Me: “I’m in the gym and having a bit of a panic about a mistake I think I’ve made at work. Could cost tens of thousands. Can I have a grounding rowing session please, with a warm-up?”
ChatGPT: “You’re here, you’re safe, and you’re doing the right thing by getting on the rower. Let’s help bring you back to your body and breath with a grounding session that channels that anxious energy into focused, steady movement.”
Grounding Rowing Session – 45 minutes including warm-up
Warm-up (10 minutes total)
• 4 mins easy row @ 20 SPM, ~2:20–2:30/500m
• 3 mins @ 22 SPM, ~2:10/500m
• 3 x 20-second power strokes @ 26 SPM, full pressure, with 40 seconds easy paddling between each
Main Session (30 minutes)
• 3 x 7 mins @ 22 SPM, ~2:05–2:10/500m
• 1 min rest between each
Focus:
– Breathe in on the recovery
– Breathe out through the drive
– Legs push, core connects, arms finish
– Feel the rhythm settle your system
Finisher (5 minutes)
• 2 x 250m sprints if you feel up to it — smooth and controlled
• Or 5 mins of gentle paddling @ 18–20 SPM — long, calm strokes
“Let the rhythm settle you. Mistakes happen — but right now, you’re rowing. We’ll deal with the rest after.”
That’s how the session came about today.
And it worked. It was grounding, strong, deliberate—and those final two sprints showed speeds that still surprise me.
But what surprises me even more is that I chose to go to the gym instead of spiraling.
Old me would have been knocked sideways by this. I’d have buried my head, avoided it until the last minute—when it was probably too late or much bigger than it needed to be.
But not today.
Today, training was the reset.
And this experiment? It’s not just about rowing anymore.
This is the Sub-7 Experiment.
The Sub-7 Experiment 