Page 9 - Regent Digest - Vol 8 Issue 30

SHORT STORIES SERIES - LOCKDOWN INSPIRATION

P A G E 9

FACULTY OF LANGUGES — YEAR 7

KEEPING FIT DURING LOCKDOWN
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1 Honourable Mention : Maduabuchukwu Osai - 7 Senegal
While everybody was going about their daily activities such as children going to school, adults going to their
places of work, traders and business owners doing their work. In Wuhan, a province in China, there was an
outbreak of a virus known as COVID-19

The outbreak became pandemic as the rate of spread was rapid. In order to contain the spread as it is a deadly
virus, nations began to shut down their borders such that no one could go in and out of the country. Nigeria too
locked down after the President announced that schools, offices and markets should be shut down.

Following this lockdown, people were unable to move around as they normally do. They were asked to stay
indoors from morning to evening every day. While we do not know how long we are going to be indoors for, it is
important to engage in various forms of exercise to keep fit during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The ways of keeping fit is to engage in various forms of exercises ranging from:

1. Long walk/jogging in the neighborhood (without going to the gym) to avoid contact with people and possibly
be infected
2. Running up and down the stairs
3. Aerobics in the house
4. Moving around the house
5. Engaging in physically tasking chores e.g. sweeping, mopping etc.
6. Jump rope
7. Home soccer (where there is a large space)

The advantages of keeping fit by engaging in one or more of these activities:

1. It will limit ageing of the immune system
2. Wounds heal faster when you are fit
3. It boosts natural ‘killer cells’
4. It’s good for health overall and mental alertness.

Keeping fit during this COVID-19 lockdown by engaging in any of the activities above will help one cope with
the situation, reduce boredom and improve general well-being.

I have been keeping fit by going on long walks in the neighborhood with my mum and cousin. The first time I
went with her, we covered 3.7 km showing that I burnt 280 calories. The next time we went, we covered 7 km and
burnt 482 calories. We usually leave the house as early as 6am to avoid the early morning sun. It takes us up to one
hour or more.

On the days that I don’t go for the long walk, I do indoor Aerobics or play football for 2 hours in a stretch. We
live on the third floor so whenever I don’t do any of the listed activities, I simply run up and down the stairs, this is
usually very tasking for me as I feel pain on my legs, so I rest between every lap.
Another thing my mum did is to reduce my food to a healthy ration, she stopped buying snacks such as Pringles,
Candy, and Fizzy Drinks and replaced them with Oranges, Grapes and Mangoes. This is raining season so my mum
makes me snack on fruits instead.

Guess what, since it has been raining heavily, when the rain reduces, I plead with my mum to allow me go and
play football in the rain. This is usually fun and refreshing for me after which I feel so calm and relaxed. Though it
can be very boring with the lockdown, but anytime I have to do one activity or the other, it always lightens me up. I
also think that the activities have made me grow a bit taller, well I can’t prove that, just my observation.

Henry a well written piece. Of course, it goes well over the 100 word criteria of the completition for Book
Week. I do believe you deserve a honourable mention for your insertion of your own 'voice' and the excellent
research.

Respect Responsibility Resourcefulness

T H E R E G E N T D I G E S T VOLUME 8 ISSUE 30