 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsLow CarbWeightWatchers WeightAdviser.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Weight Loss Forum / General Topics / March 2004Interval Training Question
I started doing interval training on the elliptical for 30 mins at a stretch. I do 2 mins on level ten then 2 mins on level 2 for recovery. Here is my question... Should I be in cardiovascular mode during the high intensity and fat burning mode during recovery? I currently aim to hit a heart rate of about 140-145 during the high intensity 2 mins, then drop to 125-130 during the recovery. Is this a good level or should I opt for different heart rates for optimal benefits? I also switch around and use the treadmill and recumbant bike for variety, but do not do interval on them. When I use the bike, I use it in hill mode. When I use the treadmill, I do vary my walking pace from 2.5-3.5 and my incline from 5%-10%. Thanks!! 284/210/199/??? Another plateau *sigh* I am hopefully building muscle to compensate for stagnant numbers! >I started doing interval training on the elliptical for 30 mins at a >stretch. I do 2 mins on level ten then 2 mins on level 2 for recovery. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >125-130 during the recovery. Is this a good level or should I opt for >different heart rates for optimal benefits? You'll probably get other opinions, but I personally don't put much stock in the "cardiovascular mode" vs. "fat burning mode" ranges that you see posted. When I do intervals, I just aim for a period of intense effort followed by a moderate-effort recovery. Your heart rate numbers sound reasonable to me, though I think perhaps you could work up gradually to a little bit higher numbers during the high-intensity period -- maybe for a shorter time. There are all sorts of good ways to do interval training. Chris 262/158/(holding in 152-165 weight class) >>I started doing interval training on the elliptical for 30 mins at a >>stretch. I do 2 mins on level ten then 2 mins on level 2 for recovery. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >Chris >262/158/(holding in 152-165 weight class) I'm going to agree with Chris on all of this. For me, a heart rate of 140 is a light workout. My intensity intervals, I'll get my heart rate up over 160 and hold it for a while, then back off, and when it returns to about 125 then I'll do it again. One thing I found over a period of time doing intervals is that the recovery period is much shorter. As in, I can do high intensity and then cool it down a bit, and find that my heart rate drops to 120 quicker over time. Thanks guys! I'll keep your suggestions in mind! JayJay... my elliptical trainer puts a heart rate over 150 for my age group in the "danger" zone. I try not to get that high.... > >You'll probably get other opinions, but I personally don't put much > >stock in the "cardiovascular mode" vs. "fat burning mode" ranges that [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > then cool it down a bit, and find that my heart rate drops to 120 > quicker over time. >Thanks guys! I'll keep your suggestions in mind! > >JayJay... my elliptical trainer puts a heart rate over 150 for my age group >in the "danger" zone. I try not to get that high.... I'm sure age and weight differences could make a difference. I forget that not everyone is my age and weight and fitness level. :-) <NOT! Yeah... I am 35 and about 210! > >Thanks guys! I'll keep your suggestions in mind! > > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > forget that not everyone is my age and weight and fitness level. :-) > <NOT! whereas I'm 32 and 130. I've also got low cholesterol and no health problems. So, I know I can strain my heart pretty good. For me, I don't really monitor my heart rate when I exercise. I just go until I *feel* maxed out, then I back off a bit. While on vacation the machines had the heart rate monitors, so I'd check them out just to see. On rare occasions I'll take my pulse during exercise. I don't fret over numbers that much. Exercise isn't like that for me. >Yeah... I am 35 and about 210! > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >> forget that not everyone is my age and weight and fitness level. :-) >> <NOT! >whereas I'm 32 and 130. I've also got low cholesterol and no health >problems. So, I know I can strain my heart pretty good. To give another example: Tom's ex-fiancee, who is 24 and was captain of a division one lacrosse team in college, will get her heart rate up to 200-210 on high-intensity intervals. Not something I'd ever try, but it works for her. Tom (26) will get up into the 180-190 range when he does high-intensity work. Chris What about what I've heard about staying at 65-70% to burn fat? > whereas I'm 32 and 130. I've also got low cholesterol and no health > problems. So, I know I can strain my heart pretty good. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > I don't fret over numbers that much. Exercise isn't like that for me. >Thanks guys! I'll keep your suggestions in mind! > >JayJay... my elliptical trainer puts a heart rate over 150 for my age group >in the "danger" zone. I try not to get that high.... I think you can ignore that. Tom tells me that those numbers are (a) "cover-your-a.s cautious", and (b) not aimed at people who are more fit. I don't recall how old you are, but I'm 55 (56 soon) and routinely get up in the 160 range when I do intervals. But I worked up to it -- didn't do that my first time on a treadmill :-). Chris 262/158/(holding in 152-165 weight class) Ok thanks Chris... Just wondering why I heard to stay at 65-70% to burn fat then... are those percentages not accurate either? > I think you can ignore that. Tom tells me that those numbers are (a) > "cover-your-a.s cautious", and (b) not aimed at people who are more [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Chris > 262/158/(holding in 152-165 weight class) >Ok thanks Chris... Just wondering why I heard to stay at 65-70% to burn fat >then... are those percentages not accurate either? [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >> Chris >> 262/158/(holding in 152-165 weight class) I think most people I've talked to think the whole "fat burning range" thing is bogus. I'd just ignore it if I were you. Chris Really?! All this time I've thought opposite and tried to purposely keep my heart rate down.... I'll try to go higher and see if that helps me more. "Chris Braun" <braun_chris@mindspring.com> wrote in message > I think most people I've talked to think the whole "fat burning range" > thing is bogus. I'd just ignore it if I were you. > > Chris >Really?! All this time I've thought opposite and tried to purposely keep my >heart rate down.... I'll try to go higher and see if that helps me more. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> >> Chris I think there's quite a bit of consensus that doing intervals with significantly more exertion is better for weight loss. And there's no question that it's better for exercising your heart and improving your endurance, which are important goals for exercise independent of weight loss. So go for it :-). Chris >>Really?! All this time I've thought opposite and tried to purposely keep my >>heart rate down.... I'll try to go higher and see if that helps me more. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >Chris From my understanding, long term exerution of the high heart rates will cause muscle loss over fat loss. Usually those people will report smelling amonia or other odd odors from their sweat. But, like Chris said, the general consensus is that interval training where you get your heart rate up high and hold that for a couple mins at a time, will be more beneficial for weight loss and cardio fitness. For research purposes, look at Krista's site www.stumptuous.com/weights.html training - fartlek Other search words: Interval training HIIT High intensitity interval training fartlek 150 = danger zone? Only if you're 100 yrs old. For me, "easy" day workouts are at 135 pulse to 140. Hard days 150 to 160. 9 to 10 minute miles are "easy", 7.5 to 8.5 min mules are "hard." If I did intervals, I'd try to get to my max hr rate, 167, during the intervals. I'm male, 55 years old. Females, your max hr rate is 225 minus your age (approx). During intervals, you should try for an intensity that feels very, very, hard - so that you can't wait for the minute (or two) to be over. The principle of training is simple - you must overload your system to improve. Overload means doing more than you are used to doing. You should alternate hard and easy days. Do easy days at least until you no longer feel sore. For excellent advice on training check out www.drmirkin.com and also look into his latest book. > Thanks guys! I'll keep your suggestions in mind! > [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > then cool it down a bit, and find that my heart rate drops to 120 > > quicker over time. Thanks for the advice, Brad! > 150 = danger zone? Only if you're 100 yrs old. For me, "easy" day > workouts are at 135 pulse to 140. Hard days 150 to 160. 9 to 10 [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > > then cool it down a bit, and find that my heart rate drops to 120 > > > quicker over time. > I started doing interval training on the elliptical for 30 mins at a > stretch. I do 2 mins on level ten then 2 mins on level 2 for recovery. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > Another plateau *sigh* > I am hopefully building muscle to compensate for stagnant numbers! I think you received some pretty good responses to this so far. One thing I do when doing intervals is to spend a few minutes 3-4 at pace where I'm working enough to breathe a little heavy but I can still talk, then I'll do a 1-2 minute sprint which my workout pals and I refer to as "balls to the wall" meaning it's tough enough that I probably couldn't keep it up any longer. For example with running on the treadmill I might go steady at 6.5-6.6 mph which is work, but I can keep it up for at least a half hour or longer if I had to. My sprint interval is up to 8.4 mph and I can hold it for about 2 minutes, then I absolutely have to slow down. The sprints used to barely be over 7 mph but they're getting better. I don't know my HR when running most of the time because I don't want to slow down or stop long enough to do it and I can't do even at 6.5 mph because I have trouble finding my pulse most of the time. On the elliptical I do a pyramid pattern starting at level 12 for 5 min @ 70-75 rpm and move up a level every 5 min until level 15. Every 3rd interval I do backwards and I sprint the 4th minute at whatever level I'm on which increases the rpms to 90-100. My HR is generally between 140-150 and then gets a little over 150 during the sprint. I've tried to get it higher just to see if I can, but my leg muscles give out before that happens. I've heard that the "fat burning" interval level is crap but I don't have anything to back it up one way or another. I just shoot for keeping the HR at 75% of max when doing anything but running. I don't really care what my HR is when I run, I only care about how much distance I can cover and/or how fast I can do it. Jenn Cool... I'll try that. I've worked myself up to level 10 for an extended amount of time.... I've just always heard that you need to be 65-75% for maximum fat burning... Its a bit confusing. Of course, I want to obtain optimal numbers! "JMA" <bjenniferb@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:c1opq5 > On the elliptical I do a pyramid pattern starting at level 12 for 5 min @ > 70-75 rpm and move up a level every 5 min until level 15. Every 3rd [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Jenn >Cool... I'll try that. I've worked myself up to level 10 for an extended >amount of time.... I've just always heard that you need to be 65-75% for >maximum fat burning... Its a bit confusing. Of course, I want to obtain >optimal numbers! I guess that interval training is a different training tecnique. Some studies seem to show that interval training works better for fat burning purposes than staying in the fat burning range. I actually do both trainings. I jog for about one hour, then I do some exercises of interval training (not every day, because I do not ever feel like doing it). I run fast for 100 meters, then walk for 100 meters, then again. The whole "thing" is only 5-6 minutes long at present, but it should be about 20 minutes long for trained people, I suppose. Refer to Krista's site for reference. > I guess that interval training is a different training > tecnique. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > be about 20 minutes long for trained people, I suppose. > Refer to Krista's site for reference. Krista refers to it as "fartleks". I also do interval training. I call it "high intensity interval training" or "HIIT" for short. I do it once or twice a week. The sessions are necessarily short (if you can do long then you aren't doing high enough intensity) but they are good for stimulating my metabolism so that I burn fat more easily. My sessions are typically 20 to 25 minutes long, where I start out at a warm-up for 4 or 5 minutes and then do a sprint for a minute, then recover for a minute, then build back up my pace for two more minutes and sprint again. I usually do about four sprints every four minutes or so then warm down again and I'm done. I like the workout because it's so brief to do. I usually do it on my NordicTrack at home. Dally > Krista refers to it as "fartleks". That's a running term used for decades. Check out www.runnersworld.com for the best info. Martha |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.