Covid 19 Coronavirus: Locked down with top NZ boxer and strongman in Bay of Plenty

National boxing champ Ariane Nicholson and strongman champ Rich Farrell are working out in isolation. Photo / Supplied

With the fridge at arm's length and what seems to be an unlimited supply of television shows and movies available spending the Covid-19 alert level four lockdown lazing around the house would be easy. As enticing as that may seem, it isn't any good for a person's physical or mental wellbeing. To help Kiwis stay motivated to keep active - even just slightly - Bay of Plenty's top athletes are sharing some top tips and home workouts. Kristin Macfarlane catches up with national boxing champ Ariane Nicholson and NZ Strongman Masters Lightweight Champ Rich Farrell.

Limiting Netflix episodes to one a day is one way national boxing champ Ariane Nicholson avoids falling into habits she'll have to recover from.

As strong as the temptation is to binge-watch her favourite show Ozark, Nicholson knows it won't help her in her bid to gain Olympic qualification at next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Nicholson and her partner, New Zealand Strongman Masters lightweight champion Rich Farrell, have been living in isolation about a week longer than most of New Zealand after returning from Jordan where she competed in the Asia-Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament in March.

National boxing champ Ariane Nicholson and strongman champ Rich Farrell are working out in isolation. Photo / Supplied

Though unsuccessful in that campaign she still has one more shot and the postponement of the Olympics to next year means she has to stay in fighting shape for a longer timeframe - in isolation and beyond. She may not have all the gear she normally would for her everyday training but what she does have is a like-minded partner, who also needs to stay on form to retain his position in his sport.

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"The Olympics is super important for me, to keep my fitness and skills up as best as I can. You work so hard you don't want to let it all go," Nicholson said.

Farrell has been working from home so the pair will train together in the afternoons. During the day, Nicholson has to stick to a routine because she had one final shot at Olympic qualification but because she didn't know when that would be it was motivation to stay ready.

Farrell said they were "creatures of habit" so a regular schedule worked for them.

"It's hard, my first week-and-a-half was really hard ... I did relax a little bit but I had to be really, really disciplined in like week two," Nicholson said.

"I still have quite a bit of structure in my day, we're reduced to four days a week instead of five but I still wake up at very similar time and finish work at the same time. I'm quite lucky in that way. It's not that bad for me personally because I've got that structure," Farrell said.

It hasn't meant lots of sparring sessions, it has been explosive strength workouts, crosstraining and builder lifting. She's also started yoga and she's been running in her backyard of Pāpāmoa Beach. She said she's also spent a fair bit of time in the gardens, which can be a full body workout on its own, and allows herself a rest day which can mean a 12km walk.

National boxing champ Ariane Nicholson and strongman champ Rich Farrell are working out in isolation. Photo / Supplied

Farrell had been training four times a week building up for two major strongman competitions this month but with both being put on hold indefinitely and living in lockdown, he's adapting to what he can do. He now trains two days on, and one day off - a different routine that he's used to but retaining structure.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

"We were peaking for those comps but now it just about starting from the base again and trying to maintain some type of strength until we find out when the competition," Farrell said.

"It's quite easy to get unfit and pack on a few pounds over the lockdown but structure is the main key.

"This Covid is obviously a little bit different than normal but in athlete life you quite often get setbacks like this when you re-injure yourself and you just have to look at what you can do with injuries or setbacks so this is a pretty similar to that really, look at what you can do until you're able to get back into the full swing of things."

He said his biggest battle at the moment is not being able to get away from home and encourages people to just get out of the house for at least a walk regularly.

"The main thing is to keep the mind strong at this time. Getting out of the house and going for walk. Most people probably don't actually go for walks so you can just build that up, a couple of ks a day, next day three, four, five then by the end of the lockdown you'll probably be walking 10-15ks a day."

"That'll do wonders for all the little niggles that you have all your sore joints from sitting on the couch watching Netflix for too long, the body starts to hurt if you sit down for too long I find."

Ariane Nicholson and Rich Farrell's tips to remain active in isolation:
Keep some structure and routine for your day.
Set aside an hour a day dedicated to keep some level of fitness and be active, whether it's going for a small walk, a run or even some gardening.
Get some fresh air.
Allow yourself to have a rest day.
Be kind to yourself and look after your mind.
Adjust the difficulty level of your walk but carrying a backpack with some weights inside.