The Real Madrid quarantine: “The key is not to win a kilo”

Real Madrid has reacted quickly to the positive for Thomkins coronavirus, a player in the white team's basketball section, and has sent his first two squads home in quarantine. It will be 15-20 days of isolation, without group training and with little control by the Madrid coaching staff towards their players. Although after Dr. Niko Mihic, head of the white medical services, gave the bad news to the players, Zidane has already informed the staff that they will be assigned an individual job that they must do at home so as not to lose shape and be ready for when the situation returns, whenever.

These are indications very similar to those received by players during the summer holidays and also those for Christmas: watch your diet, make sure you get at least eight hours of sleep each day, and do gentle exercises to keep fit. Although of all these points the most important is the first, that of food, according to Dr. José González, head of Rayo's medical services and director of the Deyre Clinic, as well as medical adviser to Diario AS.

“The key is that the players do not gain weight, they must take care of the food to the maximum. When you have to go back, you should not have extra kilos, that is the most important thing. Eat right and don't be lazy. It is about maintaining their nutritional habits ”, comments Dr. González; customs that will become more complicated with the players at home much of the time. You can go out to dinner or make use of their leisure hours, but they have been asked to limit these outings as much as possible and not to leave Madrid.

For Dr. González, two weeks is not enough time to lose the form or rhythm of the competition, if the appropriate guidelines are followed: “They don't have to get back in bad physical shape, as long as they eat well and do some maintenance exercise”. A maintenance exercise that will be set by Grégory Dupont, physical trainer for the white team, signed last summer by Zidane from the French national team to replace Antonio Pintus' departure to Inter Milan. “Each physical trainer makes his own plan, but it is something simple: continuous running, series, some machine exercises … All of this can serve to maintain shape during these two weeks.”

From Moscow he attends to AS Paulino Granero, physical trainer of the Russian team; Granero considers that the continuous work of the players is not going to be problematic: “Any player from Madrid has an indoor swimming pool, an exercise bike, some dumbbells, some tires, a garden in which to do a 14-15 circuit seasons… This can come to many even well, given the density of matches on the calendar. His would be to combine aerobic exercises, such as cycling or running on the treadmill, with other strength-resistance exercises and gradually mix intensities. Do something every day, on the lighter day do some gentle swimming or cycling. The important thing is to be a professional and have good habits, training and life “.

For the Almerian preparer, the diet also has a fundamental weight, as well as the activity during the day: “Being at home all day long depresses you, you have to take care of what you eat, have a good sleep regime and do not abuse staying up late, or spending all day on the sofa, or playing … “. And where Granero shows concern is in the case of the injured, players who need constant and face-to-face monitoring. “Players right now, with the social networks and the technology that there is, can be followed well, you send them what they have to do and you can even see them while they do it. The muscle injured is more worrying, they need a day-to-day follow-up with physical therapy, machines, personalized exercises … If there is an alarm state and the players are also in quarantine, they cannot deal with other people at the risk of infection. ”