PDBY Tries: Becoming a UP athlete

Precious Maphupha

With many athletes at UP complaining about how hard it is to train and study at the same time, one PDBY staff member could not stop themselves from asking the all-important question: How hard could it be? This staff member challenged themselves to follow the diet and training routine of UP soccer player Katlego Thupana.

Day 1

The recess week began with projects to attend to and articles to write. I began the day with Thupana’s breakfast which consists of: 3 eggs, 2 slices of bread with avocado, cheese, and tomato. This is a far cry from the energy drinkfilled breakfast that I am used to, however, it was a pleasant change. After having breakfast and getting my work done, it was time to work out. This began with a 15-minute run which, according to Thupana, is his warm-up, but to me, it was all I could do for the day. After heavily panting and failing miserably at the warmup, it was time for lunch. Lunch was easier, it consisted of a peanut butter and jam sandwich. It was washed down with an energy drink, which is not a part of Thupana’s lunch, but was desperately needed. By the time dinner rolled around, I simply wanted some noodles and hot wings but begrudgingly stuck to the challenge of eating rice, broccoli, and grilled chicken.

Day 2

Subsequent to failing the first day’s exercises, I was ready to prove that I could be a UP athlete. This time I skipped breakfast, took a water bottle and started my training early in the morning. I skipped the torturous warmup run this time as well. There were three sets of twenty-five for each exercise which included: push-ups, squats, lunges, star jumps, and triceps dips. Back in the days of PE, I knew that push-ups were never my calling, therefore those were saved for last. The squats, star jumps, and lunges were easy, but it was the triceps dips that made me call it a day on the exercising. Forget push-ups, triceps dips are the real evil in this world.

Day 3

Rest day. Cheat day. McDonald’s day.

Day 4

This is the day I asked myself why I was doing this challenge. There is a reason UP athletes are athletes and that reason is: because they are ATHLETIC - a word I have never used to describe myself. However, for the rest of the week, I was determined to become a fraction of a UP athlete. This time, breakfast consisted of jungle oats with peanut butter -a simple yet impactful breakfast. Mid-morning load-shedding struck and it was the perfect sign for me to exercise. The