In a normal week, junior Henry Thatcher would go to the gym six days a week to work out. While COVID-19 has stopped him from going to the gym, it has not stopped him from finding other ways to stay healthy.
At the start of the shutdown, Thatcher assembled a home gym using various household materials to continue his fitness aspirations.
“I took books around the house as weights, put them into backpacks [and] then hung them along PVC pipes to create a barbell […] for benching and other exercises,” Thatcher said.
Thatcher said he has gained 15 pounds of muscle since April and has kept his body fat percentage low.
“In my opinion, my home gym has benefitted me as much as a [real gym] would have,” Thatcher said. “I have made more progress during [COVID-19] than the other years when I went to the gym.”
Thatcher said the shutdown not only allowed him to understand his own body type, but also how to exercise efficiently to make as much progress as possible.
“Since I had so much time on my hands during quarantine, I was able to watch more fitness videos and nutritional videos,” Thatcher said. “These videos are what helped me make tremendous progress.”
Thatcher said anyone can become fit during this time as long as they have the will to do so. Thatcher was able to build this through multiple motivational speeches that he watched when he did not want to work out when he was at home.
“People who say they cannot exercise during [COVID-19] have their mind stopping them from reaching their full potential,” Thatcher said. “I once had my mind stopping me from working out, but I [stumbled] upon motivational videos while scrolling through YouTube, and [they gave] me the motivation to not give up and workout.”