Playing Chess While Resting Between Workout Sets

Hi all. I tend to get bored while resting between sets when I work out, and I recently started experimenting with playing chess during those rests. Today I made my second attempt at this, and managed to beat Antonio, the 1,500-rated bot, while looking at the board and making moves only between workout sets. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it to anyone who gets bored between sets. Obviously, this is harder the shorter your rest periods are. Has anyone else tried this?

If anyone's curious, my workout was as follows:

- Do A 4-mile walk with a 50lb weight vest
- Set a 1-minute timer to go off 41 times
- Do 5 wide-grip overhand pull-ups from a dead hang, and 8 face-to-the-floor push-ups, every minute on the minute for 20 minutes
- Do 11 sit-ups with a 23lb dumbbell on your collarbone, every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
- Do 6 skullcrushers and 6 hammer curls with two 25lb dumbbells, every minute on the minute for 10 minutes
- Hold a straight-arm plank for the final minute
- After the timer goes off for the last time, do 10 pull-ups and 20 push-ups right away

The game itself was somewhat interesting, too. Due to the fact that the workout was in an every-minute-on-the-minute format, I had around 30-40s between each set to look at the board and make my moves. The game started after the first set of pull-ups and push-ups, and ended after the 18th set of that (i.e. after 90 pull-ups and 144 push-ups), on turn 78. At checkmate, my opponent had no pieces left, and I had just a queen. It was a remarkable win because in addition to me being pretty physically worn out, I blundered a rook on turn 32, leaving me with just a knight versus a rook and a bishop. We each had five pawns, but my farthest one was only on the third row! Was definitely a tough game to turn around. Also, the analysis calculated that on 58% of my turns I made the best possible move, which isn't amazing, but it's decent for where I'm at, skill-wise.

Wow! Great job on the workouts and beating Antonio. Keep it up.

I think your chess break, physical and mental alertness must be a good thing.

I'll play 2/1 bullet or puzzles in between errands.

Thanks! Paying attention during games is definitely something I struggle with, so I think this kind of thing helps. Another thing I recently did was beat all 15 intermediate-difficulty bots in one sitting, without ever losing or drawing. I've done this as black in all games, and as white in all games. I think it's a great way to improve one's endurance/focus.

That’s quite an accomplishment.  Don’t forget to play real people, it’s the best form to development.

I am guilty of playing the bots too much but I find it helps me with working on my openings and accuracy. In some way the preparation helps with my nerves as well but playing real  people is no replacement.