Motivation
- Thread starter jfk
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It's very tough. I'm spending quite a bit of time in the gym at the moment (inc an hour this morning).
It's definitely mind over matter and making myself do something I'm not keen on doing (much prefer pitch sessions) but hopefully it'll be worth it once football starts up again
It's definitely mind over matter and making myself do something I'm not keen on doing (much prefer pitch sessions) but hopefully it'll be worth it once football starts up again
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You’re sure not alone. My primary ways of staying fit are reffing, playing basketball, and playing soccer—with the gym mixed in. And haven’t been able to do the key ones since March. I took up tennis with my son, but that’s not close to the others for fitness, but at, least is easy to motivate to do. I’ve also been doing running and some biking, but definitely harder to motivate to do as I don’t enjoy them the way I enjoy the other things. I know I’m going to be doing catchup once the world gets back to normal. But I am finding it a bit easier to motivate with the vaccine being at least a light at the end of the tunnel—still seems a small light, but at least a light.
Hmm full blown tennis should be a Mega workout. Very HIIT.
Although I wouldn't expect myself to be able to play at a level that would provide sufficient HIIT,
It's difficult. Do you referee to stay fir or fit to referee? The former, will be difficult for motivation I expect.
I would say I am in the latter and the thought of going back to refereeing keeps me focused on staying fit. I've slacked before and found my games really tough. Knowing that keeps me going
I set the calorie goal on my Apple Watch to 960 per day. I then don't really care how I get there, but I have to hit that target. I'll generally burn about 200 to 300 from general activity just walking around the house, and to get up to the 960 I'll need to do 90 to 105 minutes fast walking, or a gym session plus a bit of walking (can't do that as in tier 4). I'll typically get up early and go for an hour walk before work, then a shorter walk at lunch time
Before anyone says it, yes I know the calorie estimate on Apple Watch isn't accurate, but it is still a goal to aim for. In the initial lock down I dropped from 82kg to 72kg under just over a month, and whilst I eased off in December and over Christmas and really didn't eat healthily or exercise much, I'm still only at 73.4kg.
Before anyone says it, yes I know the calorie estimate on Apple Watch isn't accurate, but it is still a goal to aim for. In the initial lock down I dropped from 82kg to 72kg under just over a month, and whilst I eased off in December and over Christmas and really didn't eat healthily or exercise much, I'm still only at 73.4kg.
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Alas, our games are not that developed!—we literally just started playing in about June when tennis courts were allowed to reopen. It’s not hoops or soccer, but better than nothing.
It can be really tough. I've always had a very good baseline fitness which came from walking 3 miles a day to/from my car to/from work, which, when coupled with 2 matches and a gym session each week was more than enough to keep my fitness up and the weight off.
I started running every day when lockdown hit in March and even if it was only a quick 2k in the rain, I found it really helped. I set myself weekly targets and challenged myself to go faster and faster week on week, which kept the motivation up. Appreciate that it's tough to stay motivated during the dark and cold evenings, but I've found that the fresh air helps so much, particularly after being stuck inside working from home and on video calls all day.
I started running every day when lockdown hit in March and even if it was only a quick 2k in the rain, I found it really helped. I set myself weekly targets and challenged myself to go faster and faster week on week, which kept the motivation up. Appreciate that it's tough to stay motivated during the dark and cold evenings, but I've found that the fresh air helps so much, particularly after being stuck inside working from home and on video calls all day.
I dont find walking helps at all. Having owned dogs for 10 years I walk around 4 miles a day, at least. X 2 miles twice per day and it whilst it makes me a fit walker I don't see that translate into general fitness. If I relied solely on my walking I would be out of my depth on my games.
I actually started working with a virtual personal trainer. I have a list of different running exercises that I can do either outdoors, on my treadmill, or at the gym. (Side note - at least in my state, gyms are still open. However, we are required to wear a mask except at a weight machine station.) I also have strength exercises that I can substitute/adjust based on whether I'm in a gym or using the limited equipment I have at home or my body weight.
The personal trainer has definitely kept me accountable.
The personal trainer has definitely kept me accountable.
I'm kind of the opposite, with my dodgy knees if I did loads of running I wouldn't be able to referee. Which being honest is the main reason I stepped back down from level 3. I was getting through games fine and still getting praise for fitness, but then not able to train properly for days. Sooner or later that was just going to lead to (even more) injuries, and eventually not being up to speed in the games.
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FWIW, when I've had knee and foot flareups, I've found an elliptical machine is an effective way to "run" without any impact. It's helped me. (Alas, I don't have access to one right now, but fortunately don't have any flareups.)
My sense on walking is that it helps for general fitness, but not for referee fitness. We need to sprint (among other things), which is a different demand on our cardio and leg muscles. (Aside: when I was in high school, one of the guys on my basketball team was a water polo player--a very good one who I believe went on to play in the Olympics. And, well, water polo players are in amazing shape--I remember walking by their practices where they were treading water while holding folding chairs over their heads. But when he got to basketball practice, which started right after water polo ended, he would die on the basketball court because it was so different.)
I do think that walking on recovery days is very important for 1) continuing to be generally active and 2) to get rid of some of those general aches and pains that come with officiating. If I work matches both days like I did this weekend (even for indoor games on a 55 x 30 yard field, my steps-related activity is showing me between 2.2 and 2.5 miles per 40 minutes - I think that seems somewhat accurate as I generally walk at a 16-17 minute pace per mile when walking for exercise), that means I'm somewhere between 10 and 25 miles for the weekend depending on how many games I do - I did this in August when I did the equivalent of four matches each day in a tournament), I definitely make sure I get some sort of walk in the following day.
So I do think walking can be a part of a referee training program, but it should be more of a recovery tool.
EDIT - As someone who played American football and basketball for a while, I was never in basketball shape just from playing football. The conditioning for football - short bursts of energy followed by 20-30 seconds of rest - was not conducive at all to basketball. What was interesting is that my younger brother only played soccer in high school his senior year because it was the program's first year. He said he only played soccer to get in shape for basketball, and he was in the best shape on his team when basketball practice started.
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Specificity!
They are indeed, as are exercise bikes with the seat kept high.
I had an elliptical until yesterday until I dismantled it and took it to the recycling centre to make way for mew new and much better exercise bike arriving today. Which was a mistake as that is now delayed due to lockdown 3.0 ...
