Five of Oceania’s players competed in the Asian Leg of the HSBC BWF World Tour last month, embracing the quarantine bubble both pre- and post-tournament.
This was the sacrifice Australia’s Gronya Somerville and Setyana Mapasa and New Zealand’s Abhinav Manota, Oliver Leydon-Davis and Anona Pak chose to endure upon entering Thailand and returning to their home country.
While some may think two weeks in a hotel to quarantine might sound like an opportunity to relax, the grind never stopped for Oceania’s players.
Over the last 48 hours, all five players successfully completed their stint in quarantine, lunging straight back on to the court, while some even prepare for a repeat as they consider a trip to compete in the upcoming European tournaments.
Listen to what some of the players had to say about their experience in quarantine and finding innovative ways to stay on top of their fitness:
Gronya Somerville
To stay fit, I made myself a goal of 1000cals on my Apple Watch each day. Getting a stationary bike in my room really helped and doing HIIT workouts helped to get my heart rate up. I did these for around 30-40mins each day and listened to podcasts which adds a sense of normality for me.
I also followed a yoga flow app most days for around 30-40mins. I liked this because it is relaxing and centering as well as I enjoy having an instructor/coach to lead and tell me what to do.
While we were away, I missed not having a coach. We had to motivate ourselves all the time and plan most of our own sessions. It’s nice not to have to think and just follow, also learn something new and try some new movements/poses I haven’t done before.
On down days when I’m not motivated, upbeat music helped me get energy back and be more positive. Waking up early and exercise in the morning also set a good tone for the day. From FaceTiming friends to using a foam roller, stretching and mixing up workouts helped to make it fun and more sociable. Bringing things like therabands was useful but there’s pretty much always enough things in the room alone to get a decent workout if you know enough exercises and get a bit creative.
Oliver Leydon-Davis
Having access to the static bike was a big help, though I was lucky enough to have a small amount of space that I could use to move a little. Most of my trainings were done using a kettlebell and some resistance bands, so there’s still a fair bit I could do with those as well as shadow hitting to try and keep the strength in my arm.
Additionally, I did some yoga/stretching to keep looking after my body. Everything was aimed towards trying to make the transition to going back on court this week as quick and smooth as possible, obviously the load is different but you can still prepare as best you can.
The hardest part was probably not being able to open the window afterwards!
Anona Pak
Anona took to Instagram to share many of her workouts, also managing to benefit from use of the outdoor space.
