WHOOP scores this morning showed recovery way down, sleep way down, and if there was a dial for enthusiasm, that would have been way down too. Previously I would have talked myself out of any exercise on a morning like this.
But here’s the big change: I have a rower in the shed now. No excuses.
So I put my gear on, stuck on some banging tunes and went out to the shed for a ChatGPT-approved workout: ten minutes at a reasonable pace, then 3 × 5 minute sets at around 2:05/500m.
And it was great.
It got rid of the funk and set me up to finally finish a work task that had been hanging over me all weekend.
Today was the first 30 minute row on my new Concept2 RowErg. In my shed.
I am so excited to have this, and I recognise the privileged position I am in to be able to own my own machine. It is something I have dreamed about for a long time.
No excuses not to row. No excuses not to move every day.
Gym for strength work. Shed for rowing technique and pacing.
I am delighted.
This is The Sub-7 Experiment, and we have just changed gear.
There was ice on the car. The heating was on in the house. Everyone else was warm and cosy. It would have been very easy to stay in bed, put something on the TV and write the whole morning off as “rest.”
Instead, I scraped the ice off the car, put my gym gear on and went.
Same routine as the last few days: I took my WHOOP scores and fed them into ChatGPT. Recovery, strain, sleep, stress, all of it. This time the response was different. Instead of another rowing session, it came back with a strength and conditioning workout.
The plan was very specific. Exact machines. Exact reps. Exact weights.
There was only one problem. The weights it suggested were based on the numbers from a couple of months ago, pre-surgery, when I was training regularly and feeling stronger. I am not quite there yet.
So I asked the obvious question: are you sure about those weights, given that we have not done this in a while?
To its credit, Coach GPT backed off. It lowered the recommended loads to something more realistic, and in the end they felt pretty much perfect. Hard work, but not stupid.
There was another small win before I even started. On Thursday I had left my heel wedges at the gym. I assumed they were gone. When I walked in this morning, the receptionist handed them back. Someone had found them and turned them in. A tiny thing, but it felt like a good sign.
Session done, I finished on the rower with two 250 metre sprints. The first one was fast but messy. I got a bit carried away, my wedges slipped and my feet came out of the shoes with about 18 metres left. Almost there, not quite. The second sprint was much more controlled.
I am counting all of this as prototyping for the wedges. When the rower finally arrives at home, I want that setup dialled in so I can just strap in and go.
Right now the car thermometer says minus 0.5°C. It is still cold, but I feel great. I have a solid session in the bag, I am not wrecked, and the next job is to go home, rouse the rest of the house and get everyone out for a walk around the lake.
Training done. Family next. A good Sunday.
Another good session logged. This is The Sub-7 Experiment. And it continues.
I have just come out of the gym after my first proper session in a while. Last week was a family trip to London, which was brilliant, but it knocked me out of my routine.
This morning was one of those days where I really did not fancy going at all. WHOOP had my recovery in the yellow. Sleep was fine, stress and strain yesterday were nothing dramatic, but I still felt flat. It would have been very easy to decide that today was not a gym day and leave it at that.
Instead, I tried the new approach I have been talking about. I took my WHOOP numbers and dropped them into ChatGPT. In return, I got a clear session plan with target figures that matched how my body was supposed to feel on a “medium” day.
The structure was simple. Five minutes of warm up at a set pace to get moving. Then three blocks of 2,000 metres on the rower, again at a set pace. Nothing heroic. Just long, steady, repeatable work.
On paper it looked almost too easy, especially with that “you should probably train” yellow score. In reality it was exactly what I needed. Each 2,000 metres felt long and cruisy. Hard enough that I knew I was doing something, nowhere near the point of blowing up. By the end of the third block I felt like I had trained, but I did not feel broken.
The bigger difference was in my head. I walked into the gym tired and not really in the mood. I walked out feeling lighter and quietly pleased with myself. The combination of WHOOP data and ChatGPT as coach gave me just enough structure to get over the hump of not wanting to start.
It is early days for this experiment, but right now it has promise. If this is what a “didn’t want to go” day can look like, I am curious to see what happens on the days when I actually feel ready.
Not sure what’s up today—this is the third time I’ve tried to do this. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s the app, maybe I just keep hitting the wrong button. Whatever. Let’s call this one off the cuff, because that’s exactly how it feels.
The important bit: another good session.
Strong. Organised. Full-on. Bit of rowing, bit of weights. Finished with a couple of fast 250m sprints, let the engine rip, felt solid.
Keys went in the box again. That’s becoming a habit now. Quiet statement, every time: I’m here. I belong.
It’s Friday. The weekend starts now. That’s all I’ve got. Just a check-in. Job done.
The Sub-7 Experiment 