The cozy fire in a fireplace is a common example of oxidation to produce heat. There is an oxidative system in the human body which also produces heat, though without any colorful flames. That oxidative system is put into action during warmup activity and other gentle movement of the muscles.
Today’s workout time consisted of rowing in the morning and SkiErg in the afternoon. You can see on the graphs that heart rate was a bit whacky/abnormal until 10 or 20 minutes was spent warming up for the sessions.
Chart for the first session, which was 11,500 meters.
Chart for the second morning session, which was 60 Calories at easy pace.
Chart for the first of two afternoon SkiErg sessions.
Chart for the second of two afternoon SkiErg sessions.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
Today’s workouts were about 12K of rowing in the morning and a 430 Calorie SkiErg session in the afternoon.
There was atrial fibrillation during all of the rowing and those graphs look weird and messy because of the afib.
When it was time for the afternoon SkiErg session, afib seemed to be gone. I did a long warmup on the SkiErg and heart rate acted 100% normal for the entire SkiErg session.
Graph for afternoon SkiErg session.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
Every morning I check to see if HR is normal and what RHR (resting heart rate) was for the night before. Today it was normal and RHR was 51. But as I got ready for the rowing session this morning, heart rate felt a bit like it was on the brink of atrial fibrillation, with an occasional flippy sort of feeling.
So when I did the rowing session I decided to spend at least 20 minutes at a nice slow warmup pace before making any changes toward a faster pace. After about 20 minutes at a very easy effort level between 80 and 90 Watts, I started to feel the warming sensation that the warmup is named for, but heart rate stayed low in the 50 to 60 BPM range. I increased the pace and varied it a bit, going as high as around 120 Watts sometimes, but heart rate seemed to want to stay in the 50s and changed very little from that range. I decided to spend the rest of the rowing session with a low effort level between 80 and 120 Watts, which resulted in an average of about 89 Watts for the session. Heart rate remained very low for the entire time. Some of its behavior seemed to indicate that when I rowed a little harder, heart rate would slow down. I thought that if that were really the case and I wasn’t imagining it, then perhaps when I rowed a bit harder and the legs and other muscles were contracting a bit harder, those leg and other muscles were assisting to pump blood and therefore that would be why, with certain small increases in effort level, heart rate would slow down instead of increasing – because it was getting assistance from the pumping action of the contraction and relaxation of the other muscles during the rowing.
Heart rate remained in the 50s most of the time during this rowing session, except near the very end when I reduced rowing effort to such a very low level that the legs and other muscles were barely contracting at all and therefore virtually no assistance at all in pumping the blood – On the graph, that’s where you can see heart rate went the very highest… when it had to do most of the pumping of the blood with no assistance from other muscles. You can see in the chart of that session (below) how heart rate elevated the most when I slowed down to a barely perceptible effort level just before the end.
After that main rowing session of the morning, I decided to do a little experiment with a single short rowing session. During that session I deliberately changed rowing effort up and down and watched heart rate. You can see in several places on the graph of pace and heart rate, how a reduction in rowing effort was followed by an increase in heart rate and vice versa.
After all rowing was finished and while I effortlessly changed from rowing clothes to normal clothes, heart rate felt flippy and stayed that way with atrial fibrillation that lasted all day and is still persisting as this is being written.
Interesting.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
Today’s workouts consisted of an early morning low energy rowing session and a SkiErg session in the afternoon which was a bit more energetic.
The plan for the SkiErg session was to do 450 Calories at a pace of about 10 Calories per minute while varying the pace in 10 Calorie intervals which would alternate slower and faster.
Near the beginning of the session, heart rate was a bit skittish and its beat was too fast but it soon settled down and the remainder of the SkiErg session went well.
Graph for today’s afternoon SkiErg session.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
Today’s morning workout was 11,500 meters rowing. Heart rate wasn’t doing the atrial fibrillation thing today, but it seemed either a bit high or way too low. I didn’t push it hard and everything felt normal.
Screenshot of graph for today’s 11,500 m rowing.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
There were many pauses and interruptions during this morning’s rowing session but none of them had to do with tying shoes or adjusting socks. I didn’t find any photos of people obviously pausing during rowing, though, so these pauses during running were chosen instead.
This morning’s rowing was 11,500 meters done at a slow average pace. Heart seemed to be acting almost normal but I mostly took it very easy anyway. As the blog title suggests and as you can see from the graphs, there were many pauses and interruptions during the rowing session.
Screenshot of the graph for today’s morning rowing session.
There will be an afternoon session on the SkiErg of somewhere from at least 400 to 500 Calories or more.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
The plane in the sky is flying slower than a speeding bullet but I worked out a lot slower than that this morning.
This morning’s workout was 11,500 meters rowing. It was planned to be slow rowing for warmup during the first 10 or 20 minutes and then there would be intervals of 500 meters alternating with slower rowing for 500 meters, all the way to the end.
But heart rate was UNCOOPERATIVE, so it was all slow and relatively boring paced rowing. I found that it helped a lot if I would periodically tell myself, “Be patient!” That seemed to work very well for a few minutes, after which I would again tell myself, “Be patient. Patience is good.”
After enough time had passed that I felt I should be adequately warmed up, I increased the pace a bit but heart rate reacted by going too high. I slowed down and heart rate dropped, but then it went high and stayed high even though I continued to row slowly all the way to the finish.
For the afternoon session, heart rate was more cooperative. Maybe the choice of music made a difference? The music I listened to in the afternoon was from an album by Ensemble Galilei, titled “Surrounded by Angels”
During the afternoon session I was able to do alternating pace-change intervals of 10 Calories slow, 10 Calories a bit faster and heart rate acted normal. So it wasn’t boring. The beautiful music helped also.
Screenshot of graph for afternoon workout session.
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
Actually it wasn’t an eventful day unless you consider having atrial fibrillation beginning at about 05:45 am and continuing all day to be eventful.
Today’s morning workout time was on the rowing machine for a total of around 11,500 meters. The afternoon workout time was on the SkiErg for a total of around 500 Calories.
Screenshot of the main part of SkiErg time is immediately below this paragraph.
Because of the AFib, HR was too high from start to finish and sometimes heart rate went up when it should have gone down and vice versa. The heart acted like it had a mind of its own….
Any workout sessions for any day can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data and interactive graph click the “+” sign in “Action” column for that session.
If you’ve been counting the days it has been 19 since the previous blog post. But who’s counting?
There have been workout sessions every single day since the previous post.
Today’s and any day’s workout sessions can be seen in detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data & interactive graph click the corresponding “+” sign in the “Action” column for that session.
This morning’s workout session was 11,500 meters rowing. Heart rate was a bit flippant and unsteady which is reflected in the graph (immediately below) for today’s rowing session. Pace was varied with moderate changes lasting about 500 meters but heart rate didn’t necessarily follow like it normally should. It was a bit unsteady with atrial fibrillation and sometimes went down when it should have gone up and vice versa.
Morning rowing session with atrial fibrillation having its strange influence.
The afternoon session was much smoother: 500 Calories on SkiErg with pace varying up for about 10 Calories and then reverting to a slower pace for 10 Calories during the entire session. Atrial fibrillation had evaporated by then and heart rate seemed to respond normally for most of the session except the first few minutes. Screenshot below.
Afternoon SkiErg session. The only really abnormal behavior lasted for about 5 minutes near the beginning when heart rate was too high before it settled into a more normal range.
Today would have been the 43rd birthday of the young man pictured above. I didn’t know him very well but I miss him a lot.
The title of today’s blog post is unrelated to the above photograph. As some readers may know I’ve been having heart problems that come and go with the presence or absence of atrial fibrillation. Yesterday it was present and today it was absent.
Today in the absence of Afib, I decided to try a dosage of L-Arginine Alpha Ketoglutarate. The instructions on the bottle say to take 3 tablets two to three times a day. I’ve had the same bottle for more than 10 years and it’s expiration date is May 2010 but the tablets still seem as potent as they were more than 10 years ago. I only took one dose and it was taken with a meal about 2 hours before today’s rowing session.
The tablets are supposed to both provide energy and also to make it easier for the heart to pump blood. Today’s rowing session was done at a pace which normally results in a higher heart rate than it did today, even when the heart rhythm is normal. But heart rate was barely above 100 most of the time, with only a few brief exceptions when heart rate seemed to go off its “leash” and wander a bit far astray before settling down again. Those off-leash exceptions are the spikes in heart rate on the graph.
I don’t know what to think of the L-Arginine compound’s effects but from what I’ve read L-Arginine is something we all need so as long as I take it in moderation it might do some good if it helps make it possible for me to work a little harder without heart rate skyrocketing.
Below is a chart of heart rate during today’s workout. Below that chart is a chart of yesterday’s heart rate during yesterday’s much slower workout. The two charts might not be worth comparing though because yesterday I was experiencing atrial fibrillation and today I wasn’t.
Chart of today’s main rowing session.
Chart of yesterday’s main rowing session.
Today’s and any day’s workout sessions can be seen in even more detail via this: link to the online logbook. To see a session’s data & interactive graph click the corresponding “+” sign in the “Action” column for that session.
