By Joel B. Belinan
The rainy season not only brings down the economy but also brings many public health concerns such as dengue and flu. And we should keep in mind that this COVID-19 pandemic is still wreaking havoc all over. This makes it even more important to get engaged in, or to maintain, our sports and fitness regimens to boost our immune systems especially for those like me who cannot afford the high cost of supplemental nutrition. However, the rainy season as the title of this piece states, ushers in challenges that may disturb or even cause the stoppage of our fitness regimens.
Like in the past, outdoor sports and fitness regimens are the most affected by rainy seasons for obvious reasons. Baguio City and the highland Cordillera region, as everyone knows, record the most rainfall in the country. Thus, our Burnham Park outdoor training is always greatly disturbed by the rains. I remember around 5 years ago when there was that period of more than 2 weeks of monsoon rain that strongly impacted outdoor activities at our parks in the city, for which they were known. As to parks in this country, Baguio has the most well-known.
People who are into martial arts, running, biking, Zumba, taeboo, among other outdoor activities are usually the most affected. Unless a substitute activity is adopted, the health of those affected suffer. As a coach at our martial arts spot at the park and admin of our Burnham Park Team, I usually post an advisory for our fitness members to continue doing their work-outs indoors whenever the weather prohibits us from doing these at the park. However, we know also for a fact that very few can do indoor work-outs by themselves or in their own houses. That includes me most of the time.
There was a time when we were having some exchanges on FB regarding the prolonged stoppage of our work-outs when somebody commented about how we were so concerned. The commentator said that maintaining health can still be done without such outdoor work-outs. My reply was, yes, it can be done especially if one is financially capable of having all the needed supplements, but it is not a guarantee of good health. The same is true with having regular outdoor exercises, for there is no 100 percent system for good health. What we are sure of is, by having regular outdoor work-outs, our physical body, coupled with a healthy mind, could resist most diseases.
Of course, the impact of this rainy season is different on the training regimens of our athletes. While there are indoor gyms and training centers, outdoor training is still hard to replace. Even a single training schedule that is canceled or postponed has a tremendous impact on the momentum of an athlete. As one famous martial artist stated, a single day of training absence will be like stepping backwards for three days. That is why every athlete who knows this will surely exert his best effort to follow his training schedule. So for martial arts and the other combat sports, it would be much easier to utilize small spaced in our own houses as alternative for our trainings or one can go to school gyms and private dojos. But in reality, only very few will do their work-outs in their own houses or go to gyms except for those who have been doing that from the very start.
It is indeed a challenge, for how could gyms and houses re-create the ambiance of the outdoors with the trees and other greeneries that surround us at the park, not to mention the lake nearby. For those running and biking, the uphill-and-downhill of the roads or trails, the beautiful sceneries they pass by, and the chill of the fresh air and fogs and the new sunrise, cannot, of course, be duplicated.
Yes, the rainy season is here and we have to be ready for its challenges if we are to maintain our health, built during the dry season.**
