Debdatta Sengupta
Manoj Bhagavatula
Apr 11, 2020, 06:20 AM ET Lockdown or not, not training is never an option for athletes. Even as global sport has come to a shuddering halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sportspersons continue to improvise their fitness and practice routines despite all odds.
Here are some examples -- in pictures -- of how athletes are training in creative ways:
Swimming on land German triathlete Lasse Lührs does dry swimming at his girlfriend's house in Bornheim, Germany, on March 26. Lasse opted to stay in Germany as the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic are not as strict as in Spain, where he usually trains. Jörg Schüler/Getty Images Row, row, row your boat.. on the balcony Johannes Weissenfeld, member of the German rowing eight, trains on the balcony of his apartment in Dortmund, Germany, on March 21. Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images Rider on the, er, porch German triathlete Florian Angert trains at home in Schwaigern, Germany, on March 28. Simon Hofmann/Bongarts/Getty Images Social distancing, fencing style Fenced in: Unable to practise with a partner, German sabre fencer Anna Limbach trains in her living room, utilising every inch of space available, in Cologne on April 6. Jörg Schüler/Getty Images Wardrobe mal-function Western Bulldogs AFL player Will Hayes improvises a pull-up bar on his family's property at Lindsay Park Racing Stables in Euroa, Australia on April 5. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images Driving from home Nick Percat, driver for Brad Jones Racing, on his racing simulator on April 1, in Melbourne. Percat uses the simulator to keep his driving skills intact for the Supercars All Stars Eseries, which began on April 8. Robert Cianflone/Getty Images The cat's out of the..bar German gymnast Marcel Nguyen trains on parallel bars in his mother's garden in Unterhaching, Germany, on March 24. Matthias Hangst/Getty Images Pulling the strings Miguel Valente, member of the Olympic swimming team, uses a resistance tube to train at home in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on March 31. Pedro Vilela/Getty Images Workout with a view Reigning Irish 5,000m champion Hiko Tonosa, a recently naturalized Irish citizen, trains at dawn in Dublin on March 23. Early morning beach runs, common for runners, now serve the added benefit of facilitating social distancing. Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images Who doesn't want some paw-fessional training? Evandro Guerra, of the Brazilian national volleyball squad and Clube Sada Cruzeiro, plays with his dog Vida as he trains at home in Belo Horizonte on March 25. Pedro Vilela/Getty Images Learning to fly Esmé Griffiths (photographer's daughter) of Robin Hood Gymnastics, a local club, trains in isolation at home in Nottingham, England, on March 27. Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Just. Keep. Going. Digital influencer Caca Filippini runs on a treadmill at home in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 31. Caca is training for the New York City Marathon, set for November 1, and uses a backpack filled with rice, beans and books for weight training exercises. Rodrigo Paiva/Getty Images