Pace yourself!!

"Rapid Recovery During Critical Incident Training"


Cycling is a low impact (so long as you don’t crash or get hit by a vehicle) and excellent form of high endurance and power training that is easy on the body compared to other activities that require pounding the pavement; however, cycling is in support of bounty hunting work to the extent the some running should be incorporated into one’s training program that should also include some strength training.

With the above noted, it is important to understand that cycling can greatly enhance other activities like swimming, grappling, and other aspects common to bounty hunting: walking up hills, traversing wooded areas, walking up flights of stairs, and etceteras; moreover, cycling can also be used as a surveillance technique as people generally don’t pay any mind to people on bicycles.

“Lactate Threshold” is that point of anaerobic (muscle work without oxygen) physical activity where the body produces Lactic acid at near maximum energy output. We feel this, for example, when weight training and muscles start to give out, or, as commonly referenced, “feeling the burn.”

By wearing a heart rate monitor during exercise, we can accurately predict when Lactate acid will build up in the blood and cause contractile failure. For example, I know that I will experience “the burn” at or around 175 beats per minute, but I can avoid the acid build up by cruising between 155 and 165 beats per minute—by knowing my Lactate Threshold.

I can slim down by training below Lactate Threshold for longer rides, and I can bulk up relative muscles by interval training consisting of repeated and intentional physical excursion into the 175 and 180 beat per minute range for 10 to 30 seconds at a time.

By and large, sedentary but otherwise healthy people experiencing physical exertion will feel the body wanting to stop in a rather painful way, but, if one pushes past this point, the activity will become tolerable.

I will sometimes refer to cycling workouts as detoxification or “detoxing.” People think I’m talking about getting off some drug addiction, but, in reality, endurance training—I believe—forces the body to expel environmental or other impurities due in part to the need to consume liquids while losing fluids to avoid dehydration. I can consume upwards of 64 ounces of fluid an hour while cycling in the heat. Since we lose fluids by breathing, think about what we’re huffing and puffing out.

How does all this apply to bounty hunting?

Hitting Lactate Threshold repeatedly will cause the body to recover faster as training progresses. Early in the cycling season, I will break the crest of a hill at a high heart rate, and it can take a couple of minutes for my heart rate to drop back down to cruising levels; conversely, deeper into the cycling season, my heart rate will drop within 10 to 30 seconds after breaking the same crest.

Imagine engaging an SIQ in a foot-chase. You finally catch up, and the SIQ turns to resist apprehension or attack you. Would it not be advantageous if your heart rate dropped below exhaustion levels in 10 to 30 seconds versus two or more minutes?

Also, we may experience the trained body wanting to quit later rather than sooner, which is ideal for bounty hunting.

Where else does rapid recovery training help?

Some firearms training consists of running an obstacle course (much like in a foot-chase) and then trying to place accurate rounds downrange. Again, would it not be advantageous to recover quicker from physical exertion? Incidents can go down rather quickly, and fate is not going to wait for you to catch your breath.

What about partner safety?

Think about it. A partner who is in reasonable shape will be more likely to be there at the end of a foot chase, during a struggle to control an SIQ, and stands a reduced chance of leaving you on your own due to being in poor shape. You owe it to your partners to be in comparable shape, in my opinion.

What about stress relief?

In point of fact, I personally deal with stress much better by plainly and simply being too tired to freak out about matters of importance and therefore can better negotiate life obstacles. Also, a fatigued body as the result of cycling may result in not being kept awake by racing thoughts, for the body has to shut down to repair.

With all this shared, it is my personal opinion that the heart is a muscle that will need time to repair just like any other muscle in the body that has been torn down by exercise; therefore, my suggestion is not to cycle if your legs, for example, are still sore. Once the legs feel normal the heart should be equally ready for the next workout.

Here we come to vanity.

Let us write freely. Apart from the health benefits, the aesthetic results of real training—trimmed down waistline, shapely legs, clearer complexion, feeling of well-being, and other benefits can only enhance the confidence that comes from being in shape during bounty hunts.

I could go on, but I think my position on why I cycle is becoming more clear.