A day in the life

The day begins in the dark, its 3 degrees the streets are dimly lit yet deserted. My favourite time of day, I’m out the door by 4:32am. The smiles and good vibes that greet me at the pool are unforgettable, from Cam and his never ending sing along’s, the triathlon boys, the swim boys, the girls I strive to swim like, a few kids I teach at school and Paul our coach who seems to baffle me each and every day with his early morning charisma.

Normally Mondays are long sets anything from 5km and upwards, today however it was 4.5km. The last 2km was spent wearing hand paddles while my feet were tied motionless with a towel wrapped around them. This technique I got from coach Max at Noosa. The theory is it builds strength due to the towel absorbing water, hence weighing you down and slowing you down; meanwhile your attempting to swim at the same pace and hold your usual times.

After a solid few hours in the pool I venture to the gym for an hour.

3x non assisted chin ups

6x non assisted dips

(repeat this set 4x times through)

Core

20x hanging straight leg lifts with toes to the bar/my hands

100x hanging tuck lifts with knees up to my chest

50x reps of a variety of shoulder/rotator cuff band exercises

Pyramid set

Handstand pop’s (a little something I’ve created) to push-ups.

4-5 pop’s followed by 5x push-ups

4-5 pop’s followed by 4x push-ups

4-5 pop’s followed by 3x push-ups

4-5 pop’s followed by 2x push-ups

4-5 pop’s followed by 1x push-ups

(See video for what it is I’m talking about with these ‘pop’s’!)

Repeat this set 3x times through

50x reps of a variety of shoulder/rotator cuff band exercises

Balance/squat set standing on a giant gym ball

1x minute standing arms in streamline

10x shoulder circles forwards while maintaining balance on the ball

10x shoulder circles backwards while maintaining balance on the ball

10x full squats focussing on balance and stability without letting the ball move underneath you

(Repeat this set 3x times through)

While this gym set may not look or appear hard to some I can guarantee that after 2 hours in a pool to back up with this upper body set you will feel the pinch.

Post 3 hours of training in the bank I was very much looking forward to a much needed massage from Brendan at Aviano Remedial Therapies! It was only after this that the pace of my morning began to slow down. Checking my watch, it was just 10am!