Be Your own Experiment

I came across a kettlebell routine by complete accident a couple weeks ago (as of writing this post). Apparently, the routine was on TikTok and touts the benefit of boosting VO2 Max by doing it. (VO2 Max is the maximum amount of oxygen an individual can use during intense exercise). I'm not sure I agree that this is anything magic in boosting VO2 Max with this routine, BUT that's NOT what I'm writing this for.

I was immediately drawn to this routine for a very different reason and something I feel is GREATLY needed:

It FORCES the person to SLOW DOWN.

On top of that, the person has SLOW DOWN after SPEEDING UP! 😯😯😯😯😯

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The Routine:

It's a kettlebell (KB) swing (....the work) paired with breathing (...the rest). It's performed in a "ladder".

-You start with 1-KB swing ~ set the KB down ~ stand fully and perform 1-full round of controlled breath (inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth)

.... Then you repeat this up the ladder. 2:2, 3:3, 4:4... All the way to, well whatever you want. 15-20 is a nice range.

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Honestly, WHAT we choose to do is less relevant than we think in health and wellbeing, especially since there are SO MANY WAYS to do so. The key component we overlook is what can YOU do CONSISTENTLY. Add something that FEELS GOOD and you have a recipe for success, progress and health moving forward.

In this case, the "forced" slowing down during the breathing phase of these interval rounds made me excited to experiment. And experiment I did!

I decided on 15:15 as my end point. That totals 120 KB swings and 120 rounds of breath by the end of the routine. After the first run through of this, I loved it!!! I felt some physical work (i.e. the KB swings), I felt some mental work (i.e. the controlled breathing and slowing down between swing rounds) and my body overall felt a nice light sweat, warmth and fatigue by the end, before I headed out for my walk.

Now, let me share what I (key word - "I") recognized in MY experiment....

👉 The warmth and light sweat kicked in around 10:10. It was a nice progressive build up in the workload.

👉 The combo of physical work and mental work is AWESOME! It feels SO GOOD! It's a different kind of work than "grinding something out"

👉 I recognized the fact that this CANNOT be rushed (which I loved). The key is breathing fully and with control - not hyperventilating to get to the next set.

👉 The goal is NOT a time or a record of any kind. The goal is DO IT / FINISH IT. That's it.

👉 The control of the "forced" slow down between explosive work is FANTASTIC!! Talk about BALANCE in a routine. Whoa!

Today, writing this, I completed my 2nd session with this routine (after my hamstrings were done yelling at me last week 🤣), and here's some things I noticed in session two...

👉 My legs were less fatigued by the 15:15 round compared to session one. Today was just a nice overall fatigue by the end (like I knew I did something).

👉 I had to really focus on belly breathing today. It wasn't as easy as the first session in that regard. I noticed shoulder/neck tension in (some) of my breathing rounds that I had to conciously aim to relax and belly breathe.

👉 I timed the session today to get an idea of how long the session took. 15min for the 15:15. It'll be interesting to play with how that time lengthens as my breathing becomes even more relaxed the more sessions I do.

👉 I have really enjoyed the last two sessions, doing it once per week as a "mindful-work" routine in my movement practice. My aim is to keep it in play once per week over the next 4 weeks or so (at least) to see the impact, mostly mentally more than physically. That combination of movement with mental exercise excites me in regards to listening to my body.

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Be Your own Experiment

We modern humans do one of two things:

1) We take plans, routines, programs WAY to rigid and seriously. For us general population folks who just want to be healthy and lead a quality lifestyle, we can let go of that rigidity so that we are flexible and relaxed with our routines. You can do this and STILL have consistency FYI.

2) We're "All or Nothing". If we don't do things EXACT and/or PERFECT we bail or we completely bully ourselves down.

Instead, approach it as a SELF-EXPERIMENT (because it really is!). When something grabs your attention (as this KB ladder did for me), it motivated me to give it a try with the mentality of "let's see how this feels". That's it! Creating an approach of increased FREEDOM in what and how you do something, opens so many doors to deep health.

I use the example with nutrition coaching, where instead of labelling yourself with a particular diet (Vegan, Paleo etc) take the bits and pieces of the diet that WORK FOR YOU and (OMG if I dare say it) the pieces of it that you ENJOY! 😯 Make it YOUR way of eating instead of someone elses.

The same goes for movement/physical activity. However, experimenting for a while is the only way YOU can recognize what DOES or DOES NOT work for YOU and what benefits YOU are getting from what you choose. As Dr Greg Wells says: "You're a labratory of one."