Readers,If you would, please indulge me for a moment. I apologize if this post reads more like brain-vomit and less like a well-crafted article tailored for your reading pleasure.
In this note, I would like to emphasize the importance of our Land and Core exercises that are held every Saturday and Sunday after practice. I'm sure many of you have heard me preach about how hard Rod works to get the equipment out there and plan our routines, so I'm not going to dwell on that.
However, I wanted to share a little tidbit I hope you will find interesting. For those of you who have not had the chance be introduced to the "tabata" exercises, let me quote another website that explains it more succinctly than I:
The Tabata protocol is a high-intensity training regimen that produces remarkable results. A Tabata workout (also called a Tabata sequence) is an interval training cycle of 20 seconds of maximum intensity exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated without pause 8 times for a total of four minutes.
As applied to our exercises, we do as many pushups or squats or what-have-you for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds, then do it all over again. And again. And again. By the end, you are winded, tired and sore.
So, back to the point of this post. We socialize during Land and Core training. We joke around; we converse and generally enjoy each other's company. We also train. Let's not forget we're there to work. Otherwise, they wouldn't call it "working out" - they would call it "funning out" instead.
But that aside, these exercises have proved invaluable not only in paddling, but also in my off-water training. Rod's tabata exercises has allowed me to better understand, forecast and reach the outer limits of my athletic abilities. Rather than slowing down or giving up because my muscles are on fire, tired, and sore, I think about my time doing the tabata exercises and the level of exertion and exhaustion I felt there - and how I should really feel when I'm at the brink of collapse. That has allowed me to continue pushing during my off-water training because I knew that I had more in me. And I knew this because Rod and the rest of the Team pushed me to know it.
The benefits are not limited to off-water training. By knowing the limits of our bodies, we will be able to push that much more in our tournaments, during the Finish, for each Power, to get that last bench length on our competitors.
Prior to tabata, I thought I knew the limits of my body. I was proven wrong and now I can push myself that much harder in everything I do. So, would you join me in pushing ourselves during Core and Land exercises? San Francisco is just around the corner, let's do WORK!
Paddles up!
rajaree
