I’ve always been active and thought lockdown was going to be really boring because a lot of the things that I would usually do to keep fit were cancelled however I think I’ve actually been even more active than usual.

Although we’ve been stuck at home I’ve been making sure to keep my fitness levels up. I am a flyer with Storm Evolution Allstars Cheer Team and we had just completed our first competition of the season when we were told to stay home. So although classes were cancelled our Coach very quickly set up virtual training and I train by using Zoom classes three nights a week. There are huge restrictions because Cheer is a team sport and we can’t meet up but we practice stretching and technique to work on our flexibility, conditioning to build strength and stamina and as a flyer I’m also required to do advance stretching and tumbling where we drill for back handspring, back tucks and pulling flyer positions.

In addition I have been following Chloe Ting’s high intensity working out programmes and challenges every day and doing Les Mill classes such as Body Combat, Barr, Body Balance and Sh’bam.

Like many others I was nominated to run 5km for the NHS 5,5,5 challenge which I was initially dreading but actually didn’t find it too bad once I started.

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During lockdown, I have been working on my new skills. I have been working on two in particular, aerial and back handspring. I built my way up by first of all starting doing some drills and done all of the skills I needed in order to reach my goal. Then I started working on the technique side of it all such as straight legs, arms and pointed toes. After that I decided to throw my tricks on the trampoline and tried it on there for a while before slowly moving down to the ground.

This week is mental health awareness week and I thought I should share my story of mental health in hopes of helping someone who may be reading this.

3 years ago I was diagnosed with depression, a mental illness that causes feelings of severe hopelessness and sadness, this made it extremely hard to do everyday tasks such as: going to school, eating properly, socialising and even getting out of my bed in the morning. Over these past few years, I have been working hard to learn how to live with depression and be able to cope with the struggles that come with it. I found that exercise/sport is one thing that has been beneficial for me, not only because of the chemicals it releases in your brain but also because it gives a sense of motivation. Knowing that I have basketball training to go to first thing in the morning almost forces me to get up as it can give me an outlet or distraction from my thoughts

Although I have become much better at controlling my thoughts and learned different ways to cope, it never truly goes away and that is something I would like to stress. People seem to think that you can ‘just be happy’ or ‘stop thinking like that’. It is not that easy, but you can learn ways to not let mental illness control or own you.

If you are experiencing poor mental health, I cannot encourage you enough to speak to a parent/carer, friend or even a teacher to lift a weight off your shoulders. Also some other positive things you could do is exercise daily, creating an outlet for your emotions whether that’s through art/music/sport and something I do most nights that helps me greatly is write down 3 good things that happened to me that day. It can be as simple as speaking to someone I miss over the phone to getting into a course I applied for. You are never alone in what you go through no matter how lonely you feel, every cloud has a silver lining.

Stay safe and show kindness!

Although all sport has stopped and I am not able to get on the water to paddle, I am still training 6 days a week, twice a day.

I had some competition goals for this year but they are on hold right now and I am lucky that I am at the bottom end of under 18 so have another year after this one as a Junior before moving to senior, so for now I am focussing on land based work in the hope that I am ready for when racing starts again.

I follow a training plan set by my coach which for me is focussed on lots of strength work and building endurance.

I am doing a lot of gym work, trying to add weight and power to the exercises and reps that I am doing

I have set myself a goal of adding 5 to 10 kg of weight this year, most of which needs to be muscle.

A typical week for me includes 3 or 4 runs (long distance and sprints), 3 or 4 Gym sessions and 5 ERGO sessions.

I also use a GPS heart rate monitor to record my sessions and to stay within the required level set by my coach.

I expect everyone reading this is hugely missing both watching and playing sports as it is a huge part of most peoples lives. I’m certainly missing sport, especially basketball.

At this time, I can’t imagine when or if all sports will return to normal.

All we can expect and look forward will be a new normal.

 So what will be the new normal?

Some sports will return quicker than others where it is easier to introduce safe measures.

 To our excitement we’ve already seen football return to the pitch in Germany this weekend. Huge changes were seen – no fans, player testing ahead of games, social distancing, and a disinfected ball to name a few!

There is also talk of tennis, golf, formula 1 and marathons returning soon but again lots of new measures will be needed. However, I still can’t imagine when close contact sports such as rugby, wrestling and basketball will resume.

Changes aren’t only for players – fans should expect a great deal of change as well.   Like the football we should expect empty stadiums at first with plans to gradually build up to say 25% of stadiums filled.

Some of the changes we are starting to hear about introducing for all sports are:

• Temperature checks before entering.
• Hand sanitizer everywhere.
• Need to wear masks when inside and queuing.
• No / limited food options and fans encouraged to bring their own.
• Fans having to bring clear bags so security guards can see what is being brought in without normal security checks.
• Social distancing seating.

There’s no crystal ball so we can only wait to see how things progress over the coming weeks and months.

During lockdown I have been aiming to exercise between 2 and 3 times a day, one of them being my hour of outdoor exercise. I have been completing online workouts, stretching daily like I would be if I was in cheer or dance. I have also been walking, cycling or running during my outdoor exercise period.

I would also like to say that during this stressful time exercise has became very motivating and has almost forced me to get up and be productive throughout the day. All in all, I have really been enjoying my exercises every day and I am thankful to still be able to.

During this lockdown me and 6 other boys from my football team agreed to do the covid 190 challenge to raise money for the NHS our challenge started on the 1st of may and we were to run and cycle 304 kilometres, everyday for this challenge I will run 5k in the morning and do a 7k cycle at night so far we have raised 1700 pounds so far i have ran 25k and cycled 35k

Since lockdown began, I’ve had my Fitbit on every day to make sure I fit some sort of exercise into my daily routine. I have been on daily walks and cycles with my family. I have also played football and basketball with my little sister to make sure she increases her exercise each day. This week I have started the couch to 5k challenge to try something new. I have made the 10k goal everyday easily.

I have also completed daily online workouts. I have done at least 2 workouts every day to keep active. I have been trying out Chloe Ting’s workouts such as the 2-week abs workout, lower abs workout, 2-week shred challenge and plank challenge. My favourite one is the plank challenge and would definitely recommend it, but I’ve not managed to persuade my mum. I have challenged her to do the Lucy Wyndham-Read 7-minute workout which we have done regularly

I am hugely missing basketball with the school and Falkirk Fury. Lucky, I have a basketball net at home and have been doing regular challenges set by Fury and Basketball Scotland using the homecourt app to improve my technique and develop my skills.

People tend to underestimate how difficult it can be, both mentally and physically, to attend the next game after being off from an injury or losing the last game. They are different scenarios, yet the outcomes are usually like one another. During pre-game warmups you begin to feel anxious, the adrenaline is high, and your mind is racing. Most likely worrying about ’what if I injure myself again’, ‘what if I have become worse’, ‘what if the team are much better than ours’. The dreaded ‘what if’. This is the worst phrase you can fill yourself with. Thinking of all the poorest possible ways the game could turn out which ultimately breaks through all the positives. Then comes doubt. Doubt of yourself, your team, your ability to play well. When the game finally starts, the mentality you have is very weak which will negatively impact on your performance. After the first 15 minutes, that is when you start to feel better but by then it may be too late as the opposing team could have a great start. 

Naturally when returning to a game everyone can get anxious, but it should never take over, this is easier said than done of course but as soon as you begin to spiral into the anxieties, self-deprecation etc. you have already lost. There are 2 main thought that can combat the negativities: trust and belief. Trust in the rehab you have being going to if you were injured. Trust in the coach who would never put you in the game if they didn’t think you could cope. Belief in yourself as an individual and belief in your team when playing together. With these 2 thoughts alone, you will go into the game optimistic. Thinking of the future and how it may turn out can be toxic as its simply something that no one knows or can control Therefore, it is far more beneficial/ healthier to focus on the present and how you manage these situations to come out the best performer you can be! 

Hope Murphy