I have clocked and counted during my daily swimming just to keep my brain busy while in the water.

The swimming pool in Lakeholmz, Jurong, Singapore.

Stats without webbed gloves:

30 laps of 50 meters – a total of 1.5km in average took me 38 minutes: speed 2.37km/hour or 1 minute and 16 seconds per lap. I used 33 strokes per lap – a total of 990 strokes over 30 laps.

Stats with webbed gloves:

30 laps of 50 meters – a total of 1.5km in average took me 42 minutes: speed 2.14km/hour or 1 minute and 24 seconds per lap. I used 28 strokes per lap – a total of 840 strokes over 30 laps.

6th May: Sorry, but I must have made a mistake. Yesterday I clocked myself again with the resistance gloves in the late morning and I did the 30 laps in 35 minutes. I was convinced that I skipped some laps or got the timing wrong, so I discarded the time – at least for a while. Puzzled by that result I decided to do another 30 laps in the evening; again 35 minutes! OK, I am trying to distract my thoughts while swimming to make it less boring just counting laps; but the problem is that I simply forget to count my laps. I am really not good at multi-tasking!

Anyway it makes more sense; the resistance gloves got a much bigger surface than my hands and even with the added drag in the glide phase from the gloves, I should still be faster as the work from my arms is so much more efficient during the stroke.

So here is the edited math for swimming with the resistance gloves:

30 laps of 50 meters – a total of 1.5km in average took me 35 minutes: speed 2.57km/hour or 1 minute and 10 seconds per lap. I used 28 strokes per lap – a total of 840 strokes over 30 laps.

Just to be sure I will clock myself again today and really concentrate on just counting laps. I will not let my thoughts stray today.

Funny thing is that I am in fact slower with the gloves; but on the other hand – I can feel the water resistance against the gloves during the frog kick and the glide. Especially the web between the thumbs and the index fingers is causing drag in that position. Also in the return phase there is much more resistance on the gloves than bare hands.

Anyway the gloves are not bought for speed; they are meant for gaining more strength in the upper body and it seems like I am getting it. I am pretty sure that even with the lesser strokes (150) I am still getting a better upper body exercise with them than without them.

The hot spa in front with bobble jets and the cold spa in the back also with jets.

OK – over to the food section; we are living as close to very healthy as we can, when I am in the kitchen here in Singapore. Many days are salad days and today were one of them.

Tuesday salad:
Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, bell pepper, cucumbers, carrots – on the side hard boiled eggs, diced lean ham and chunks of tuna in brine.

The only extravaganza is the dressing; an Italian styled homemade dressing based on homemade vinegar with fresh spices, Balsamico vinegar, hot English mustard, mashed garlic, olive oil, salt, grounded black pepper, dried oregano leaves, lemon juice and sugar.

The picture was taken when the spiced vinegar was just made; a few days before New Year the 29th December 2009 – the longer the vinegar absorbs the spices the better!

Served with a glass of cold fresh water! Pretty lean and yummy!

To further increase the effect of swimming breaststroke I have bought a pair of webbed swimming gloves. I can highly recommend them as they really add pressure on your upper body during swimming. I am doing 30 laps of 50 meters; a total of 1.5km and with the gloves I can feel a huge difference in the exercise I get – it is much more concentrated on the upper body. Normal breaststroke will be 70% load on your legs, but with the gloves I will say that it must be close to 50-50. This is of course only a wild guess, but I can definitively feel the difference.

I am working out two major muscle groups per day - 6 days a week in the gym and the combination of swimming for cardio and short hard workout is really paying off. I am not really using the weight scale that much, but the best indicator I have is my old faithful leather belt. I bought it in Italy back in 1998 and for many years I used the second last hole in the belt – now I am using the last hole and I have to alter the belt now as the last hole is not tight enough. I have lost about 5cm of the circumference of my waist in the last 4 months and I have never been really fat, so 5cm is a lot on an already lean person like me. I guess I will have to lose another 1 to 2cm before I am rid of the last belly-fat and love-handles. My abs are there, but unfortunately still hidden behind a thin layer of fat.

Jan is also losing weight now and feeling the effect of the daily exercise – it simply gives more energy than it burns!

Last, thanks to Karl Rønhave! My Danish friend in Vietnam who got me started exercising again when I visited him and his wife Linh in Vietnam last year in September – October 2009. You are the man!

Linh and Karl Rønhave at the woodworking fair in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam September 2009

Swimming and exercise is now on my agenda every day and has been for more than 6 months. I want my six-pack back! It’s there now, but still covered up in a thin layer of fat, so the fat has to go - that means diet! So I’m cutting back on sugar, fat and all the unnecessary small in-between meals and snacks.

 

So I’m skipping this:

 

To get this:

Hugh Jackman - Ladies and Gentlemen! He got the abs and he’s also fourty plus.

I just managed to post a single post before my homepage was hi-jacked. Now I’m back in control and everything is just fine. My hand is pretty OK all considered and I’m going to Singapore tomorrow morning!I’m really looking forward to see Girlie, Jan, Isabella and Christian.Take good care and have a nice Xmas!

Putting his heel down on Guantanamo and having talks about putting an end to the warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan… he does put his money where his mouth is!

If he will continue down that path he will for sure make changes… and changes are needed after all the disasters that has spewed from  the Bush Administration.

Now we only need to have all the religious BS removed from that office too!

The ad is Italian saying something like:
“The bad news is that God does not exist. The good news is that you do not need him.”