Health - The Zone
Jul. 10th, 2009 09:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzI pulled on the handlebars of the rowing machine. Bend forward, breathe in. Pull! Breathe out. It seemed like a mantra, and it probably was the only thing that kept me going after nine minutes of abuse on the machine. I'd started the breathing exercise around seven minutes into the exercise. We'd normally do just ten minutes on the rower, bicycle or crosstrainer before continuing to the strength exercises on the other machines, but it had been a while since I last trained and it was actually rather busy. I figured I might as well practice my breathing methods.
I often flip the breathing routine around -- not as bad as actually trying to breathe CO2 while expelling oxygen, but more like breathing in when you're trying to push the load away. You should be releasing your breath when you're doing the hard bit, not breathing in. For some exercises it's just more logical to flip them around. (Shoulderpresses spring to mind. When pushing your arms up, the chest expands naturally.)
I was amazed at how difficult the rowing was. Or rather, how much easier it had become in the two minutes I was focusing on my breathing. I was in the Zone! My strokes had evened out at a steady 130 watts, give or take. I felt roomier, and it felt like I was breathing with a part of my lungs that I normally never use. The very bottom part of your lungs, so far away from the nose it's shrivelling up in disuse. The idea was quite graphic.
I was puffing more than a Lamaze instructor and bits of spittle were unavoidedly expelled with my breaths. Bend forward, breathe in through the nose, pull and breathe out through the mouth. It was so much easier that way!
I saw the counter reach ten minutes. "Let's see if I can make it to fifteen." I thought. I never make it past ten minutes, happy to stop after the minimal amount of abuse. But now I was in the Zone. Rowing was nigh effortless. My hands gripped the handlebars. I sped up for a while. Now my muscles were warm and my breathing was controlled, I pulled as hard as I could, noting with glee how the numbers dialled up, past my old max of 175 watts, well over 200 watts. Two hundred!
This was highly encouraging.
I ran out of breath, deep as it was, after a minute of (excusez le mot) full-pull and slowed down to 140 watts again. As the dial reached eighteen minutes, I slowed even more to 100 watts. My hands were starting to feel sore, but my breathing was spiffy! I could do this for an hour, if need be!
At exactly twenty minutes I placed the handlebars back in the receiver and switched modes. Averaging at a little over 140 watts, I had rowed 4352 meters in twenty minutes and burned a little over 250 calories.
I looked at my hands, where blisters were forming on the already thick skin of my handpalm. I was very glad I didn't wear my Aes Sedai ring to the gym. (After all, who would check for a ring on your ringfinger if they can check out your breasts, your abs, your ass, the amount of muscles you're packing and -- and this is important -- the amount of kilo's you're currently working on the machine! In gym terms I'm as attractive as a rhino on a bicycle. It works, but it's kind of wobbly.)
To cool down I tried the crosstrainer but my calves were knotting up so I just took a walk on one of the machines, focusing mostly on how I placed my feet. My left knee has been giving me a bit of a hard time since Puerto, and though it doesn't stop me from exercising, I probably shouldn't train the leg-press for a while. Six minutes of cooling-down (and three on the cross-trainer) and I hit the showers and sauna.
Honestly, I don't know what's worse: getting all hot and bothered and sweaty and tired from exercising, being so hot and bothered and then stepping into a room that's 80°C but that feels like it's just as hot as your skin, or stepping under that terribly cold shower after ten to fifteen minutes in the sauna.
But it's a damn fine way to start your weekend because by the time I get home after all this abuse I'm so relaxed I feel like I'm a flapping towel in the wind. And my lungs just felt very, very clean when I cycled home. I gotta try that breathing mantra more often!
I often flip the breathing routine around -- not as bad as actually trying to breathe CO2 while expelling oxygen, but more like breathing in when you're trying to push the load away. You should be releasing your breath when you're doing the hard bit, not breathing in. For some exercises it's just more logical to flip them around. (Shoulderpresses spring to mind. When pushing your arms up, the chest expands naturally.)
I was amazed at how difficult the rowing was. Or rather, how much easier it had become in the two minutes I was focusing on my breathing. I was in the Zone! My strokes had evened out at a steady 130 watts, give or take. I felt roomier, and it felt like I was breathing with a part of my lungs that I normally never use. The very bottom part of your lungs, so far away from the nose it's shrivelling up in disuse. The idea was quite graphic.
I was puffing more than a Lamaze instructor and bits of spittle were unavoidedly expelled with my breaths. Bend forward, breathe in through the nose, pull and breathe out through the mouth. It was so much easier that way!
I saw the counter reach ten minutes. "Let's see if I can make it to fifteen." I thought. I never make it past ten minutes, happy to stop after the minimal amount of abuse. But now I was in the Zone. Rowing was nigh effortless. My hands gripped the handlebars. I sped up for a while. Now my muscles were warm and my breathing was controlled, I pulled as hard as I could, noting with glee how the numbers dialled up, past my old max of 175 watts, well over 200 watts. Two hundred!
This was highly encouraging.
I ran out of breath, deep as it was, after a minute of (excusez le mot) full-pull and slowed down to 140 watts again. As the dial reached eighteen minutes, I slowed even more to 100 watts. My hands were starting to feel sore, but my breathing was spiffy! I could do this for an hour, if need be!
At exactly twenty minutes I placed the handlebars back in the receiver and switched modes. Averaging at a little over 140 watts, I had rowed 4352 meters in twenty minutes and burned a little over 250 calories.
I looked at my hands, where blisters were forming on the already thick skin of my handpalm. I was very glad I didn't wear my Aes Sedai ring to the gym. (After all, who would check for a ring on your ringfinger if they can check out your breasts, your abs, your ass, the amount of muscles you're packing and -- and this is important -- the amount of kilo's you're currently working on the machine! In gym terms I'm as attractive as a rhino on a bicycle. It works, but it's kind of wobbly.)
To cool down I tried the crosstrainer but my calves were knotting up so I just took a walk on one of the machines, focusing mostly on how I placed my feet. My left knee has been giving me a bit of a hard time since Puerto, and though it doesn't stop me from exercising, I probably shouldn't train the leg-press for a while. Six minutes of cooling-down (and three on the cross-trainer) and I hit the showers and sauna.
Honestly, I don't know what's worse: getting all hot and bothered and sweaty and tired from exercising, being so hot and bothered and then stepping into a room that's 80°C but that feels like it's just as hot as your skin, or stepping under that terribly cold shower after ten to fifteen minutes in the sauna.
But it's a damn fine way to start your weekend because by the time I get home after all this abuse I'm so relaxed I feel like I'm a flapping towel in the wind. And my lungs just felt very, very clean when I cycled home. I gotta try that breathing mantra more often!
