The King's Sports teachers have been working hard to provide pupils with remote workout sessions and advice on staying positive and mentally stable during these circumstances.

It is fantastic to see so many of you engaging with the workouts and content being shared on the King’s Spirit.

Please do not underestimate the importance of remaining active during this difficult period. Make the most of the opportunity to get outside for your daily exercise, whether it be for a walk, run, cycle, as the benefits are undoubted. It might mean getting creative with what space, equipment you have available at home but please do enjoy being active during this time. Not only will it make you more productive with your academic work, in that your concentration will increase, but exercising will also have hugely positive effect on your mental wellbeing and self esteem.

Keep engaging with the King’s Spirit and look out for the challenges and initiatives coming your way in the coming weeks.

- Henry Eriksson- Head of Sport Co-ordination

New Challenge...

Land's End to John O'Groats - Click here for full details.

Here are some upcoming challenges and highlights from the Sports Department...

Weekly Beat The Teacher Challenge

We will record one of us doing a challenge which will be sent out at the start of a week and then hopefully pupils will send photos/videos/scores of them doing it by the end of that particular week

Saturday Morning Run with Mrs Griffiths

At 10am every Saturday we are going to encourage people to run and send photos of their run and surroundings

Share a great sports match for people to watch

We thought as there is no live sport, sending links of great sports matches for people to watch over a weekend

The Toilet Roll Challenge

We also thought off the back of the toilet roll challenge, can we challenge groups of pupils, parents, departments to complete their own? This might be quite fun?

Watch this brilliant video of the Sports Teachers Toilet Roll Challenge...

Have a look at some of the workout sessions they have recorded for pupils...

Some of their key advice is:

• Get into a routine sleep pattern - this can stop us from feeling lethargic, sleep is great for recovery, with your age and exercise levels you need between 7-8 hours of good quality sleep. Try to limit blue screen before bed, read something before lights out this will help you switch off and take you away from the stress of it all. Stick to a routine of waking up and going to bed at the same time, this will help with your circadian rhythm which is beneficial for us both mentally and physically. Sleep is vital for recovery!
   
• Exercise - try and stick to the same training times throughout the week instead of being sporadic about it. If you’re a morning person do your sessions in the morning, if you’re an afternoon/evening person try to complete your sessions then. Routine is vital moving forwards, we want to avoid becoming lethargic in the way we go about our days and losing motivation to train.
   
• Setting yourself daily tasks - this can be fitness related or just lifestyle in general. Giving yourself daily tasks to complete provides us with a sense of accomplishment, that we have achieved something throughout the day. Small accomplishments help set the momentum for the next which keeps us on track or heading in the right direction for our wider targets.
   
• Nutrition - keep a healthy balanced diet try and avoid unnecessary ‘cramming’ throughout the day. Now that we are all living a more sedentary lifestyle, let's not fall into bad habits and putting in ‘empty’ or unnecessary calories. Keep a nutritionally dense meal (this will help with the immune system as well which is vital at this moment of time) and try to keep meal times similar throughout the week. Make sure you are fuelling and refuelling correctly pre/post workouts as well.
   
• Hydration - we should be drinking roughly 1.5-2 litres per day and an extra litre for every hour of exercise we do. This is key for recovery processes (regulating body temperature, water replenishment etc.) but also key for supporting absorption processes within the body, but also a great way of ‘flushing’ any infections through the system. Finally it is excellent for improving cognitive function, which then relates back to our daily tasks. Those who train with me would have heard me say many times ‘Hydration is concentration’.
   
• Finally fresh air - I know you are all doing the sessions which can be indoors or outdoors, however, fresh air is key both physically and mentally. Yes we are isolating but this doesn’t stop us from getting a daily walk in. Those of you who have been on my programmes know I try to encourage a walk or cycle on rest days. This just helps stimulate the mind, it takes us away from the stresses of reality and still keeps us active at the same time.

Following these basic steps will prove vital for us all during the situation especially as we begin to move into the lengthy periods of isolation. This will help us maintain positive mental health throughout, as I know some of you will be getting frustrated with the circumstances. Stay in contact with one another and support each other.
 

Some quotes that the Sports Department staff find inspirational:

Mr Eriksson - “The harder you work for something, the greater you will feel when you achieve it” (Anonymous)

Mrs Griffiths - “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” (Haruki Murakami)

Mr Corbin O'Grady - “It’s never crowded along the extra mile” (Wayne Dyer)