Dufisthenics

I entered today’s cardio day with a pretty sore lower body.  Despite having a poor day number wise yesterday with my lower body workout, the two week layoff meant I was going to pay with extra soreness.

I decided to row and ride today and expected to see average to slightly below average numbers.  I started pulling and was shocked to see a sub-2 minute per 500 pace after my first dozen or so pulls.  I took a look at the fan settings to see if it was set differently than normal, nope exactly the same.  I then started analyzing what I was doing differently to knock 10-15 seconds off my normal 500 meter pace.

It felt like I was using my legs to drive through the initial pull more than usual.  As soon as I hit resistance with the handle I was driving back more than normal with my lower body and less with my upper body.  I found that this technique required me to really focus on my timing and I stared mostly at the handle and chain for the majority of the 20 minutes which gets a little maddening.  I also found with sore legs, the extra leg push got very tiring over time. I was panting by the end of it. Overall I averaged something like 2:03 per 500 meters which is still over 10 seconds better than normal.  The pace added up to a total of 4856 meters covered, over 250 meters further than any recent best pull and very well may be my PR in a 20 minute time period.

I backed it up with a good 10 minutes on the stationary bike where I averaged mid 18’s for most of the ride with a 21 + mph sprint at the end.  To have this strong of a cardio session after a two week absence from the gym doesn’t compute but at my age I will take a win where I can get it.

Today’s Workout

Row/Ride Brick

20 minutes Concept 2 Rower – 4856 meters

10 minutes stationary bike – 3.24 miles