Quarantine was hard for everyone, but the temptation of unhealthy foods and not working out was harder for athletes.

Over quarantine, schools, businesses, and activities had to get shut down for safety issues. Athletes and those who work out couldn’t go to their usual facilities so they had to find different alternatives.

Walking, biking, or even working out inside homes were great alternatives to working out during the pandemic. Many gym instructors also did Zoom classes for people who still had the motivation to keep their bodies in shape.

Others did not have motivation to work out. The people who did not feel motivated may have gained weight and may have lost their motivation even after the lockdown was lifted.

Students at Pattonville have struggled to get back into their school sports because of “quarantine weight.”

Lauren Barton, a junior at PHS stated if her mindset has changed about working out since the pandemic hit.

“It hasn’t really changed my mindset on working out,” she said. “I still wanted to work out but I never really had the motivation, but once sports started it was easier to motivate myself outside of doing sports at school.”

Diet played a very important role in quarantine for athletes or people that work out. For most, it was hard trying to eat healthy food all the time and so breaking the chain wasn’t really that hard.

Tamia Dockett says that she ate more unhealthy food during quarantine but she’s limiting her intake of carbs and sugars now.

Some healthy food that are great choices to eat are fruits, vegetables, smoothies, nuts, etc. Some unhealthy food choices that you should limit are items that are very high in salt and sugar, fast food, etc.

Although athletes around the world may have had their downfall during quarantine, most of them got back up and pushed even harder.

Quarantine has had a big effect on a lot of aspects of life including physical fitness. Morale and fitness may have been affected poorly, but athletes in schools have made quite the comeback.