Well I did not get out to hit the prowler today. I guess I could have in the rain, but the risk of injury is not worth it. For me it's very easy to be intense when pushing the prowler. Simply put, if there's enough resistance you can't help but be intense, otherwise it won't move. You set your goal on how many trips you'll make and anything less is unacceptable. Boom, instant intensity.
With the prowler out I needed to push the limits in the basement today. I decided on some high intensity interval training and the airdyne was my weapon of choice. I pedaled leisurely for 2 minutes and then went balls out for 30 seconds. The plan was to repeat this for 20 minutes. At the first bout of 30 seconds all out, I had the needle pinned at the max speed. When the time was up and I let off the gas, I could feel my legs and lungs burning.
After the two minutes of easy pedaling, I did not feel at all ready to dial it up again. As I started pumping and was just shy of pinning the needle I thought of Wendler who tells me about the conditioning challenges he sets for himself. I also thought about my buddy Harry and how he told me I need to condition like I bench. That's all I needed. I pinned that stupid needle again and a huge smile came over my face. The smile was from learning how to brutalize myself. How crazy is that. In an instant I was imparted with this new insane gift of masochism.
Each time I hit that 30 second interval I buried the needle with a smile on my face. My lungs and legs burned more with each set, but it could not stop my smile. I was able to find that place inside that makes me a killer on the platform and I was able to harness it in a different area of my training.
Yes, I am now excited to condition as well as lift. The conditioning is going to be a big part of getting me down to the 220's. I don't want to cut anymore calories and I can't just wish the weight off. I see a lot of people try that and it never works. I'll use the novel approach of punishing the weight off.