Walking in Water

Made it to the gym again this morning.

• 10 minutes on the elliptical


• 7¼ miles on the recumbent bike


• 30 reps on each of the shoulder press, the seated dip and the lateral pulldown

I am deliberately avoiding some of the machines on the mini-weights circuit as I’m of the opinion that they inadvertently contributed to my knee issues a few weeks ago. Maybe I pushed myself too hard or had the weights set too high? I will only go back to them when I feel 100% convinced that my knees are completely over the problems I was experiencing.

I am also a little mindful of the notion that maybe some of the machines that put pressure (and/or created strain) on my middle torso (the leg curl, leg press & ab crunch) may also have played their part in creating my issues ‘downstairs’ . Varicocele or not I intend to temporarily avoid those machines and see if I feel a difference in and around my groin.

Then I went back to the pool – via a relaxing 15-minute sauna – and completed 40 walking laps interspersed with simple flexing/bending exercises. For the laps I did 10 with my hands folded across my chest (no resistance), 20 with my hands dragging in the water for some resistance and finally 10 with a swimfloat held on front of me for ‘maximum’ resistance. That final 10 was a bit of a killer but I felt a certain achievement once I’d done them.

40 walking laps = 0.54 miles… but it feels a LOT further underwater let me tell you!

As you may have surmised I feel a little more ‘into’ my workouts lately, which I know is a good thing.  Time, as always, will tell if I can remain ‘in the habit’ and not become disconsolate with it all again.