Changing the PACE

It took me a couple of weeks to get back on track after my recent travels, but I’m happy to say I’m a pound down from before I left on my trip, and my fasting glucose is back down as well.

I did it by changing my PACE routine. (Find out more about PACE here and here.

I realized that, by focusing on laps in the pool, I wasn’t putting out the effort that would really make a diffierence. Instead, because I wanted to complete a lap, I was holding back. That’s exactly the opposite of what makes PACE effective.

Push Hard, Don’t Coast

In order to increase my lung and heart capacity, I need to push myself to my limits in short bursts, and I wasn’t doing that. Why? Because, as I’ve become fitter, it takes more effort to push those limits. Where swimming two laps of a hard backstroke used to leave me gasping, now it doesn’t. According to old-school cardio/aerobics theories, that’s fine. But it’s not PACE and it doesn’t provide the health benefits of a true PACE-style workout.

So this week I changed up my routine. Instead of focusing on the laps, I started focusing on the activity and doing it as hard and fast as I could.

The first day after making this change, I had dropped 1-1/2 pounds.

Changed Swim Routine

Here’s what my swim routine looks like now:

Warmup: three laps of breaststroke and/or backstroke, starting very slowly and working my speed up to a moderate level. At the end of three laps, I stretch for a minute while I catch my breath.

Set 1: easy backstroke for 2 laps

Set 2: sidestroke for 2 laps

Set 3: overhand backstroke for 1-3/4 laps

Set 4: breaststroke for 1-2/3 laps

Set 5: crawl for 3/4 of a lap

PACE is Progressive

Remember, PACE is progressive, so it’s important to change up your routine and make it more challenging. This means your sets actually take less time but you’re working harder.

To learn more about PACE or to order the book, click here.

Have you put together your own PACE workout? How’s it working for you? (Click the Comment link above )

1. 

   Karen says:

   October 22, 2010 at 8:13 pm

   Go Susanna! I do weight training and I have to force myself to go heavier because I get obsessed with the numbers too (in my case, the amount of reps I do). Gotta let those numbers go!