12 months ago I had been ‘off’ from physical training for a solid 7 months.
Today, i can state that swimming and hiking are my two most frequent and voluminous activities. While more sustainable than hiking, swimming carries a level of responsibility that i have yet to settle in for. Far, far less of an investment than a gym membership, swimming requires regular upgrades in equipment. Earplugs, shower shoes, and $5 a swim is nothing compared to the receipts i racked up when i was a meathead.
Weight training was a more entertaining addiction than swimming has been. I find that to be a good thing. Spending up to 40 minutes in an outdoor pool requires, from me, a total focus, or a state similar to sensory deprivation. There is nothing to look at but the sky, and the pool is located near the airport, making for a wonderful situation where i can hear nothing, feel nothing, and do everything. Yesterday, i was the fifth member of the Impossible Mission Force, swimming 25m as fast as i could and then changing direction, diving for the floor, resurfacing, only to breach with the top of my head.
Yes, that is the scenario i create to keep it interesting in the water. While treading water, my heart rate rarely climbs above 85 beats per minute, and things are boring. Nearly 80% of my tank training is water-treading or treading water for recovery, meaning, my heart rate gets sky high after lap swimming or change-of-direction work, and i choose to tread water to let my HR decline steadily. That being said, the tank training where i tread water to the exclusion of other movements is often after a long hike.
So, 1 in 5 trips to the pool is a speed training/COD lesson, and during other sessions I follow the parameters of my physical state at that moment. I do what I can, however I can.
And my mind wanders. . .
It wasn’t like that in the gym. So much external stimulus in those gyms! More than enough to listen to, look at, smell. . .
But now, my training is done in near solitude. In quiet environments.
This is nothing for me to complain about, i am simply not used to it.
Settling in to settling in to train may just be an interloping goal.
Raining here, no swim or hike today. That does not mean I can not practice guiding myself toward an adaptative response today. . .
I tested some movements in the home-gym and this is what came up:
Shrug: 9 sets totaling 6,950lbs
79LB for 3 sets, and 80lb for 6 sets (two kettlebells, two DBs).
Bent row: 35lb for 6 sets totaling 3,100lbs. in 7:00 (kettlebell and DB).
Thank you,
Wille
