Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1254482
O F F - S E A S O N R E P O R T ichal Menet had to scramble when Penn State told students to stay home following spring break amid the wave of safety precau- tions that were swiftly imposed in re- sponse to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the challenge of transitioning to online classes, the senior center had to find a way to maintain his fitness in an- ticipation of the next football season. That's where the sloshbar came in. Never heard of a sloshbar? Under- standable. Menet was new to it, too, when fellow offensive lineman Will Fries recommended it to him as a piece of DIY fitness equipment that could be easily assembled at home. Fries' dad had made one years earlier, and the senior offen- sive tackle was using it as part of his home workout regimen. The idea is to partially fill a 6-foot piece of PVC pipe with water, seal up both ends and use the motion of the water as a way to vary the resistance. There are online tutorials that show various ways the pipe can be used, but the basic principle is simple: more sloshing equals more resistance. "You can do certain stuff with that be- cause it's an unstable kind of apparatus," Menet said. "It helps with stabilizing your core. You can use it for all different types of things." When it comes to working out during the pandemic, Menet is "one of the for- tunate ones," he said. In addition to his homemade equipment, he has access to a Smith machine in his uncle's base- ment. He also bought a heavy bag, and he's been able to borrow sleds, kettle- bells, dumbbells and resistance bands. But he's still been stuck at home for the most part, trying to find alternatives to all the things he expected to be doing in the months leading up to his final col- lege season. In some ways, Menet's dilemma is M