With all the athletes at UP complaining about how hard it is to train and study at the same time, one staff member
couldn’t stop themselves from asking the all-important question: How hard could it be? The staff member challenged
themselves to follow the diet and training routine of an athlete of their choosing. Katlego Thupana would be the athlete in question, a UP soccer player.
Day 1
The recess week began with projects to attend to and articles to write.I began the day with Thupana’s breakfast which consists of 3 eggs, 2 slices of bread with avocado, cheese, and tomato. This is a far cry from the energy drink-filled breakfast that I am used to, however, it was a pleasant change. After having breakfast and getting my work done, it was time to work out, and this began with a 15-minute run which, according to Thupana, is his warm-up, but to me, it was all I could do for the day. `Having heavily panted and failing miserably at the warmup, it was time
for lunch. Lunch was easier, it consisted of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. It was washed down with an energy drink, which is not a part of Thupana’s lunch, but was desperately needed. By the time dinner rolled around, I simply wanted some noodles and hot wings but begrudgingly stuck to the challenge of eating rice, broccoli, and grilled chicken.
Day 2
Subsequent to failing the first day’s exercises, I was ready to prove that I could be a UP athlete. This time I skipped breakfast, took a water bottle and started my training early in the morning. I skipped the torturous warmup run this time as well. There were three sets of twenty-five for each exercise and they were push-ups, squats, lunges, star jumps, and triceps dips. Back in the days of PE, I knew that push-ups were never my calling, therefore those were saved for last. The squats, star jumps, and lunges were easy. It was the triceps dips that made me call it a day on the exercising, forget push-ups, triceps dips are the real evil in this world.
Day 3
Rest day. Cheat day. McDonald’s day.
Day 4
This is the day I asked myself why I was doing this challenge. There is a reason UP athletes are athletes and that reason is: because they are ATHLETIC – a word I have never used to describe myself. However, for the rest of the week, I was determined to become a fraction of a UP athlete. This time, breakfast consisted of jungle oats with peanut butter -a simple yet impactful breakfast. Mid-morning load-shedding struck and it was the perfect sign for me to exercise. The same routine as yesterday, except this time I took Thupana’s advice to stretch beforehand, which worked like a charm. It only took three hours and many breaks in between but, I had finished his daily exercise routine. I was drenched in sweat, could feel my heart pounding, and had a growing sense of hatred for myself, but I had done it, I had trained like a UP athlete for a day.
Day 5
This day is known as the ‘stay in your lane’ day. This is because I woke up Friday morning with my body on fire and my muscles screaming. I could feel the throbbing pain in a place where I had no idea I had muscles. There would be no exercise today, only YouTube and couch sitting. I was not built to be a UP athlete and run marathons, instead,I was just built to watch them. That was the conclusion of my exhausting week of trying to become a UP athlete, it was not a success at all, there were many lows and few highs. I take off my hat to those who push their bodies every day while studying and are committed to being the top-tier athletes they are.
