Heels At Home: How Student-Athletes Are Staying Fit While Apart

Heels at Home

Tar Heel student-athletes have had to display discipline, dedication and creativity to remain fit while social distancing. Read on for more about how they've done it, some from their hometowns and some from their off-campus housing in Chapel Hill.

Greg Gatz, Director of Strength & Conditioning for Olympic Sports:
"This has been a challenging time for everyone and everything related to the success of our student-athletes. For the strength & conditioning coaches, who are responsible for developing and managing athlete performance, health, and well-being, we are battling the similar working situations that occur during the normal breaks in semesters and part of the summer months when the athletes on campus are gone. We normally know when the athletes will return to campus and plan accordingly. The difference now is the training period is open-ended, so current planning is probably going to be more like two to three weeks at a time, get feedback, then plan again."

Leah Church, Junior, Women's Basketball
"To stay in shape during this time at home, I have been doing workouts my strength coach, Coach Jason (Beaulieu), has written up for me. Most of these strength workouts thus far have consisted of body weight exercises involving several variations of squats, lunges, pushups, etc., as well as core circuits.

Michael Goldfeder, Redshirt Freshman, Wrestling
"Our strength coach back in Chapel Hill, Nick Vetell, sent us lifts to do. I guess the biggest thing with wrestling is mostly consistency, especially for our team – Coleman (Scott) drills that in. You have to stay consistent because if you let up, you start developing bad habits and then it all starts spiraling down. So, it's just always staying consistent and always getting at least a workout in a day for us. And that's just what we've been doing. Nick just sent us lifts. A lot of the lifts, they're more geared toward at-home workouts, bodyweight workouts. But thankfully, I have weights, so I can get my workouts in, which is good."

During the year, Tar Heel student-athletes lift and train in outstanding facilities. With those facilities off-limits and with local gyms mostly closed, they're using what they have at home.

Joe Heilmann, Sophomore, Wrestling
"With everything shutting down, I have to get creative with the workouts I'm doing at home. I don't have too many weights at my house so I've been using five-gallon buckets that I can use in multiple exercises. I've been jumping rope to improve my footwork as well."

Michael Oh, Junior, Baseball
"I am trying to use whatever resources I have to keep my body strong. I have been doing a lot of band-resisted push-ups and rows. I put a towel over my door and close it, so I am able to do pull-ups and shoulder movements. For conditioning, I have been doing sprints, bounds and jumps outside. I am just trying to find ways to stay active and healthy."

Anna Keefer, Junior, Track & Field
"During this time, I have been creative with my training. Minnesota is still very cold, so most training is inside. Being at home, I'm lucky enough to have a weight rack where I can do all of my Olympic lifts. I have been doing bike workouts to keep up endurance and resistance band sprints."

Dallas Tessar, Senior, Baseball
"On my patio, we have about four cinderblocks with wooden sticks kind of in between them. One of them we're using for legs, like deadlifting. One of them we're using for biceps and triceps. We're going caveman-style at the moment. It's not much, but it's getting the job done."

Beau Corrales, Junior, Football
"The strength staff has been really good communicating and they're giving us creative ways to work out. We're filling up backpacks with books and weights we have around the house. We're just finding a way to get it done. We've been talking about not having excuses all semester, and during this time, that is more relevant than ever. I'm really proud of our team and how everyone is trying to take this tough situation and turn it into a positive."

Alle Sanford, Junior, Women's Tennis
"When school was cancelled, I drove down to Florida with Sara Daavettila to get out in the warmer weather. We stayed for a week and made a plan each day centered around getting outside and having a structured hit and workout. We have either come up with our own workout, googled YouTube videos to follow, or followed the plans our UNC Strength and Conditioning coaches made for us. We're now back in Chapel Hill trying to do the same. It's nice we're together to motivate each other and keep things happy and fun."

Angel Zarate, Sophomore, Baseball
"Before anything else, I miss being at the stadium with my brothers. At home, I am just doing simple workouts to maintain my strength since all the gyms are closed. I am doing a lot of ab and leg circuits. I believe that push-ups are underrated and I try and do at least 50 a day. Additionally, I am running 30 minutes every other day and after every run or workout, I do a 10-15 minute yoga session. I would do anything to be back in Chapel Hill but before we know it we will be back and getting ready for next season."

Erin Matson, Sophomore, Field Hockey
"I think it is super important during this time to not only stay connected with our teammates but also make sure that we are holding ourselves accountable and staying in shape. We can start up right where we left off if everyone continues to work hard, and I know everyone's excited to get back together! Our strength coach, James (Ayscue), has been great with designing strength and conditioning plans for us that we can do at home, so I have been enjoying those. Secondly, I have always loved yoga, so I have been working on my flexibility since that will help me with field hockey, too. We also have a Keiser bike at home like the ones we have in Loudermilk, and I saw that Peloton is doing at 90-day free trial right now so I have been loving doing their workouts to change it up and be challenged in a different way. Right now is a great time to do everything we can to make sure we are primed and ready for when the team can get back together, and working out is the time of the day that I look forward to the most!"

They've tried to keep their sport-specific skills sharp, when possible. This, too, has required some adjustments in mindset and also some creativity.

Jamie Ortega, Junior, Women's Lacrosse
"Shooting was at first tough to get back out there and do because like it's just so weird. Like, why am I home, shooting on my high school field alone? It's definitely still hard, not doing it with the team and just being alone. But just trying to stay active, just to calm my mind so I don't go crazy being quarantined with my family. There is really nothing much to do."

Parker Austin, Freshman, Volleyball
"I've been playing some controlled wall ball. My sister and I have created a makeshift volleyball net out of some pillows and a bench in my parents' bedroom where we play some three-touch controlled pepper. I've been trying to see how many one-handed touches I can do – so far I'm at 247."

Staying active while staying at home: the Austin family edition *no furniture was broken in the making of this video Read » https://t.co/LVp9SmdYV0#GoHeels • #TogetherWeWin pic.twitter.com/UaRJbLh0ls — Carolina Volleyball (@UNCVolleyball) April 9, 2020

Dominique Monteon, Freshman, Softball
"I work out in my home gym in my backyard and take my dogs on runs around my block. I stay active softball-wise by hitting off a tee into a bow net, and practicing glove work with my dad."

Austin Hitt, Senior, Men's Golf
"With golf, they are actually considering it a safe activity so my golf course is still open. I've also found myself jogging around the neighborhood and watching some fitness videos on YouTube."

Leah Church
"I'm fortunate to have an outdoor basketball goal with a three-point line and free throw line painted on the concrete, so I'm able to get shots up, daily, on my 'basketball court.' I'm also using this time to work on my ball-handling and have been doing some two ball dribbling drills, as well as implementing some tennis ball dribbling drills to help improve coordination. I think it's important to be innovative during this time and understand that working out, staying in shape and improving your game doesn't always have to involve a weight room and a gym."

Backwards quarantine edition... 😂#InHouseChallenge pic.twitter.com/Mfvm3rctjn
— Leah Church (@leah_church3) March 17, 2020

Above all, Tar Heel student-athletes have worked to find the motivation to keep training, no matter how unorthodox the situation. In some ways working out, along with academic work, has provided a structure in uncertain times.

Tomon Fox, Junior, Football
"Our strength staff lives by the mottos 'Nobody Cares' and 'No Excuses' so they were unfazed when the issue of not being able to be on campus came up. They have done a great job of keeping in touch with all the players to make sure we are being active no matter where we are. Everyone has remained positive and excited about workouts as if nothing changed."

Dallas Tessar
"As athletes, we live in our facilities, we live in the weight room. And it's kind of weird. I mean, this is like probably the first time in all of the athletes' lives where we haven't done anything, where we're all sitting at home and can't go anywhere, can't go train at our craft. It gives you some perspective of how just kind of precious life is and precious the opportunities are that we are given."

Greg Gatz
"All of our staffs are collaborating and using every possible resource through communication, correspondence, and technology to create training options, some unconventional, that fit each individual training environment, while continuing to motivate, inspire, and challenge them. We know our student-athletes will respond and continue to push themselves anyway possible, even if isolated, because it's the Carolina way."

Heels At Home: How Student-Athletes Are Staying Fit While Apart

Players Mentioned

Parker Austin

Leah Church

Beau Corrales

Sara Daavettila

Tomon Fox

Michael Goldfeder

Joe Heilmann

Austin Hitt

Anna Keefer

Erin Matson

Dominique Monteon

Michael Oh

Jamie Ortega

Alle Sanford

Dallas Tessar

Angel Zarate

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