Target Heart Rate

[countryboy]

WOW! Step away for a weekend ...

I have started an interval training session suggested by Izzy.. At first, reading through it, I was thinking "that seems too easy".

Saturday Morning, first day with weights (full body 2 sets X 20 reps, light weight) .. then on to the interval training with the treadmill...

IT KICKED MY @SS!... I finished but man, what a difference. Instead of working 60 minutes on the eliptical, I went 45 (10 warmup, 30 interval, 5 cooldown) What a workout..

Repeated on Sunday, (without the weights, next "lift" will be Tuesday night).. and this time I took it a bit easier.. still a good workout..

A funny story... A lady I met at the gym (talked with her a couple times before) looked familiar. Started talking to her again (she was on the treadmill next to me) and it turns out she is my Dental Hygenist (sp?). I knew her boyfriend competes (bodybuilding, all natural) and started talking about training, etc.

Turns out her BF does personal training.. So I asked for his # and will try to hook up with him this week to discuss training options.. Will start a diferent thread with questions around this topic..

Thanks again to all!

 

[OE2X]

But it's a much happier place now!

Carry on with your sanitized discussion.

A dialectic is lost when one stoops to the condemnation of another. People can have very passionate discussions and never lower themselves to name calling and put downs.

 

[LG Diver]

A dialectic is lost when one stoops to the condemnation of another. People can have very passionate discussions and never lower themselves to name calling and put downs.

"Only the suppressed word is dangerous." Ludwig Berne

I'm just playing with you. I certainly don't envy the job of a moderator in any forum. Thank you for what you the rest of the SB staff do. I do view it as a priviledge to be able to come here, learn, and occassionally make an *** out of myself.

 

[Cacia]

IT KICKED MY @SS!... I finished but man, what a difference. Instead of working 60 minutes on the eliptical, I went 45 (10 warmup, 30 interval, 5 cooldown) What a workout..

yes, his workout kicked mine too...I had to drop the incline and drop the time.

 

[coach_izzy]

yes, his workout kicked mine too...I had to drop the incline and drop the time.

Whenever that happens, then take it even slower during the easy portions... No need to go loco this early! Modify your speed or incline, whatever your preference is. So I guess you're not holding the rails huh?

 

[Cacia]

haha. When you said that, I thought maybe you had a web cam! You must know everybody likes to do that. I was in intrigued by how much EASIER it is even resting your hands lightly on the rail. I did not see how it could make any difference for the rest of your body...but it does.

countryboy, did he do a weight regimine for you? you could share you know....

 

[Bill51]

Wow, what a fun thread, and sorry I missed the deleted posts, so I’ll just dive in with my 2 cents. I may not be an exercise guru or doctor, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express once, and I’ve written extensively about Dr. Cooper and the marketing and political hype about aerobics versus resistance training for years. In a nutshell, much of the aerobics fad since 1968 has had to do with selling a one size fits all, easy to package and sell exercise program that also created a more equal footing between men and women.

I believe in doing a weight workout to exhaustion no more frequently than once every 5 days, and then alternate which muscle groups you pick on for the week. For the 2 days following a workout to exhaustion, I skip working that particular muscle group at all and just do normal resistance workouts on other muscles – and never push them even close to exhaustion during that time. I take off 2 days a week from any resistance training and do a light but fun aerobic workout on those days such as swimming (3 tank dive days in current), riding the bike around the neighborhood or something else fun.

The problem I see with too many purely aerobic workouts is that it runs the metabolism up and down somewhat in spikes, while resistance training tends to not elevate the metabolism as high during the time you’re working out, but it stays higher for a longer period of time afterward. If you relax and feel your body talking to you 6 or 8 hours after a good resistance workout, you can still feel the muscles repairing themselves and burning fuel, while most aerobic workouts cannot deliver that kind of load to the bodies mechanisms. I think it is Jorge Cruise that really helped bring this reality of exercise back to the public with his early books on 8 Minutes in the Morning. Joyce Vedral has been the guru for a long time pointing out how specific exercises can help women and she has several great books custom tailored for women.

I’m a firm believer in seeing a good “trainer” occasionally, but I see too many trainers that are nothing more than glorified coaches – not that coaches don’t have their place at times. While a coach stays on you to make sure you’re pushing yourself and doing your workouts right, a good trainer teaches you how to listen to your body more and understand how your body works so you can help yourself more. The same training goes into learning how to eat what your body needs. Unfortunately the taste buds seem to be the loudest squeaky wheel in the body when it comes to eating, but when you learn how to listen to the rest of your bodies demands equally, you’ll find yourself almost accidentally eating healthier for what your body needs for that day – be it more protein or more carbs.

 

[Cacia]

I will have to look up the eight minute book. Eating becomes automatic when you keep reading about nutrition because you brainwash yourself, thats what I have found Brainwashing yourself is an easy way to change your preferences.....just keep putting good information in, and eventually it happens. And never eat fast food, I think they slip heroin in it.

So why is "spiking your metabolism" bad? Are you saying that the energy requirements for muscle are more and contribute to an increase in the BMR ?

The thing I struggle with the most, is when I am lifting weights, My appetite goes through the roof. It is very easy for me, by not eating much and not lifting to stay at an optimal wight because my appetite just goes away. (Then,I try to tone up, and get so hungry.)

 

[Bill51]

I will have to look up the eight minute book. Eating becomes automatic when you keep reading about nutrition because you brainwash yourself, thats what I have found Brainwashing yourself is an easy way to change your preferences.....just keep putting good information in, and eventually it happens. And never eat fast food, I think they slip heroin in it.

So why is "spiking your metabolism" bad? Are you saying that the energy requirements for muscle are more and contribute to an increase in the BMR ?

The thing I struggle with the most, is when I am lifting weights, My appetite goes through the roof. It is very easy for me, by not eating much and not lifting to stay at an optimal wight because my appetite just goes away. (Then,I try to tone up, and get so hungry.)

I’m not the physiologist but the way I understand it, as soon as you raise your metabolism your body thinks it needs to eat more to make up for it and that urge doesn’t always go away when the increased energy consumption drops. A similar recent case for me was jumping into cold water for less than 5 minutes, but as soon as I got out I was as hungry as if I’d been on a cold water dive for hours and I wound up eating as much if I’d been in the water for much longer. When you push yourself with resistance training it takes much longer for the muscles to completely recover than when you do just an aerobic workout and those muscles continue to burn a lot of energy for a rather long time trying to recover so the entire metabolism stays operating at a higher level. By keeping the metabolism at a rather constant rate, the bodies hunger mechanisms stay at a more constant level and while you might actually eat more, that food is getting burned off at a more steady and continues rate.

As for the weight, I think I’d be looking more at the inches instead. My weight fluctuates around 10 pounds during the course of a year and when I’m at my heaviest, my waist is 2” less than when I’m at my lightest. My wife finally decided to get seriously in shape a couple years ago at the age of 51, and it took her a while to get used to the fact she was actually eating more but losing weight, and then she stopped losing weight but kept losing inches. She found that using the South Beach Diet along with her new found training discipline really helped her because she cut out many foods with a high glycemic index that also were causing her metabolism to spike up and down.

 

[countryboy]

...

countryboy, did he do a weight regimine for you? you could share you know....

No, Only the aerobic portion, with a suggestion to ditch the eliptical and stay with the treadmill, use incline.. Which I have done..

I walk for 10 mins (3.2 - 3.6 mph) working up to get my heartrate going...

Then :30 @ 5.5 mph Followed by 3:00 back at 3.6 mph.. repeat for 30 mins. Incline at 6%
Cool down, Incline at 0%, (3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1, 3.0 mph) for 5 mins. Total = 45 mins.

My heartrate is ~ 145 during warm up, 175-180 during the :30 sec spike, and returns to ~160 - 165 during the 3:00 min interval.

I am only using the handrail when I slow down from 5.5 - 3.6 for balance

My weight routine is an older one that I had.. using "machines" (Icarian I think?)

Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Chest Press
Chest - Flies
Shoulder Raise? (to the sides)
Back - Seated Row
Bicep Curls
Tricep Extensions
Calf Raises

Each done for 2 sets, 20 reps (very light weight, I'm a wimp!).. 30 secs "rest" between sets.

Focusing on 2 second "power" (positive) breathe out, hold for 1 second, 4 second negative, breathing normally.

Right now I am not looking at muscle gains, this is more of a way of getting used to the weights again, focusing on form (proper setup of machine, seat, etc) looking that my joints for the working area are in proper alignment.

When I start to see progress / start hitting plateau's, I may be looking towards a personal trainer.. Hence my other threads..