Due to the pandemic, school-organized winter sports activities have been postponed for over a month. This includes practices, competitions, and other in-person meetings. Winter athletes have been questioning whether they would be able to return this year. Fortunately, Governor Tim Walz announced that winter sports practices could start on January 4th, 2021. 

With all of that time away from their team and practices, winter athletes have needed to find creative ways to train at home. Communication between players and teams have also been limited, which has forced players to find their own way to practice while alone. Furthermore, local gym spaces have been limited. We interviewed multiple winter athletes about their training routines at home. This is what they had to say:

Dance Team Captain: Trista Hoang (Senior)

What have you been doing to stay in shape? Have you been able to create a training routine at home?

“We currently have Zoom practices from Monday through Friday for an hour and a half each day while Saturdays are dedicated conditioning/workout days. Right now, Wednesday is the only day that we’re all together in one zoom while all the other days are dedicated to jazz practice in our separate Varsity, JV, and B-Squad zooms.”

Have you been able to stay in contact with your team?

“Yes, we have! Every week we make sure to have a spirit day every Wednesday and another team bonding activity on Friday. As a Varsity Jazz Team, we also have put effort into doing virtual hangouts and play[ing] some games over Zoom as well!”

What is a benefit/downfall of training at home?

“We have been lucky to be the only winter team sport as of now to have a season! Although we started in person, we’ve been practicing virtually for the past 3 weeks now. Though it’s not the best circumstance that we hoped for, we’ve learned to be grateful for what we have and it has made our team grow closer together! Some of the biggest struggles over Zoom is probably the limited space (many people have hit couches, tables, ceilings for the tall people, etc.), the lack of energy that we usually get with the presence of our teammates while dancing, and the delay of the videos because you never know who has the right timing and who doesn’t.”

Boys Swim & Dive Team Captain: Jacob Frost (Senior)

What have you been doing to stay in shape? Have you been able to create a training routine at home? How has it been?

“I’ve been doing workouts between 5-15 minutes in length a few times a week. I try and focus on doing workouts that correlate with diving (abs, flexibility, etc.). My training routine really just consists of doing stuff in my room, no machines or big lifting.”

Have you been able to stay in contact with your team?

“I’ve been able to stay in contact with my team. We have a group chat that we constantly text in, and we’ve done a few Zoom meetings just to see how everyone’s doing.”

What is a benefit/downfall of training at home?

“A downfall of training at home is that you’re not training with your teammate. Being on the team for four years now has shown me the importance and benefit of having training partners and fun times with your brothers. Overall though, we have to keep going hard to keep our fitness up so we can hit the ground running if and when we have a season.”

Boys Basketball Player: Nick Kontz (Senior)

What have you been doing to stay in shape? 

“Well, I don’t enjoy running too much, so I’ve gotten really into jump roping lately. I work 30-minute circuits once a day in the morning getting in around 1500 jumps.”

Have you been able to create a training routine at home? How has it been?

“Luckily, I have a dad who is currently out of shape and has built a home gym in our basement, so my approach [to] weightlifting hasn’t been altered too much. I will say [that] I have been able to get more creative with my workouts now that I have time to research and create a routine with exercises I enjoy rather than following a plan made by a coach.”

Have you been able to stay in contact with your team?

“Since the second official lockdown, there has been much [less] contact between the team aside from [our] group chat.”

What is a benefit/downfall of training at home?

“The biggest benefit of training from home for me has [got to] be the ability to access food at any time. Me being a skinny dude, school doesn’t really increase my ability to gain healthy weight, but now that I’m home, I’ve been able to get into a good routine where I’m eating around 5-6 meals a day rather than the 3 or 4 I would normally get in during a school day.”

Girls Hockey Player: Isabella Pellegrom (Senior)

What have you been doing to stay in shape?

“My sister is a personal trainer who holds HILIIT [high intensity, low impact interval training] and barre virtual classes 5 times a week that I attend. I have also been going on walks with my dog and doing yoga on my off days.”

Have you been able to create a training routine at home? How has it been?

“It has been really nice having a regular schedule with my virtual workouts. Plus, it has been easier to work out since my sister texts me every night before asking if I’m joining, and it’s hard to say no. I am also very grateful to have an at-home gym to workout as well.”

Have you been able to stay in contact with your team?

“My team held a couple [of] information zooms at what was supposed to be the beginning of the season. We were actually able to safely hold captains’ practices at first before shut down, and we’re getting ready for tryouts. Now that our season is pushed back again, our coach is holding two mini-workout Zooms every week and has set up a girls hockey program through the website that Eagan Train[ed] is using so that we can have other options for keeping in shape.”

What is a benefit/downfall of training at home?

“One of the benefits is that I can keep my workouts specialized to me and what I need help strengthening. The downside is that it is a lot harder to get motivated by yourself. It is also more enjoyable to workout with friends than alone.”

Boys Hockey Player: Nicholas Krahn (Junior)

What have you been doing to stay in shape?

“To stay in shape, I’ve been going on runs and doing workouts via Zoom with the hockey teams three times a week.” 

Have you been able to create a training routine at home? How has it been?

“I’ve been able to use a room in my house as a workout room with things like weights, cones, etc. to use to stay in shape. It’s been fine to use but not as good as being with other people.”

Have you been able to stay in contact with your team?

“I’ve been able to stay in contact with the team by having Zoom meetings every weekday. We go over strategy and do our workouts.”

What is a benefit/downfall of training at home?

“[The] benefits about training at home are fewer distractions from other people and the need to hold yourself accountable. A downfall of training at home is the camaraderie that you have if you were with the team on a normal basis.”