Pickle Juice

Drinking pickle juice appears to decrease cramping about forty-five percent faster than drinking water. The salt and vinegar in pickle juice are great for destroying bacteria. You can use pickle juice to treat bacterial infections in your stomach since the bacteria is mild on the lining of your abdomen. It is an excellent source of antioxidant and helps in reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer.
–healthresearchfunding.org

Where was this knowledge when I was still competing? I worked out fairly hard today for an ol’ swammer. I did intervals on the bike for 30 minutes, lifted (HIIT routine) for 45, then swam 1k. I was parched afterward. I have heard of the hydrating benefits of vinegar, but had not been all that interested in chugging seedy, pickle juice. Today I was in the mood to chug whatever liquid my eyes first beheld. The Claussen jar was calling. And I answered in a big way. The above article suggests 2.5 ounces of juice post workout. I drank far more than that and am now worried that all those pickle seeds impregnated me and a pickle child is growing larger every minute in my tummy. The sodium content I consumed was probably 8,000 percent my necessary daily value, so that explains the belly bloat. So word to the wise, drink responsibly. Or maybe you’re not odd like me, and will never get the urge to down 20 ounces of pickle juice.

If you’re not familiar with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training), I think you should be! I printed out a series of weighted workouts from muscleandfitness.com. I’ve never conscientiously done HIIT in the weight room. But, really, weight training is interval training. You go from heavy, all-out efforts to periods of rest. This is just a tad more calculated. I did 10 sets of 10 rep’s of light/moderate weight with 50 seconds or less rest in between. Then 3 sets of 6-8 rep’s of your RM or repetition max with a minute rest in between.  I did this with squats yesterday and I’m having trouble descending to the loo today. Hamstrings are struggling! It’s a six-week program and you’re supposed to decrease your rest between sets each week. By week six, they want us to do 100 squats straight. Whoa. Today I did dumbbell bench press. I have been veering away from arm exercises to dodge that notorious swimmer bulk, but lately, my arms have been feeling puny. So let’s all get swole! Just not from pickle juice…