Virtual meetings during confinement to exercise together and maintain contact
The block, the collective, has always been something highly valued within the Alberto Contador Foundation for its different sports structures. As it is the first of the formations that saw the light, in 2013, and for its firm formative vocation, the group has a special predicament in the junior foundation. These times of confinement due to the state of alarm decreed in the context of the fight against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic are not easy to manage either physically or mentally in the corridors. But new technologies are emerging as great allies to keep that flame of union and friendship alive.
One last example took place during this special Good Friday of 2020. All the members of the junior team organized a small meeting through a video call platform during which they shared training sessions and exchanged experiences and confidences. Good vibes in times of confinement Solutions to stay on track beyond the races. A meeting of all the staff where the physical trainer Jorge Ramos and the director Guillermo Gutiérrez did not miss any pedals.
“We have always been characterised by teamwork, by comradeship. These are things that can be greatly enhanced at training camps and during races, in terms of coexistence and the atmosphere it creates. In the day to day, in the week to week, in short. With the calendar stopped, this is not possible. But that team consciousness still exists. It’s a great way to keep it together. The boys were delighted,” says Guillermo Gutiérrez. The Cantabrian headmaster, another consequence of the confinement, celebrated a different birthday this Saturday, 11 April.
“I honestly thought that this situation was going to be much more difficult and, above all, boring for me; but it’s been quite the opposite,” said the Valencian Pablo García about these days of confinement. “It’s going fast between routines. In the end you organize yourself with the tasks of the institute and Jorge’s training. When you realise you have a little time left to play with your friends on PS4, which these days is also playing its part”.
Regarding the group training, García continues: “It’s a very good idea because this way we all keep in touch. The work on the roller is normally endless, but with initiatives like this one it passes very quickly, seasoned with the anecdotes of these days that we are telling each other. But we’re also on other platforms, like Zwift, where those of us who have the application connect several times a week and get together to do some races”.
“We are not used to train on the roller and the fact of seeing your colleagues at home sweating with the indications of Jorge was even fun. It was a very enjoyable training session. We were about an hour and a half doing strength series to not lose all the work done so far. The part that I personally liked the most was seeing the director suffering on the bike. Joking aside, in the situation we found ourselves in, these moments of laughter with our colleagues, doing what we like best, are priceless”.
(automatic translation, sorry for mistakes)