now out of the question, she does not find them generally onerous. Instead, she is delighted to spend time with loved ones – a luxury she has not been permitted very often since she became a medal winning junior in championships all around Europe.
Her first sporting love was hockey but, with mountain biking circuits to hand in Enniskerry, she found she had a talent for life in the saddle and joined the Dundrum-based Orwell Wheelers. A natural all-rounder, she has developed as a formidable pedaller indoors and out, taking in road racing and cyclo-cross.
After sitting last year’s Leaving Cert, she accepted a sports scholarship in health and recreational science from UCD – but reckons she has only spent three full weeks actually on campus at UCD. The college authorities accept that she has commitments elsewhere.
With no velodrome in Ireland, Lara has been in Majorca with her international colleagues for much of the time. And she has also been signed up by the Belgian Illy Bikes team to compete in the top road races against professionals.
But with lockdown in force, Lara can train in her own time and prepare to take her university examinations online. The way she tells it, this is not hardship: ‘We live in such a nice place and I don’t mind training on the turbo.’
She explains the turbo is the ultimate stationary training bicycle. She can set it up in the garage and work away, while watching a movie or listening to music. The technology allows her to contest virtual races too amidst the comforts of home. Coaches Brian Nugent, Thomas Fallon and Martin O’Loughlin are in regular contact with suggestions for training sessions.
The family has been treated to her cooking. Forest walks are within handy reach. And the company is good. It could just be that life is better in lockdown.
She has heard from friends that some of them are struggling with the Covid-19 confines but Lara ruminates: ‘As an athlete, you are in quarantine anyway, so I am not missing out on much. This is a good time to appreciate everything.’