Strathmore banks on home workout for team’s fitness
Strathmore University men’s handball coach Peter Mwathi has designed a home workout programme for his charges as the school remains closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mwathi, alongside his fellow coaches at the university’s sports department, made sure the programme was up and running just two days after the university closures took effect.
With all athletes in the institution accustomed to strength and conditioning sessions at least twice a week under normal circumstances, a schedule was created from that and so far, the tactician says the response and commitment is good.
“From the same exercises that our athletes are used to, we came up with this schedule, cutting across all disciplines, so they have no problem executing.
We, however, provided a list with varying activities and one can choose what to do.
For accountability purposes, they fill out a form with the activities they engaged in and the number of repetitions.
They are also provided with data to enable them send short videos of their workouts to their respective coaches,” said Mwathi said yesterday.
From sit-ups, bicycles, wide leg sit-ups, leg climbs, mason twists to fifer scissors, the schedule has provided numerous workouts for abs, quads, glutes, triceps, biceps back and chest.
“We decided to make it simple as not everyone can get equipment for working out while home.
It is also achievable with just a small space in the house especially for those living in town houses that do not have a lot of space.
The programme also deliberately excluded any form of runs in readiness for any eventualities like total lockdown,” Mwathi added.
The tactician says the programme will help the athletes remain fit as professionals and provide for a smooth return to action when the pandemic is finally controlled.
“Fitness is an integral part for any athlete and with that taken care of, I envision a week or less to get my team in competitive shape when things return to normal. The week will mostly go to ball handling and runs,” the coach said.
In the spirit of fairness, Mwathi opines that the Kenya Handball Federation (KHF) league should be called off and everything to start afresh.
As the league went on break, Strathmore were top of the table with 34 points from 17 wins in 18 matches.
National Cereals and Produce Board are second (30 points) from 15 matches.
