{"id":191,"date":"2023-07-04T05:24:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T05:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/?p=191"},"modified":"2023-07-04T05:29:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T05:29:22","slug":"hello-rowing-or-how-i-stopped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-cardio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/?p=191","title":{"rendered":"hello rowing or: how I stopped worrying and learned to love cardio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It all started with a slight twinge inner, right elbow; or more specifically the area known as the antecubital fossa. I would climb and then it would hurt. So I’d take a 15 minute break and then go again, wincing at the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So I took a break. Went back after the (too) short time off and everything was fine. Until it came back. It spread to my wrist (no fancy words here) and I could barely finish routes I had otherwise crushed. My right arm was basically just twinges and light but constant pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you read the last post, you’ll know I went over to yoga upon deciding to take a break in order to keep myself in shape while I heal. Unfortunately some of the poses put too much pressure on my hands and elbow (due to my weight, mainly) and so I had to put a pause on that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a few of weeks into my new rest phase and I hadn’t gone to the gym once. Coupled with the heat and a night of eating some feelings, I realized I needed to go to the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to do, what to do\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sudden flash of inspiration, I took off for the gym after work, with the main goal of doing some cardio. Probably on the stationary bikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I entered Pipeworks briskly, urging myself to keep up this pace otherwise I might turn around and leave. Cardio was my nightmare. To me, cardio meant misery. Mostly because I associated cardio with running or aerobics; both were horrid options. Hope that a stationary bike would propel me to greater cardiovascular health was all the propelled me into the gym.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until I spied the rowing machines. I recalled my love of white-water rafting with my youth group and the time the youth leader took me out, by my request, on a rowboat ride down the American River. As I sat down on the machine, I also recalled a memory of me doing a rowing machine as a high schooler in a hotel gym, working out alongside my mom as she was on the treadmill.<\/p>\n\n\n

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I strapped my feet in, grabbed the handle bars, and set the machine to keep track of a free row. Off I went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ten minutes — plus change — later I was practically dead and had completed a 2000m row. My heart pounded, my legs and core were sore, and my arms were mercifully un-twinged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I moved over to finish the session out with some extra core and stretches, I checked what a “good” time for a beginner was for a 2000m race. It was like 8 minutes 45 seconds. I was a full minute fifteen slower. Sheesh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, it was good to know I could do this exercise and not feel like my right arm was going to derail any efforts I had in getting into shape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am going to aim for a high intensity, twenty minute 30 seconds on, 30 seconds rest row as my main form on the rowing machine. After 20 intervals, I had covered just over 2600m and was even more exhausted than before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After a month, I hope to be nearing the 8 minute 45 second mark and can maybe even translate this to going on the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until next time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It all started with a slight twinge inner, right elbow; or more specifically the area known as the antecubital fossa. I would climb and then it would hurt. So I’d take a 15 minute break and then go again, wincing at the pain. So I took a break. Went back after the (too) short time … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,10],"tags":[24,20,25,23],"class_list":["post-191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","category-life","tag-gym","tag-hello","tag-injury","tag-rowing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=191"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mudbrain.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}