by Misha Fabian
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing everyone to stay indoors, all gyms and recreational facilities have been closed until further notice. Many of the country’s finest athletes have taken to doing their workouts at home to keep them in tip-top shape for their future competitions. Read on to see what they have been doing:
Hidilyn Diaz (Weightlifting)
Perhaps one of the greatest Filipino athletes in history, Hidilyn Diaz rose to fame when she won bronze during the 2019 World Weightlifting Championships. She went on to bag medals for the Philippines and was even awarded 3 gold medals at the 2020 Weightlifting World Cup. Currently, Diaz is situated in Malaysia where strict home quarantine protocols are being implemented throughout the country. However, that doesn’t stop Diaz from working out and focusing on getting stronger. In the videos she’s posted on social media, Diaz can be seen using everyday household items in order to keep her strength up.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rURwnjE3-/?utm_source=ig_embed
Christiana Dimaunahan (Basketball)
A skilled baller from the National University Women’s Basketball Team, Dimaunahan has been working towards being the best and most efficient athlete she could be. She has loved basketball ever since she was a little girl and has long dreamed of playing in the big leagues. In spite of being out for 6 months due to an ACL injury, she has been consistently training herself in order to get back into top shape. Her coach lauds both her passion for the game and her powerful shooting ability, saying that she is a vital asset to the NU Women’s Basketball Team. In order to keep herself at the top of her game, Christiana has been working out at home. In a couple of her Instagram videos, she can even be seen using water containers to improvise for weights.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-4Yca1pakm/?igshid=1pojoj3abtbec
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-Rk8ivpJAm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Pauline Lopez (Taekwondo)
Bemedaled taekwondo athlete Pauline Lopez has not let community quarantine stop her in her fight to the top. Among her most recent achievements are two gold medals at the 2019 SEA Games and bronze at the 2018 Asian Games. On her Instagram, Lopez has posted a few videos of her working out at home. As part of Nike’s initiative to #playfortheworld and encourage staying at home, Lopez also took to Instagram to show a video of her working on her kicks using a kick pad at her home in the States.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-CAREnjlW1/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-LgmiSDg3j/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Carlos Yulo (Gymnastics)
Carlos Edriel Yulo won the hearts of many after his stellar performance at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he bagged the gold and bronze medals in his events. The 20-year-old gymnast was set to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan which have been postponed to next year due to the pandemic. In a Facebook video from Munehiro Kugimiya, Yulo can be seen using a set of weights to practice his technique even under quarantine.
https://www.facebook.com/100003640735001/videos/1900336306764375/
Jocel Lyn Ninobla (Taekwondo)
Another skilled Taekwondo athlete, Jocel Lyn Ninobla proves to us that training never stops by showing the workouts she’s been doing at home to stay in fighting shape. The Filipina jin was able to earn a gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games for the women’s individual poomsae competition and is striving to become a better athlete by continuing to work on her skills.
https://www.facebook.com/jocellynninobla/videos/671665580294551/
Diego Dario (Basketball)
One of the University of the Philippines’s star basketball players, Diego Dario has carved his path from collegiate basketball to professional basketball. He now plays in the PBA for Blackwater Elite. Dario has always let his fans see what he does to train himself to be a star athlete but since the citywide community quarantine was imposed for Metro Manila, he even made workouts for people to follow.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B96xYQngrDy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9yhgE6A6R4/?utm_source=ig_web
Julian Macaraeg (Speed Skating)
It’s hard to develop athletes for winter sports in a country that doesn’t experience winter, but speed skater Julian Macaraeg doesn’t let that deter him from chasing his dreams! Macaraeg represented the Philippines at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, earning himself a 13th place finish. Since then, the teenage speed skater has set his sights on skating at the Winter Olympic Games. In spite of community quarantine guidelines, Macaraeg has been hard at work training himself off the ice at his home in New York.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-jt8_WHtBc/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Philippine Soft Tennis Team
The members of the Philippine Soft Tennis Team have been staying in shape thanks to their coaches and the home workouts produced by the application Homecourt. Some of the team’s members were able to garner the gold medal during the recently concluded SEA Games in the Philippines. The athletes have been posting videos of their workouts on their Facebook page where they focus on their agility, strength and balance. Some of the athletes are even seen working out with their rackets to simulate the feel of hitting the ball.
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.arcilla.19/videos/3520378164655296/
https://www.facebook.com/bienzoleta/videos/10158021046172604/
Ernest Obiena (Pole Vault)
Pole vaulter Obiena has been known for breaking and setting records in the pole vaulting scene. He was the first of the Filipino athletes to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan and was able to bag the gold medal for his discipline at the 2019 SEA Games. Prior to that, Obiena was also able to bag the gold medal at the 30th Summer Universiade which was held in Napoli, Italy. Following Nike’s The Living Room Cup series, Obiena posted a video of him and Brazilian athlete Thiago Braz trying to get as many reps of Cristiano Ronaldo’s core workout as possible in 45 seconds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-m85VWqpP6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Michael Christian Martinez (Figure Skating)
In 2014, Martinez made history as the first ever Filipino to participate in the Winter Olympic Games which was held in Sochi, Russia at that time. He went on to represent the nation in yet another Winter Olympic Games. This time, it was during the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. While Martinez has not been actively competing for a while, he says that he wants to get back into the competitive scene and has been training rigorously to do so. On his Instagram, he can be seen practicing his jumps off the ice and doing some strength exercises to keep his form intact while in quarantine.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wXRW6l7pZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
