Post by Alkaiser on Dec 10, 2008 22:28:40 GMT 1
'Physical pain, mental pain...these things you can fight through. But everybody crumbles from cardio pain.' The boy on the treadmill had heard that on one of his favorite fighting shows, once. It made sense. The heart is the center of any person, and without it you can barely walk or move let alone fight. So Steve Barzahd trained to make sure that sort of crippling pain would never affect him first.
The machine was cranked to a mile every 6 minutes, on a thirty degree incline. For most people this sort of thing was seen either as a dash or as torture. For Alkaiser, who fancied himself as one of the fastest people still in high school, this was an average run. Of course, 'average' was a word that Barzahd would never want associated with him or his workout, so the Captain found ways to push it further. Besides, he had only been following such 'torture' since he came into the title of pillar at Hircine.
Truth was, if you just looked at Alkaiser while he was doing this part of his training regimen you would think you were looking at a spaceman. His body was covered in what looked like a trash bag with sleeves. A vinyl sweat suit was in actuality what covered the boy. It caused him to push the limits of dehydration so that his body could learn to function during extremely straining fights. Stamina was the name of the game.
When your body is deprived of things it needs, like proper hydration, it finds ways to either make you stop whatever your doing or provide some alternative substance to make you keep going. Lots of times this means that your glands will produce toxins in your bloodstream to increase your heart rate and require you to rest. Like most toxins, immunity to these effects can be built through excessive exposure. Thus, the sweat suit as well as the contraption on Steve's head.
In short, it was a snorkel from hell. Made to close the nose and force breathing through the mouth, it limited oxygen intake and thus produced more toxins within the body. Steve had learned all of this stuff on that same show, which he coincidentally was unable to watch now due to his intense captain's training. That meant that Alkaiser was now able to function in extreme circumstances of dehydration as well as low oxygenation without worrying about his body quitting on him.
After an hour on the treadmill, the boy takes a short break followed by about an hour and a half on the punching bag, still in gear. After that he's finally finished. He peels off the snorkel and breathes deep. As he flings off the sweat suit, his body is covered in tiny beads of liquid, glistening in the lights. He unstraps the wrist, ankle and shoulder weights that had been hiding under his suit and drops them to the ground with a thud. After a shower and a very large drink of water, he emerges from the gym feeling like he could take on the world, at least until this time next week when he'll be back doing it again.
The machine was cranked to a mile every 6 minutes, on a thirty degree incline. For most people this sort of thing was seen either as a dash or as torture. For Alkaiser, who fancied himself as one of the fastest people still in high school, this was an average run. Of course, 'average' was a word that Barzahd would never want associated with him or his workout, so the Captain found ways to push it further. Besides, he had only been following such 'torture' since he came into the title of pillar at Hircine.
Truth was, if you just looked at Alkaiser while he was doing this part of his training regimen you would think you were looking at a spaceman. His body was covered in what looked like a trash bag with sleeves. A vinyl sweat suit was in actuality what covered the boy. It caused him to push the limits of dehydration so that his body could learn to function during extremely straining fights. Stamina was the name of the game.
When your body is deprived of things it needs, like proper hydration, it finds ways to either make you stop whatever your doing or provide some alternative substance to make you keep going. Lots of times this means that your glands will produce toxins in your bloodstream to increase your heart rate and require you to rest. Like most toxins, immunity to these effects can be built through excessive exposure. Thus, the sweat suit as well as the contraption on Steve's head.
In short, it was a snorkel from hell. Made to close the nose and force breathing through the mouth, it limited oxygen intake and thus produced more toxins within the body. Steve had learned all of this stuff on that same show, which he coincidentally was unable to watch now due to his intense captain's training. That meant that Alkaiser was now able to function in extreme circumstances of dehydration as well as low oxygenation without worrying about his body quitting on him.
After an hour on the treadmill, the boy takes a short break followed by about an hour and a half on the punching bag, still in gear. After that he's finally finished. He peels off the snorkel and breathes deep. As he flings off the sweat suit, his body is covered in tiny beads of liquid, glistening in the lights. He unstraps the wrist, ankle and shoulder weights that had been hiding under his suit and drops them to the ground with a thud. After a shower and a very large drink of water, he emerges from the gym feeling like he could take on the world, at least until this time next week when he'll be back doing it again.
