Staying at home more means we aren’t going out and getting the small doses of regular exercise that we might get otherwise. Thankfully, Locomotive FC Manager of Sports Performance Gabe Zapponi has the answers with his at-home workouts.
Twice a week on the El Paso Locomotive FC YouTube Channel, Zapponi hosts roughly 40-minute workout sessions to keep your body moving in an effort to keep the mind and body fit and healthy.
“Through these tough times, it’s about minimizing the anxiety that could happen from staying at home,” Zapponi commented. “To be honest, it can be kind of uncertain so we’re trying to minimize that. You can start feeling depressed and bored. I feel like putting the workouts out there gives the people some type of routine which is good through this tough situation that we live in right now. If you go without any type of routine, you’re probably going to go crazy because you’re not eating the right foods, doing what you’re supposed to do and you start to lose a sense of time. Once you come back to work, the idea is not to feel you’re too behind. It feels like you were still in a good routine and good habits. That’s the idea, not to lose good habits or at least minimize how much you’re going lose in the sense of good habits.”
The workouts started as training sessions for the Locomotive squad, through Zoom calls every Wednesday in high-intensity workouts. After the sessions, Zapponi would leave the calls going for the players to chat and their kids to interact with each other and have some social time together. Building that sense of togetherness during these tough times of social distancing was the driving force behind expanding the workouts to a broader audience.
After getting positive feedback from the players, the workout sessions opened to the front office and after even more positive feedback, Zapponi turned towards the fans and the community.
“We are in a very good position to provide for our community and our fans,” the Brazilian said. “Of course, we would like to be on the field but since we are not able to, we have to find a way to connect with them. That’s how some of the front office staff and I felt that we could connect.”
Zapponi took the workouts he and the team do every Wednesday and adapted them into something that fans could do at home. The ideas, the methods, and the principles are all the same, however, the Manager of Sports Performance knows that the club might have equipment that people at home might not.
“The methodology is to be as simple and efficient as possible,” Zapponi said. “There is very little adaptation from the players to the fans and people at home. Due to the potential lack of equipment and not being sure what people have available at home, I had to adapt and make sure everyone at home is able to do the workouts we put on.”
Keeping the workouts simple and efficient was a method the University of Central Florida graduate focused on when broadening the workouts for the fans to follow. Zapponi noted over the last few weeks there have been many crazy and unsafe ideas he has seen on social media for at-home workouts, and advises the Locomotive community to keep their workouts safe and simple while finding a good pace with rest between reps and sets.
So get some music, put on your favorite Locomotive gear and follow along with Gabe Zapponi and the rest of the pros in their workout sessions on El Paso Locomotive FC’s YouTube Channel.