The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Check out the documentary "Kim Swims" about an endurance swimmer. She's done all the big swims around the world. The doc follows her journey to swim from the Faroe Islands (known great white hunting grounds) to San Francisco. As part of her training she goes 6-8 months with just cold showers. Think about that. The entire shower, with long hair. And she's in salt water training every day so it's not like she's skipping showers. Brutal. I think the swim was 40+ miles. I love to swim, getting ready to go do laps right now but mannnnnnn.....crazy shit right there.

 

I do this, but not for any health benefits, more for mental toughness. My goal is not to flinch, inhale sharply etc...for me, it's about practicing control over signals you may be receiving externally. I find it pretty practical to be honest...getting used to discomfort (in the same way that long distance runners, etc) do transfers more than you might imagine.

 

Nice! As I've gotten older, I've realized how inflated my own sense of "toughness" was and am trying to make up for lost time. Just have to be careful to not overdo it and recognize I need to be patient!

 

Totally...and it's not about being a bad ass, but more about getting used to discomfort so that, should it arrive unexpectedly, you're better prepared.

Having recently experienced some unplanned discomfort myself, I can confirm that this shit helps lol.

 

Is she a bad ass because she does cold showers or does she do cold showers because she's a bad ass?

 

Yes.

 

Shes a woman… so exactly.

Men are the only ones who think cold showers alone make them bad ass…

 

@mindstar have you been to Lake Louise?

 

yes, Banff and Lake Louise are always pretty busy in the high season but they are absurdly beautiful. Lots of hiking and outdoor stuff there...the main advantage is how accessible it all is; there are other pretty places and fun hiking, but none of them have the infrastructure around them like Banff/Lake Louise. You planning a trip?

 

Took a hiking trip to Banff just this last summer. Great place, but as said, busy as hell. Son and I stayed in Calgary and drove back and forth to avoid the vacay crowd (pros and cons for that approach).

 

I swim.
One mile, three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
20 minute sauna session afterwards.

 

One day I will go there.

But I was gonna dare you to swim across it once you are mobile to do so and embrace the coldness.

 

Lol...that lake is cold AF. They do the polar bear swim in the summer lol

 

They probably dont see their junk for a month after lol

 

Excellent. Do you round up to 40 laps or are you one of those sane individuals that can stop at the required 36? Much respect either way.

 

Thank you.
I'm 41 now, fifteen, even ten years ago, I was able to do 36 straight laps.
Currently, I am at (3) sets of 12. If I have some time off due to an injury or work, I tend to gradually increase until I hit this mark. Takes me about 45 minutes to do this.
The days of a mile without stopping are long gone I am afraid, or at least for me they are.

 

Try gently but firmly hitting yourself with sticks. Helps with recovery and strength

 

Funny guy!

This is promising - https://examine.com/summaries/study/1vG230/

 

Sounds like you've got it dialed in for what works best for you. Super smart. I'm a big proponent of/for swimming. It helps that I love doing it so much. My usual is 4k yards (80 laps). Sometimes this looks more like 3k, sometimes I push it out to 5k depending on time and energy levels. I'm no spring chicken anymore. Take care!!

 

Curcumin is a great supplement!