Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Home is where the heart is


For hundreds of years, platoon style Boot Camp basic training has worked out groups of people to elite level fitness. The combination of running and exercise allow folks to run to recover from exercise, then exercise to recover from running. Switching from running to exercise then back to running breaks up the workout. The workout becomes more interesting and more manageable.

Our heart rate during running typically averages 160 beats per minute. Our heart rate during exercise averages 120 beats per minute. Our average resting heart rate is 60 beats per minute. During Boot Camp, exercise after running is also called "active recovery." This is a time when we give our legs a rest but our hearts keep beating at an elevated rate. Keeping our heart rates up during exercise is key to developing overall fitness and burning fat. After 35 minutes of elevated heart rate, the body switches from burning sugar to burning fat. The final 25 minutes of Boot Camp are the fat burning minutes.

An elevated heart rate lifts our spirits as well. When we are scared or mad, our hearts race. When we are attracted to someone or something, our hearts race. We may say, "he/she takes my breath away." While exercise is a significantly less desirable stimulus, the effect is the same. During exercise our hearts race and we may feel good or even euphoric. This feeling is often shared with the folks in the workout. Our hearts race, our spirits our lifted and we share the experience.

Many of us have shared this experience with each other for a very long time. Others are newly enjoying the experience. The fellowship we have created in fitness is not for the faint of heart. We live and move at a rate that's elevated. We call it "Elite."

We live in the workout and visit the world the other 23 hours a day. We are grounded in the daily discipline. The other 23 hours can be quite variable, but the workout is a home we have come to depend on. It is the home where the heart is.