Athletes keep physically and mentally during the Covid pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, competitions, Olympics, and all sporting championships must be postponed indefinitely. Athletes, like people in general, must stay at home to avoid infection with COVID-19. The condition of the COVID-19 pandemic can certainly affect the performance, physical health and mental health of athletes.

Athletes are physically and mentally at risk during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major challenge for athletes. They train throughout the year in preparation for various competitions and championships. However, their hard work and hopes were suddenly taken away.

Training facilities are closed, events and season at all levels are canceled. According to experts, this affects not only their physicality but also the mental health of the athletes.

In the Premier League, for example, Liverpool football club has almost locked the championship trophy this season. The trophy they've been dreaming of for 30 years. Now the fate of the Premier League is not yet clear, whether it will be continued or annulled. If it is disallowed, of course this will be a painful season for Liverpool and their supporters.

In Indonesia, all competitions in all sports are also stopped. Persib Bandung football club has become an unlucky team, having held more than half of Indonesia's League 1 victories in hand.

In addition to the regular leagues, there is the XX Papua National Sports Week (PON), and high school and college level competitions that must be stopped until the pandemic is over.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, athletes are forced to stay at home to maintain physical performance with minimal facilities and with high potential for mental stress.

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Athlete's performance and physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic

The physical condition of the athlete will decrease if routine training activities stop. In just one week, the body's performance will decrease by approximately 50 percent. This applies to all people who regularly do physical exercise every day.

Athletes are accustomed to a high portion of training in maintaining and improving game performance. One that supports athlete's performance is VO2Max or the maximum oxygen consumption of a person when doing high-intensity activities.

Andi Fadhilah, a physiotherapist who has also worked with the women's national football team, explained the process of decreasing performance in athletes who are forced to reduce the portion of their physical training.

Currently, athletes do not get the same portion of training as they do during the competitive season. This causes VO2Max to decrease.

The decrease was about 10.1 percent within 5 weeks when the portion of the exercise (including intensity, duration, and frequency) was reduced.

This reduction in exercise portion also has an effect on muscle performance. In an athlete, there are many locomotion cells (motor neurons) which is active when a movement occurs.

If not stimulated by movement or physical exercise, muscle contraction is reduced or absent and the driving cells die. Less contraction in a decreased portion of the exercise results in a decrease in muscle strength.

"So for example an athlete stopping training means decreased muscle ability, decreased endurance, decreasing power, and when power decreases, agility and performance also decline," explained Fadhilah.

There are three things that athletes need the most, namely strength (power), resilience (endurance), and agility (agility). All three must always be trained to maintain an athlete's performance. When the three of them decrease, automatically the athlete's playing ability will also decline.

The mental health of athletes must be maintained

Apart from taking care of themselves physically, there are other things that athletes must pay attention to when they are on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, namely mental health. Clinical psychologist Denrich Suryadi said that during this pandemic, athletes can be met with feelings of anxiety.

"There may be anxiety not only because he is afraid his performance will decline, but also because there is hope from his supporters," said Denrich.

In addition, the matches that were postponed affected the mental readiness of the athletes. There is the possibility of a delayed victory which leads to decreased fighting passion.

"Optimism may also be disturbed. There may be doubts whether they can be this prepared when the match is held sometime in the future, “explained Denrich.

Therefore, the physical and mental health of athletes are the same two things that need to be maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is important for athletes to be able to deal with feelings of stress and disappointment. Maintain optimism and the belief that they will be able to compete at their best, "stressed Denrich.

Exercises that athletes must do to maintain physical performance

As long as the COVID-19 pandemic has not been resolved, athletes must maintain mental and physical health at home. The following sports must be done to maintain athlete's physical performance during physical distancing.

1. Cardio exercises at home. Cardio exercise can be adapted to the current conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be changed in various forms by adjusting existing facilities at home.

2. Weight training to maintain strength. For those of you who are not athletes, it is enough to use your own body weight to train strength.

3. Endurance training (endurance). Resistance training is much like strength training, the difference is in the dosage. This exercise should be done continuously, for example in five minutes divided into five sessions.

Before doing all these exercises, athletes must know their body's needs so that the portion of their training will match their needs. In these conditions, a physical trainer is needed to measure and provide an appropriate exercise schedule every day.