It takes a while to put it all together. No hurry, we can work through it.
Did my moped analogy make sense to you?
Heart rate will tell you more about it, but that description sounds like you are probably using more fat than muscle glycogen. It sounds aerobic.
When you use mostly fat for fuel, you will be less likely to drop afterward.
The reason you have to take insulin after you swim is because a) you have been disconnected, b) you need it for the post-swim carbs, and c) sometimes when you have a very intense workout, your body releases hormones that make you spike. But that last one is only when you do really intense workouts.
Letâs go through this bit by bit. Does this make sense?
Yes! When you are in good physical fitness, and you are using fat metabolism, you can swim for a very long distance at a slower pace. Eventually though, your body will become tired and your heart rate will increase, and you will move into muscle glycogen.
In the simplest definition, aerobic and anaerobic refer whether or not oxygen is present. With enough oxygen (aerobic), muscle does not get as fatigued. But when you increase the intensity and move toward anaerobic exercise, your muscles will use other fuels that do not require oxygen but will have by-products that will cause fatigue and tire you out.
A very simple way of thinking about it - if you walk down the block, you are not out-of-breath because your body had enough oxygen for the activity, it is aerobic.
But if you run up 5 flights of stairs, you are out-of-breath and gasping for air. That is anaerobic - without oxygen.
You are gaining muscle because you are using them, they are building up and getting stronger.
Your body weight is made of many things - water, fat, muscle, bone, tissue, organs, etc. So you can be reducing fat and increasing muscle at the same time.
Weight is not as important as what your body is made of.
A couple of things. Your body is used to swimming, your muscles for that activity are built up. So you can swim at a certain pace and not get winded. But walking up stairs - a) your body may not be as used to that type of muscle activity, and b) it depends on how fast you go. If you walk up stairs very quickly, or swim very quickly, you will still be out of breath. But your body is just used to the swimming pace you are working at.
Also, all the swimming you are doing is helping your entire cardiovascular system. If you did not swimming at all, you would be much more winded from several flights of stairs than you are now!
You want to build up everything. Different heart rate zones. You build the entire engine. Doing just slow or just fast is not complete training. So you want to do all of it. You want to exercise to boost your âgoodâ cholesterol and decrease unhealthy triglycerides. You want to improve your respiratory system. You want to increase your mitochondrial density. You want to increase your capillary density to help supply blood and oxygen to muscles and remove waste. The whole thing - different heart rate zones for complete training.
Your body is more dense when your muscles become more fit and you lose weight. As you become more muscular, your BMI will go down, but your weight may not. Because muscle is more dense, you may not lose weight, but you will lose fat.
A BMI that just uses your height and weight is not accurate! If you want to know your BMI, you need to do either the volume tank (most accurate), or tissue pinch measurements.
Think about it like this - what weight more, a pound of rocks or a pound of feathers? Trick question, they both weigh the same, one pound!
ButâŚwhat takes up more space, a pound of rocks or a pound of feathers? A pound of feathers!
iâve had that âtissue pinchâ measurement done a couple of times when i had joined a gym in manhattan. it was ridiculously low. thats all i remember. i know my endo is always telling me to fatten up so that i will have more realistate for my pump infusion sites. unfortunately, the swimming has a huge impact on my core muscles and i have nothing on my belly. i have to reach around to my sides to find places for insertion.
I think so! If you think about it, even the leanest amongst us has TONS of fat to burn, which means itâs basically an unlimited fuel source. Most of us have around 2,500 calories worth of carbohydrates stored in our body to burn â so not quite enough for a marathon. So if youâre primarily burning carbs you will eventually âhit the wallâ because your body has run out of the preferred fuel to burn. Or at least thatâs my limited understanding.
Good way to think about it. Imagine how hard it is to be an Ironman Triathlete if you were not able to burn fat and only able to burn carbs. 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and and then run a marathon. If they werenât able to burn fat, they would have to eat a staggering amount of food to fuel the event. When you read about their training, it is all about going as fast as you can while still burning fat.
doing an ironman involves a lifelong commitment to daily training. so much so that it is entirely your life. the only thing i think that you wouldnt have to give up is food.
tomorrow will bring another day of experimentation. my endo (the ding-a-ling) changed my basals. he lowered them substantially. however, despite the change, i am still going low. often, too. i joke a lot with eric about how much chocolate i am eating (along with GTabs). instead of doing a lowered TB, before i go out for a walk, i treat myself to a piece of chocolate instead. its certainly a lot more fun and tasty, too
i want to bring my starting BGs in the 130/150 range. i would love to end in the 110 range at a plateau. thatâs the ideal. i will try my usual prep plan, and i will try not to forget to bolus right before i turn off my pump (as i did last time, which proved to be a complete mess). then i need to remember to bolus right after i get out of the pool, more insulin than last time (which was only 1 unit). i will be bringing those darned Swedish Fish with me to the pool and try and be mindful about how many i should eat.
i plan to kick board it for the first hour, and swim regularly for the second hour. (i am loving this kick board thing )
If I was to train for an Ironman, it would be my entire life. My friend that does these races is genetically superior, he and his wife swap who gets to train and who takes care of the kids. They both have full time jobs and can train for an Ironman in about 3 months in their spare time. They run one race a year each. crazy stuff really.
Today is the day that i begin an entirely different EXPERIMENT:
I will be prepping and swimming on a totally new basal rate (well i will still be turning off my pump as usual). but, my new basal rate will be effecting me after my swim including dinner and over-night. soooo, i am nervous again.
since my endo lowered my basal rate from about .650-ish down to .55 across the board, i have noticed a few things:
even 2 days post swim, during recovery days, my BGs are low (70s).
but come the third day and they are in the 120-ish range (not bad at all, but just not used to it)
my over-night BGs are higher (147 last night at 3am, waking up at 123, then 136 2.5 hours post meal, then back down to 114) (canât really complain about those #s, but i am thinking about my over-night #s and thinking i might have to increase my basal for overnight to bring them into better range.)
wondering what today will bring. i am very excited about getting into the pool again after a weekend of sloth.
i cannot fathom training for just 3 months to do a full ironman. and when they are in training, do they have to take off from their work? isnt doing the ironman a full-time job in and of itself? how on earth do they do this?? it seems impossible.
No, they work a full day, and do the workouts in the morning or the evening or both. But they definitely work full time and train, and raise their family and race. Works for them.
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