‘Isolation works for individual sports’ athletes’

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Sport for All Federation Chairman Yasin Bolukbasi has said that isolation has shown a negative impact on group sports like football, basketball, etc., but has reported positive effects on athletes playing individual sports like wrestling, gymnastics, etc.

"During the physical and technical work of team or group sports, efforts should also be made to develop intra-group communication to study tactical planning. During this time, it is hard for the athletes to go out of the isolated area and work with their teammates," he said.

In contrast, the athletes, playing individual sports, isolation can help them perform better, as it eliminates distraction and allows them to focus on their work, he added.

Bolukbasi said that the biggest load falls on the trainers and they should offer the athletes with the maximum isolated area in all their work, adding that the athletes should be careful as the fear of pandemic spread increases in public, at work, and in these circumstances.

He said athletes in such situations must cover faces and use masks.

"The athletes should be made aware of these issues and should pay attention to their social distances, mask suits, and hand hygiene not only during competition and training times but also in their daily routine,” said sports body chief.

"It should be underlined that a significant contribution was made to control the pandemic with the postponement or cancellation of sports activities, and positive discrimination should be applied to the sports sector to recover fast after the pandemic," he added.

- Mobile app with 900 exercise videos

Bolukbasi mentioned about the mobile application "HisApp" that was created by the Federation in 2017, saying that it is an important individual exercise program that includes nearly 900 exercise videos as a free guide for people.

"During the stay at home, exercise programs were prepared by professional trainers that can be easily adopted by people from all walks of life to meet the needs of the sports of our citizens", he said.

He said that the application can be easily downloaded from all phones with iOS and Android operating systems.

"HisApp that was prepared with the application videos of our professional sports trainers after taking guidance from various specialists is a result of a work of approximately 1,000 hours. It has various reminders as well as videos, and is also a first among our country and European Sports Federations," he said.

The program offers great opportunities for people with disabilities, he said.

"The application including physical activity and high-level training videos from the simplest to a professional level for individuals of all ages and with different physical features is available in eight different categories [morning exercises, yoga, sports at home, sports at work, physical, visually and hearing-impaired sports and trend workouts]. There are 900 close-up training videos," he said.

Bolukbasi also said that the program offers a stylish, ergonomic, and easy interface with reminders, weekly planning, and pedometer modules.