During the forced break due to COVID-19, wrestlers worldwide returned to their roots to keep themselves fit. While some found themselves sweating it in mud, others made nature their new training ground. 2016 Olympic gold medallist Davit Chakvetadze, meanwhile, made his residence the new gymnasium. Besides strength training, he ran up and down his building to keep in shape during the lockdown. In an interview with WrestRus.RU, he said, “I live with my parents and sister, and in the first one and a half to two months we probably went outside only once. I spent my training at home. I live in a 25-storey building and there is no path at home so what was left to do? There were rubber bands, weights, dumbbells and ladders. Every day, except Sunday, I ran at least 75 floors, and on Friday and Saturday – 125 floors”.
Here is an excerpt of the interview:
WrestRus: How was the camp? Did you pour in hard?
Davit: No, I was in shape. During the first months of “quarantine”, I trained at home, and as soon as I was allowed to go out, I was already running and cycling, exercising on the horizontal bar, and pumping my abs. The training turned out to be very good: running, quality, CrossFit, all together. Yes, there was no mat, sparring was also problematic to find, but over time, training resumed with a coach, and friends helped. Then they began to open the halls, it became possible to go out on the carpet. And the first two days were hard at the training camp – but on the whole, I fit physically well, and the breathing apparatus was in order, and the training camp went well despite the fact that the loads were serious, especially in the last week. We already understood that we would not have camps for a month, and we needed to give a good head start.
WrestRus: The Olympics have been postponed what do you think of that?
Davit: Before the qualifiers, I was in great shape, I was almost at the peak. I think I would have won the qualifiers without any problem and would have qualified for the Olympics. Nobody’s going to tell you for sure, but I felt great. But why talk about this, the Olympics have been postponed, and I don’t see any problem in this – we will also prepare, also qualify, the main thing is that there is no second wave of coronavirus. I hope, nevertheless, this year the world championship will take place, where our team will be able to perform with dignity. We do not relax and move on to our goals.
WrestRus: During the pandemic, what new things have you discovered?
Davit: I read books, watched TV shows, trained. Taking this opportunity, I would like to recommend to everyone the book of Tim Grover “Manifesto of a Great Trainer”. Very motivating show the athlete’s entire path. I also graduated from the university in the direction of physical culture and sports, I am entering a magistracy, and I also plan to get a second higher education in the direction of “State municipal administration”.