CURIG, CHENA B.

BSN-III

IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

How would the athletes cope up with their trainings amidst coved-19

DEFINING THE PROBLEM

Sport is a major contributor to economic and social development. Its role is well
recognized by Governments, including in the Political Declaration of the 2030 Agenda, which
reflects on “the contribution sports make to the empowerment of women and of young people,
individuals and communities, as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives.”

Since its onset, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost all countries of the world.
Social and physical distancing measures, lockdowns of businesses, schools and overall social
life, which have become commonplace to curtail the spread of the disease, have also disrupted
many regular aspects of life, including sport and physical activity. This policy brief highlights the
challenges COVID-19 has posed to both the sporting world and to physical activity and well-
being, including for marginalized or vulnerable groups. It further provides recommendations for
Governments and other stakeholders, as well as for the UN system, to support the safe
reopening of sporting events, as well as to support physical activity during the pandemic and
beyond.

LISTING OF PROBABLE CAUSES OF PROBLEM

Some challenges that athletes are experiencing in the midst of Covid-19 Pandemic are the Following:

 Anxiety
 Depression
 Gaining weight
 Thought of being unfit
 Lack of Will Power
 Lack of proper training equipments
 Irregular exercises
 Laziness
 Others

The COVID-19 virus can be transmitted by close contact through respiratory droplets (such as
coughing) and by fomites (any inanimate object or substance capable of absorbing, retaining, and
transporting contagious or infectious organisms) (27,34,46), and COVID-19 can persist on inanimate
surfaces such as metal, glass, or plastic for up to 9 days if there is no inactivation by surface disinfection
procedures (23,45). Given this alarming scenario, a strategy to effectively combat COVID-19 is to
maintain physical distance from other people, a term commonly referred to as social distancing. Aside
from containing the outbreak to prevent further spread of the infection, which would result in more
deaths, recommended interventions include increasing the volume of tests performed on individuals
suspected of having the disease, canceling events that generate agglomerations (mass gatherings), and
restricting human mobility, the so-called sanitary cordon (2,25). In this sense, authorities around the
world have adopted different strategies, such as lockdowns, home confinement, and other restrictive
measures, meaning a large number of people are required to remain at home.

The stoppage of amateur and professional athletic events around the world, including sports such as
basketball, football, soccer, rugby, baseball, tennis, and recently the Olympic Games, illustrates that the
sport world is also an important part in this scenario and has a fundamental role in the containment of
this pandemic. As a result, those directly and indirectly involved with these events have been impacted.
For example, sports managers must consider new dates for competitions; sports journalists and TV
programs do not have events to broadcast; and stadiums are closed to fans. In this context, the training
routines of a significant number of athletes around the world have been abruptly interrupted. This
change causes serious damage to the quality and quantity of training, with further distancing of the
athlete from the reality of their daily training in the traditional preparation sites and uncertainties about
the future. Physical, technical, and psychological damage is inevitable. To the athlete, significantly
reducing training and losing their physical performance capacity can mean loss of competitiveness in the
return to competition. Thus, sports science professionals and scientists are challenged to help athletes
deal with some of these relevant aspects during this period. This article aims to alert athletes to the
need to maintain a conditioning routine during this period.

ANALYSIS FO PROBABLE CAUSES AND FORMULATION OF ACTION HYPOTHESIS

Considering the possibility of a quick return to competition, strength and conditioning

professionals and athletes need to pay attention in this period to an exercise routine, which will prevent
injury after return to the normal sport calendar. A complete strategy for injury prevention at home
should include mobility and flexibility, body weight exercises, core stabilization, balance, and
proprioception. These functional training routines require simple equipment and not much space.

Another point to consider is that the detraining period can induce an increase in both body mass
and body fat mass. Thus, this should be considered, since in addition to body fat having a negative
association with physical performance in many modalities, the athletes are divided into categories
related to body mass (e.g., combat sports and powerlifting). Therefore, a sharp increase in body mass
during home confinement may require athletes to drastically reduce their body mass before competing.

For the conditioning routine during home confinement, athletes can include exercises within
their possibilities of physical space and available equipment (e.g., barbells, weight plates, dumbbells,
kettlebells, and bands). In this case, if there is another family member using the same equipment, the
cleaning of used equipment, followed by disinfection using chemicals to kill the virus on the surfaces is
an essential practice for the prevention of COVID-19 in households.. Individuals tasked with cleaning and
disinfection of equipment should be familiar with manufacturer recommendations (including virus kill
times) for the products used. For those who do not have equipment, exercise routines without
equipment (e.g., jogging, squats, burpees, push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching) may be good options.
However, athletes should be aware of the intensity of the sessions and the state of recovery to avoid
immunosuppression, which can be facilitated by mental stress. In addition, it is important to avoid
prolonged periods of sedentary behaviors, such as sitting or lying time, and screen time (e.g., TV, cell
phone, computer, and video games) during this home confinement.

Finally, athletes can take this period by studying the tactical aspects of the sport, the opponents,
and themselves. After this home confinement, the interactions and specific tactical behaviors of the
players may have decreased the autonomous stage learning. Therefore, in this period, athletes could
improve their declarative tactical knowledge, such as match and performance analysis of their own team
or opponents, besides visual search cues strategies.

ACTION PROGRAMME

With the large-scale spread of this coronavirus and the knowledge of its transmission, most
governments introduced heightened measures to control its spread (Taylor et al., 2008; Dong and
Bouey, 2020). These measures include the use of protective equipment and the introduction of non-
pharmaceutical protocols such as social distancing, hygiene guidelines, and, in more severe cases, a total
lockdown (Cowling et al., 2010; Schinke et al., 2018). The consequence of these measures implied that
gatherings of people were not welcome (Dong and Bouey, 2020), and as a result, many sports events
earlier scheduled were cancelled or suspended due to the high risk of spreading the virus. The major
events postponed include the Olympics slated to be held in Tokyo, UEFA Euro Cup, UEFA Champions
League, and CAF Nations Cup qualifiers (Samuel et al., 2020). Most football leagues and competitions
were also affected by safety measures. In Nigeria, the National Sports Festival was postponed
indefinitely, pending advice from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (Okpara, 2020). As expected,
the postponement of these competitions came with a lot of economic hardships on host cities and
sports event organizers. Sports fans also had their fair share. These postponements also have a
significant psychological influence on the athletes who are to participate in these competitions.

Most studies have focused on the psychological implication of pandemics on the general
population (McAlonan et al., 2007; Taylor et al., 2008), with very few paying attention to special
populations like athletes in recent times (Turbeville et al., 2006; Pillay et al., 2020). Recent research on
home confinements as a result of the coronavirus have shown that athletes experience negative
psychological effects (Dong and Bouey, 2020; Toresdahl and Asif, 2020). In fact, some studies have
revealed that athletes experience mental health challenges just like the general population and are
therefore not immune (Gouttebarge and Kerkhoffs, 2018; Schinke et al., 2018; Pillay et al., 2020). On the
other hand, other studies have stated that sports provide a protective effect that prevents psychological
disturbances. For example, a study was carried out to compare general health in athlete and non-athlete
women (Alamdarloo et al., 2019). The study found out that athletes differed from non-athletes in
anxiety and severe depression, with the mean scores for these two variables lower in athletes compared
to non-athletes. Similarly, another study suggested that physical activity in the right quantity has the
potential to reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression (Siefken et al., 2019). It seems that there is no
agreement as to the existence of mental health problems among sports athletes due to the belief that
sports prevent ill mental health. However, recent studies on mental health in sports among elite
athletes have revealed that, compared to the general population, athletes are under-diagnosed, and the
culture of mental toughness promotes this situation (Schinke et al., 2018). Many athletes who exhibit
these ill mental health symptoms, such as distress, burnout, depression, or sleep disturbance, adverse
feelings or thoughts, and drug abuse (Gouttebarge and Kerkhoffs, 2018), hide it from their teammates
and coaches due to the mental toughness culture that pervades the atmosphere.

Furthermore, athletes who suffer from these conditions may not inform their coach or
teammates for fear of losing their playing position. If they compete in individual sports, they may not
want to be deprived of competing against an opponent. Studies have shown that individual sports
athletes are at a greater risk of psychological distress than team sports athletes (Tasiemski and Brewer,
2011; Purcell et al., 2019). Mental health challenges have been suggested to be more prevalent in
individual sports athletes compared to team sport athletes (Pluhar et al., 2019), owing to the nature of
individual sports. Specifically, individual sports athletes have to deal with both success and failure on
their own, while team sports athletes enjoy a shared responsibility (Mladenović, 2019). Furthermore,
team sports provide more social opportunities compared to individual sports in which there is no peer
support. This situation may be tougher for athletes who are much younger and inexperienced (Nicholls
et al., 2016).

Overcoming De-Conditioning

For those waiting around for their sport to resume, most physicians says that the athletes they’ve seen
are doing a great job working out on their own. If an athlete has become somewhat out of shape, they
recommend these tips to safely re-enter a sport:

For runners or endurance athletes, start slow and increase your mileage or intensity by 10 percent per
week to avoid overuse injuries.

For sports like basketball that require bursts of energy, 10 percent increases can be harder to gauge.
Focus on gradually ramping up and paying attention to the difference between normal muscle soreness
and discomfort or pain.

Have sharp, targeted pain checked out by a physician before continuing to play.

Eat nutritious meals and stay hydrated to support your body and immune system.

FOLLOW-UP AND COMMUNICATING THE FINDINGS TO OTHERS

Talk it out: Identify people you trust who you feel can be sources of support and guidance during
this time. Stay in touch with your coach and teammates via text, video, and social media. Connect with a
mental health and/or mental performance professional for additional support in working through your
current experience and concerns; use the Certified Mental Performance ConsultantⓇ (CMPC) search
tool to find someone to meet with virtually.

Consider how you want to continue engaging in your sport: While keeping the latest social
distancing and general recommendations in mind, you may be able to continue training to a certain
degree. You can use your new-found time to rest and recover, engage in other interests, manage school
or work commitments, and/or continue training or maintaining your level of fitness. It’s important to
consider what is best for you right now and over time as our situation progresses. You may also want to
discuss this with your coaching staff, perhaps revising goals or expectations together.

Remember your “why”: Even with no competition on the horizon, reflecting, remembering, and
recommitting to your “why” or reason for training and competing in your sport, can help you to remain
positive and motivated.

Focus on physical and mental fitness: If you decide to continue investing in your training, it may
be easier to continue improving flexibility, strength, your mentality, and other areas during this time.
Ask your coach, athletic trainer, or strength and conditioning coach what you can physically be doing or
explore virtual training options through various apps and programs (some of which even allow you to
compete virtually against other people or avatars) such as Zwift, Garmin, MapMyRun, Strava, and
ErgBuddy. You can improve mental skills such as confidence, focus, goal setting, relaxation, or
visualization by finding a CMPC®️ to work with one-on-one or by using an app such as Headspace, Calm,
WellU, woop, or Fit Brains. If you are an athlete within a collegiate, Olympic, or Paralympic program, we
recommend reaching out to administrative personnel in your department or program to ask about what
sport psychology professionals are available to work with you.

Establish a daily routine: We have decent control over decisions we make about how we start
and end our days as well as items we prioritize daily or weekly. Solidifying morning and evening
routines, getting enough sleep, and deliberately incorporating other acts of self-care (e.g., journaling,
engaging in personal hobbies, and eating nutritious foods) into our lives helps to partially reestablish
feelings of control and comfort while supporting our health and well-being.