Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 129, April 2020 | Page 20

where you basically do 2km every day for 21 days. I have done up to 5km in
our yard – that’s about a gazillion times around the house! – but our terrain is
unfortunately not suitable for race walking, so I had to change to running the
challenge. My brother and I also did a bleep fitness test. We thought it was a great
idea to keep us entertained, but I couldn’t believe how my lungs burned after that!
WALK
THIS
WAY
By Anel Oosthuizen
YEAR OF THE
POSTPONEMENTS
I am sure by now everyone is tired of reading all the
negativity around the current situation in the world, so I
have decided to focus on the positive, and while we are all
in this together, we might as well make the best of it.
W
hat a crazy month this has been. I have lost count of how many races
have been cancelled or postponed all over the world, but the one that
was probably the most spoken of in athletics circles was the 2020
Olympic Games. I spoke to a few people when the news broke and everyone was
down in the gutter, with motivation low. This is totally understandable, because they
had been building up for quite some time now, training hard, spending money to
attend qualifying races overseas and so forth.
My training had also been going really well, walking my best times in over three
years. So it was disappointing for a lot of us. At least, that was my initial reaction.
But there have been too many times that I have been disappointed and allowed it
to get to me, where I felt sorry for myself. And that got me nowhere. So the more
I thought about it, the more I realised that it is all about perspective, and that the
Olympics being postponed should be the least of our worries at the moment.
Meanwhile, I have also turned our garage into my personal gym (minus all the
mirrors), and have been training there at least 30 minutes a day. I mainly use only
body weight, but do more reps because of that. In general, I don’t use weights that
often, but like to use them for squats or back extensions, for a little extra weight.
Overall, I focus specifically on the muscles that I use in race walking, such as core,
glutes, arms, hip flexors, etc, and the exercises I am doing include:
• Opposite arm and leg raises
• Jumping Jacks
• Push-ups (really good for the arm strength needed in race walking)
• Back extensions
• Leg raises
• Flutter kicks (great for core engagement, especially in speed training)
• Sit-ups/crunches
• Lunge kicks (great for glutes muscles)
• Planking (a LOT of planking!)
• High knees
• Squats
• Side crunches (I realised a while ago how weak my oblique muscles were
thanks to this exercise!)
Lastly, I do a type of still standing walking against a wall. Place both hands in front
of you, stand away from the wall, feet planted, legs straightened about a fist away
from each other and lean in like you would be pushing the wall. Then lean into the
one hip with your leg, bending forwards with that leg, swinging it in as if you were
race walking. Alternate the legs/hips for about 10 minutes. This is a really good
warm-up exercise.
Making the Most of It
Obviously, all athletes feel a little frustrated not being able to get out on the track
or open road to train, but I don’t necessarily see it as a negative thing. We all know
the reasons, and I am thus using this time to regain focus and regroup. I have had
a lot of time to think about future goals, what I can work on in the meantime. I also
am taking this time to rest, to work on myself and my motivation.
We’ve all had a tough time processing what is happening, and that it will probably
continue for a couple months, but just think about it as a way of getting time to do
the things you love, time to do the things you say you never have ‘time’ for, and
time to realise that ‘time’ is the one thing we should never take for granted. Happy
training!
Even training in the backyard is better
than no training - all you need is a
positive outlook to still have fun
Lockdown Training
With that being said, I’ve had some time to focus on other things in training that have
kept me indoors and sweating, while still having fun and passing time. At the moment
I am focusing a lot on core, overall body muscle strength and high intensity cardio
exercises, like burpees, skipping, etc. Adapting was really difficult in the beginning, as
I am used to just going out on the open road and doing a quick 10km, whereas now I
barely have a 100m stretch to train in. Makes quite the difference!
I soon realised that creativity was the only thing that was going to pull me through
this… and keep me sane! So I joined the Mzansi Marathon Lockdown Challenge,
20
ISSUE 129 APRIL 2020 / www.modernathlete.co.za
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Race Walker Anel Oosthuizen is a multiple SA
Champion and Record Holder, and represented SA in the women’s 20km at the
2016 Rio Olympics.
Therefore, I made a life-changing decision to find at least five positive things about
of something that is seemingly negative to everyone else around me. Allow me to
share my positive thoughts with you on the postponed Olympics:
1. More time to get fitter and faster.
2. More time to get stronger mentally.
3. More time to work with my coach to ensure that we are 100% ready when
2021 comes.
4. More time to save up for a proper European season!
5. More time during 2020 to enjoy doing all the things we long to do, and more
time to appreciate that we are healthy and able to do something we love.