Target Heart Rate

[LG Diver]

20 minutes of "cardio" 3 times per week should be sufficient IF done properly. Doing so involves going well beyond the "target" areas, and is NOT pleasant physically, though the conditioning it produces is far superior to traditional training modalities.

The type of training you're referring to is not only inappropriate for someone interested primarily in weight loss and general fitness, but potentially dangerous without a sufficient level of base fitness to support this level of effort. I'm not sure what "conditioning" you're referring to, but lactate threshold training is about as applicable to someone looking for general fitness as trimix is to a 30' reef dive.

 

[countryboy]

Thank you for the information. Again, there seems to be 2 sides to every coin..

Yes, I have heard (do not have any scientific evicence to back it up) that weight training will produce better long term results with fitness / weight maintenance. The reason I started with the cardio (Eliptical / Treadmill) is:
It is easier on my overweight joints
It has me getting to the gym for 5 - 6 days a week for 1 - 1 1/2 hrs. per session
It is much easier to get on the machine and push it without fears of doing the exercise improperly.

So it is (was) a safe means to start getting back into training.

The next question .. how to find a good trainer? From the people I see in the gym, I notice that they are doing exercises, well, let's just say "differently" than I have been trained in the past... (poor form).

...If you think you're fine on your own, see if you can answer the following questions "What is the relationship between the central nervous system, Acetylcholine, Calcium Ions, and Motor end plates? How does the Class of lever of any given joint affect the selection of exercises, type, or resistance?

....

Huh??

Although, I do not think the trainers in the gym I go to could answer any of these either... LOL...

 

[countryboy]

what is involved in lactate threshold training? Is this drop sets?...

Same question, please explain further..

 

[coach_izzy]

Sorry, but it's been shown that the resting metabolic rate of a pound of muscle is nearly identical to that of a pound of fat. So, if you want to talk about fallacies, the myth that replacing a pound of fat with a pound of muscle will increase your metabolic rate is right up there with the best of them.

Please do point out where exactly I said "replacing muscle with fat". Increasing lean tissue as a consequence of resistance training has NOTHING to do with replacing "muscle with fat" as both tissues are completely different of one another. There's ample medical evidence that supports the tremendous benefits of resistance training of basic metabolic rate.

That's not to say that people will not benefit from resistance training, as all adults start to lose muscle mass at a rate of ~1% per year after age 35, but resistance training alone is not an effective means of weight control.

The loss of lean tissue as consequence of age is something well documented IN SEDENTARY populations, not active ones. Again, there's ample evidence to support that the loss of muscle tissue is very preventable. Resistance training alone is more than sufficient IF you know how to train properly. If you're thinking bodyparts, sets and reps, well, that explains why you cannot get much out of proper resistance training.

Please do provide evidence that demonstrates that resistance training alone is not an effective means of weight control, that means a good reliable study by a reputable journal. Read the works of Mel C. Siff, Yuri Verkoshansky and Roger M. Enoka to educate yourself a little, before coming with such half-hearted conclusions

 

[coach_izzy]

My program works well for ME...all programs need to be individualized not based on a study or muscle mag... IMO to just pump Iron without cardio is lazy...

I have been working out with P90X.

So where do you think the HR protocols came from? Wasn't that from flawed "studies" and speculation? or what's that your own creation? Good studies provide unbiased base lines from which the educated fitness professionals can customize a program.

And who's talking about pumping iron?

 

[coach_izzy]

The type of training you're referring to is not only inappropriate for someone interested primarily in weight loss and general fitness, but potentially dangerous without a sufficient level of base fitness to support this level of effort. I'm not sure what "conditioning" you're referring to, but lactate threshold training is about as applicable to someone looking for general fitness as trimix is to a 30' reef dive.

Please define fitness before you keep going further. The statement refers to what was mentioned about 20 minutes being sufficient at the levels being presented, which will do nothing more than elevate core temperature and provide very little benefits in the long term. Once again, take the time to read properly as well as all that's implied.

And since you seem to know so much about lactate treshold training, please elaborate what it is and how is not applicable to conditioning. Catherine and Countryboy want to know and I'm sure you have great knolwedge of what it is since you made such a witty analogy... Care to give it a shot?

 

[freediver]

So where do you think the HR protocols came from? Wasn't that from flawed "studies" and speculation? or what's that your own creation? Good studies provide unbiased base lines from which the educated fitness professionals can customize a program.

A recent study just reported that 50% of all studies will be contradicted by a future study!

 

[FLDVR]

A recent study just reported that 50% of all studies will be contradicted by a future study!

Gotta love that one

Triathetes aside, when determining heart rates we take the info. off the heart rate monitor after a blazing sprint right before you pass out. This is Max. 80percent and other zones can be calculated off of this number.

All measurements are not written in stone as some days your heart rate will not behave within these numbers. Thats an advanced subject for a later post I guess.

Oh and as note most trainers will make you get a physical to make sure that your ready for this type of training. If you do it yourself your on your own.

Henry

 

[LG Diver]

Please do point out where exactly I said "replacing muscle with fat". Increasing lean tissue as a consequence of resistance training has NOTHING to do with replacing "muscle with fat" as both tissues are completely different of one another.

Perhaps it was the implication of this statement:

The key to suscessful weight control (that means mantaining whatever losses you accomplished) is a solid program of resistance training, which will increase your metabolic rate and turn you into a calorie burning machine. The over-reliance on the so called "aerobic" training is the sad legacy of Doctor Cooper in the 1960s with his flawed views on exercise. That along with the former food pyramid are what made America's waistline expand.

Modern research and anecdotal evidence keep proving how ineffective "aerobic" training is when it comes to long term weight control (once again, long term maintenance is the true measure of success). Sadly, it seems one of those things that refuses to die the death it deserves.

Using resistance training to turn people into "calorie burning machines" has usually been the catchphrase of those touting adding muscle mass as a means of increasing metabolic rate, in lieu of "ineffective" aerobic training. While you didn't say it exactly, if you're not a fan of aerobic training and you are a fan of resistance training, and presumably the goal is to reduce one's waistline, how exactly are you not proposing to replace fat with muscle? Increasing lean tissue alone, in my opinion, is not a worthwhile goal. The goal needs to be increasing lean body mass, or the percent of a person's weight comprised of lean mass. This, in my opinion, is better accomplished by lowering % fat rather than increasing the % lean mass as body fat % has been shown to be a good indicator of overall health.

There's ample medical evidence that supports the tremendous benefits of resistance training of basic metabolic rate. Perhaps you came to that conclusion because that's the only thing that's familiar to you. Please read properly before coming up with such irrelevant conclusions.

I apologize if I came to an incorrect conclusion about what you're trying to say. Your comments are just vague enough and littered with enough "technical" terms that I'm trying to understand exactly what you are trying to say in plain language. Please elaborate on what you mean by "resistance training".

The loss of lean tissue as consequence of age is something well documented IN SEDENTARY populations, not active ones. Again, there's ample evidence to support that the loss of muscle tissue is very preventable. Resistance training alone is more than sufficient IF you know how to train properly. If you're thinking bodyparts, sets and reps, well, that explains why you cannot get much out of proper resistance training.

Please do provide evidence that demonstrates that resistance training alone is not an effective means of weight control, that means a good reliable study by a reputable journal. Read the works of Mel C. Siff, Yuri Verkoshansky and Roger M. Enoka to educate yourself a little, before coming with such half-hearted conclusions

Again, please define what you mean by "resistance training" so we can have a more meaningful conversation instead of throwing around journal references.

 

[SteveDiver]

So where do you think the HR protocols came from? Wasn't that from flawed "studies" and speculation? or what's that your own creation? Good studies provide unbiased base lines from which the educated fitness professionals can customize a program.

To measure the exercise heart rate, do the following:

Record resting heart rate ____________ beats per minute.
Take pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 = _________. Compare with resting pulse.
Warm-up by doing five minutes of stretching exercises. Take pulse for 10 seconds and record _______.
Walk fast for 440 yards. Take pulse for 10 seconds and record __________.
Jog slowly for 440 yards. Take pulse for 10 seconds and record __________.
Run for 440 yards. Take pulse for 10 seconds and record __________.
Complete cool-down by doing stretching exercises. Record heart rate five minutes after cool-down.