My Rogue Echo AirBike arrived this week. I got it to replace swimming for my cardio workouts. Since starting my new workout routine, I’ve purposely cut way down on cardio. Instead of swimming for an hour every day, I’ve been doing a short hill hike of 30 minutes after my strength workouts. Now that I have the echo, I’ll be doing HIIT interval sessions 3-4 times a week alternating with the hill hikes.
It’s been almost 8 years since I’ve done HIIT instead of long, slow, easy cardio workouts. I’m loving it.
My workouts are much shorter. I never have to think about how cold it is outside, the pool schedule or how cold the water will be. I’ve freed up about 2 hours a day that swimming consumed.
I’ve decided to eliminate regular long, slow cardio workouts. When I last did HIIT workouts from 2008 to 2016 I had great success. The HIIT workouts kept me in good aerobic and anaerobic condition in minimal time.
They are hard, but brief.
Plus, I like working out hard.
The weather forecast is calling for snow this weekend. Then Monday my regular pool is closed for Martin Luther King Day.
In previous years, I’d be left wondering if the roads would be safe enough to drive to the pool or if the pools would close for inclement weather. Then I’d be hitting my backup pool at the YMCA on MLK Day being forced to share a lane because the YMCA is always extra crowded when school is out.
This year I have no issues whatsoever. My car will stay parked in my garage. I’l ride the Echo bike one day and go for a hike the next day.
It’s interesting to consider that just a few months ago if you asked me to identify what my “lottery fantasy” dreams were I would have said having a private pool and a garage big enough (and heated) that I didn’t have to pull my car outside to workout in my garage gym.
Having 365 day a year access to a pool, a 2 car garage and warm weather were so important to me that they prevented me from every seriously considering moving again.
Now today, where I am is perfect. Cold weather in winter still sucks, but much less so since I don’t have to deal with commuting to the pool and freezing my a$$ off all winter. My 1 car garage is plenty large enough since I moved my gym.
The irony is that without the limitations mentioned above, it opens up many more possibilities for relocation. And instead, I have everything I need and want – right here, right now.
My Private Pool