Tips and Motivational Tricks for Athletes Working Out From Home

Plenty of high school athletes work out on their own at home, but it’s not usually the only thing they’re doing, as it is now amid the coronavirus crisis. With an eye on the challenges in both logistics and motivation that athletes may be facing at this time, The Independent reached out to Bert Reid of Olympic Physical Therapy and Steve Canter, local endurance athlete and former football coach who works in leadership development, motivational speaking and life coaching, to get their advice.

Training

Reid is a co-founder of Olympic Physical Therapy, which has offices in Wakefield, Barrington, Bristol, Middletown, Tiverton, and Warren. He has worked closely with elite athletes in many sports, in addition to being involved in high school athletics. OPT offices remain open, with precautions in place and the option for virtual visits.

Reid breaks general fitness into categories, which can help inform the creation of workout plans. Anatomical lifting features isolated strength training to build bigger muscles. Think bicep curls, deltoid raises, and weight machines. Functional training focuses on bigger, whole-body movements like lunging, squatting and rotational rowing that foster integrated rather than isolated movements. Sport-specific training is aimed at a particular activity, like non-throwing programs for baseball pitchers, strength training for running and explosive power training for football. And cardio is designed to raise the heart rate into a training effect for cardiopulmonary fitness.