SE 3.0 – Interim Report – #8

My sports activities do change these days. I’m trying to get a little further away from pure gym sessions and focus more on ‘outside oriented’ activities. By saying that I do also consider swimming in a natatorium as ‘outside’. Nevertheless, the intention should be clear. Avoiding boredom and get more versatility.

To be honest, as much as I like to go to the gym and take it to the next limit, I also feel like I should to something that gives more of a ‘I know why I’m doing this’ feel. My mountain bike trips are one of these activities, because a lot of things come together in this – cardio training, leg training, arm training and strengthen of the my back.

Another thing that I have to mention, despite my many sessions on the treadmill I don’t actually like running. Even though it does blast my brain free and helps me get rid of certain things of my daily life that bother me. My plan is to do more and more jogs outside, especially trail runs. It’s basically the same reason as it is with mountain biking. I hate running/cycling straight ahead. I need some obstacles and several things that I have to ‘master’.

There are a lot of parks in my town and also a lot of nature areas that are mainly untouched inviting to sport them. So I’m gonna use them. Last weekend I had the most unpleasant weather on one of my bike trips. Stormy, soppy and cold. But I like it that way. It gives that kind of feeling that makes me want to say: “Come get some!”

That’s this particular point I’m actually missing in gym. You can set certain milestone that you want to reach, but at the end of the day it lacks the bite. It’s always nice to reach a new mark, but on the other hand does it not give the same feel like sports outside. I guess, it got something to do with the circumstances outside and the connections you make between them. Like, ‘hey, it was on this bad, rainy day, where I ran my first 20 km without a single walking break’

Well, I guess, you got my point. Another reason for this whole ‘let’s get away from gym’ thing is, that I now want to know, what do I actually gain from my training sessions. As a short reminder, this whole training is not mainly about losing weight, it’s more about getting into a better shape. The weight loss is a greatly appreciated and welcomed side effect. For this very reason I’m also glad that I finally found someone who is willing to do the swim training with me. It’s perfect for motivation and a great control factor as well.

I’m certain that my technique on some swim strokes is far from perfect and needs a lot of practice. Especially things like the crawl stroke, the dolphin stroke and for instance the quick turn as well will take a huge amount of time of training. Swimming this week is that one thing I’m excited about the most.

And once again and last but not least, for the those of you who like to play with numbers, my current weight is 104,1 kg, which means that I haven’t lost a lot of weight for weeks now. But like I mentioned before in this post, it’s about the shape and not the weight. Well, and the whole “sportability”

SE 3.0 – Interim Report – #7

Summer strikes the land. People were complaining during the last weeks that summer isn’t coming this year, but now is the time where we get all the heat. And this very heat is currently my main problem to actually continue my sports program.

It doesn’t really make sense to be on the treadmill running for like 40 minutes and sweat like halibut. I’ve got this serious heat problem when in motion. It’s also because my blood pressure is still very high and when doing cardio activities I literally start to glow. Another side effect is, that my cooling system is working very well and I do look as though I’ve been swimming fully clothed but rather running on a treadmill or the elliptical.

I guess, it’s quite obvious that I want to avoid such things as much as I can and on the other hand, and due to my high blood pressure, I don’t want to risk a breakdown.

my favourite July

But fortune smiled on me. My plan was to start swimming after a while of being in gym. It’s now almost four month of training and it’s time to reach for something new to prevent from boredom. Swimming has always been a joy for me and I wasn’t swimming since being in school. And by that do I mean a more tournament oriented kind of swimming. Just without an actual tournament.

I’ve been swimming on a lake here and then, but I feel like I should take this a little bit more seriously and go to the natatorium one or two times a week. The new cooling effect while doing sports and being in cool water is another thing that seems quite intriguing to me.

Honestly, it costs a lot of willpower these days to actually go to the gym. My sessions are at no more than three per week and mountain biking is currently cut off the schedule. The plan get below the 100 kg by the end of August draws more and more into a further distance, but it’s way more important to get through this period of heat without giving up the whole sports thing.

No pain – no gain. And it literally is a pain at the gym with 36°C and a humidity that’s almost tropical. I’ve ordered all things necessary for the natatorium and I hope they’ll be in my mailbox by the end of this week, that I can start swimming.

For the those of you who are in love with numbers, my weight is currently at 102 – 104 kg. Depending on what I ate and my whole condition. It’s fluctuating pretty much, but as long as the scale does not deflect I’m fine.

SE 3.0 – Interim Report – #6

Almost four month after revisiting my personal “Straight Edge Project” it’s time to summarize several things.

Most importantly, this is the longest period of being “straight edge” since the very beginning of the project back in the days. Most, if not all, projects finished about 2 or 3 month and only a few things remained. For instance, to stop smoking was the most important thing and is still something I’m very proud of.

Several other things did not remain. Like doing sports continuously or eating healthy and more “efficient”. But these thing have changed. SE 3.0 was the first project that did not focus that much on strong rules and dogmas. This made it much easier for me to keep the pace and stick with it. I sure have schedule for my gym lessons and I do not eat like a pig each and every day, but there’s a spare room left for such things. Till one certain degree of course.

I’m aware of the fact, that one of these days I’ll have to face my very own motivation. This day has been reached and it does currently feel quite exhausting to do SE 3.0, but I’ll stick with it. No matter what. It’s very difficult, mostly because of the schedule my work day dictates me. I waste tons and tons of hours with commuting and my true spare time is limited to almost a single hour per day. I don’t count sports and such as spare time.

Most of the time at work I simply sit and don’t move around very much. So sports is something absolutely necessary to have, like a counter reaction. I have to do it, also because I see it as an prevention. I don’t want to suffer one of these office illnesses or drown in my own fat masses. I don’t do sports mainly for a fun reason, I do it because the daily life, especially at work and in offices, turns human beings into wounded, disabled soldiers of work.

It’s important for me to stick with the project, because my first milestone is still not reached. I wanted to get below 100 kg in August and currently I ply at 102 and 104 kg. I don’t really think that I can reach the mark below a hundred, but this doesn’t bother me that much. It’s way more important to get below the hundred to actually reach a first milestone.

On the other hand, it’s good to not have such a drastic drop of weight. What goes down pretty quick, goes up quickly as well. I want to avoid such things. What counts for me is the fact that I’ve finally managed it to have a continuity and a schedule I can follow without having a greater loss. The bigger loss is of course the commuting, which bothers me very much at the moment. But I don’t want my SE 3.0 get affected with the disaffection I have with my work day conditions.

It is exhausting and I’m very tired at the moment, but things gonna change.