JOHANNESBURG – Life as we know it has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing most people to remain home, and with no option but to make the most of the situation, Springbok Women’s lock Nolusindiso Booi is using the time wisely to train and study.
Her saving grace in terms of her training has been a medicine ball, which she has been using for extra weight while doing push-ups and squats among other exercises.
While Booi and her teammates have been placed on a home training regime, she also has a rehabilitation programme to follow after suffering a serious foot injury, which ruled her out of the Springbok Women’s team last season.
With running outdoors limited with a 21-day lockdown being imposed across South Africa from March 27, Booi is expecting her training to become even more challenging, especially now that she is back her in village in Middledrift in the Eastern Cape with her family.
But she says this will not stop her from keeping as fit as possible, especially with an eye on the scheduled Rugby Africa Women’s Cup between May and July.
“Training is somewhat challenging now that we have to remain home, and it will be even more so in the next few weeks as the full lockdown comes into effect,” said Booi.
“In the last few weeks we have had to report our times on 5km runs to the Springbok Women’s coaching staff, but that may have to change now.
“The important thing, however, is that we have training programmes and that we can continue to work on our conditioning, albeit indoors.
“The Springbok Women have been put on a home-based training programme, which mainly involves body-weight exercises, and thanks to my medicine ball, I have been able to add some extra weight with certain exercises.
“Obviously this type of training is not conducive to match fitness, but all athletes are in the same boat at the moment. So, my view is that we have to do whatever we can to keep as fit as possible, and once we are able to return to normal training we will have a base to work from.”
When she is not training, Booi, who is currently in her final year of her Business Management studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, has channeled most of her time into her studies.
“My studies have certainly been keeping me busy in the last few weeks,” said Booi.
“We have been given a fair bit of work to do and there are a few assignments due, so I have been splitting my time between my studies and training, which has brought about a good balance.”