2020 has been a tough year for sport throughout with major events like the Olympics being cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Athletes throughout the world have had to adjust to a whole routine with all competitions being cancelled and lockdown being announced over and over. We had the chance to talk to Pol Parilla, an ex Spanish Youth International who has changed his sporting nationality and is currently part of the French National Training Squad. He has just moved from Terrassa to France to play for Saint Germain HC. Going into a second lockdown, Pol explained how he had to adapt his routine in order to stay in shape for when the season would resume.
Although this move seemed to be a promising one, everything had to be put on hold as France entered a second lockdown at the end of October. The lockdown meant that training sessions could still go ahead, however, there was also a curfew at 9pm, which prevented training at the usual time. Training sessions had to be rescheduled, but as it is not a professional sport, many players in his team who worked away from hockey were struggling to make it to training in time and that was a further complication for their team.
“In France everything has stopped until the end of January, when the league is meant to resume but nothing is set in stone. At the moment no team is training and everything is stopped.”
He goes on to add, how in his team they have no set plans but have to keep fit on their own. When it comes to fitness, Parrilla preferes fartlek running as it is a great test for strength and endurance, which are two key factors to his game. With strength training as no gyms are open and no weights available, he resorts to bodyweight crossfit training with the use of resistance bands. With the training time being increased from 1 hour to 3 hours Parilla can now workout with another teammate, however, this is only possible as they are classified as elite athletes.
One of the main struggles that most athletes faced during lockdown training is motivation. Parrilla goes on to add how he found it extremely difficult to be motivated to train when there are no hockey games to look forward to on the weekend. He motivated himself by setting small routines and habits to make it easier to follow through with his sessions whilst music was a key factor in motivation.
Although lockdown is a difficult period for any athlete, one must look at the bigger picture and what they are working for in the long run. “In the end, the intention is to try to keep in shape so that when he returns the league is at its best and in his case also for the EHL at the end of March in Amsterdam.”
With outdoor hockey being on pause and indoor hockey cancelled in most countries athletes have another month of trying to stay fit on their own which is not an easy challenge, however not an impossible one.
Let us know how you have been keeping fit during lockdown. If you are struggling with ideas and motivation, keep an eye out for our Scorrd Workouts!
