Target Heart Rate

THAT is exactly how I stuffed my knees!!!!


I have been told that is very bad for knees.


I guess if you hav eknees of steel....

I can also tell you from experience that you will get big front of thigh muscles, that are disproportionate.

Elevation, or just treadmill in general?

There are elliptical trainers at this place too that I'm eyeing warily -- the idea seems to be running without the impact, but they don't seem to give the same upper-body workout and I just like running.

I can usually hit my "target heart rate" after about the third cup of coffee

Anon

Elevation.


Though I am now wary of that kind of mechanical/all the same type of thing in general. Sigh. I loved my treadmill.

Probably variation is the key. I would see no harm in some uphill....we climb hills in life.


I DO have to avoid stairs, now, though.

Actully, I was also working upstairs...very steep, uncushioned, stairs....which I had to run up and down countless times a day, because clients/clerical stuff etc were DOWNstairs.

I suspect that double whammy didn't help.

heart rate
hi, sozobe :
here is a website from the british heart-instute that provides useful info.
you might also want to check their B.P. recommendations; they seem to be more relaxed than our north-american standards.
hbg

...HEART RATE...

heart rate
here is another short article on exercising called :...eight minutes in the morning...

mrs h and i are trying to keep up going to the pool five days a week. some mornings i'd rather 'roll over' and ignore the alarm clock ... but after we come back from our swim, i never regret having made the morning trek to the pool.
no that the sun (sometimes) is up when we are leaving for the pool at 7:30 a.m. , it doesn't feel quite as "cruel" as on a dreary winter morning.
keep it up - but watch those knees ! you'll need them for quite a few more years ! hbg

That's the thing about exercising (and why I keep bopping myself on the head for waiting so long -- there were logistical issues [sozlet] that have only recently resolved themselves, but still)... anyway, the thing about exercising is that I go when I'm feeling tired and run-down and then afterwards I feel GREAT! It's counter-intuitive, that expending energy gets you energy, but that's how it works.

Thanks for the links!

Dlowan, I'm sure you're right about variety. Pooh. I like getting into a routine and sticking to it, but I should prolly get some variety in there to be healthier.

So today I did the bpm thing right after running (it doesn't seem to want to do it while I'm running, I'm bouncing around too much or something) and I was 174 bpm! A bit higher than I planned. Did fast walking with running intervals, keeping the BPM above 141 throughout, for 45 minutes today. Seemed to go OK.

I think I'm going to have to try those elliptical trainers, all I want to do is run and I know it's better if I mix it up at least a little.

Mostly I'm glad I WENT today -- this was the big hurdle. Starting is fine, next day was tough to make myself go but not too bad because the previous day was so fun, then didn't want to push too hard and took a rest, and the day after that -- today -- was the one that sucked. Just didn't feel like it, at all. Didn't want to put my contacts in (I usually wear glasses but hate running in them), didn't want to go outside, didn't want to do any of it, but I made myself. And it was pretty fun, too.

I think that if I make a 6-day schedule Monday will be my "off" day, as there is a lot of stuff to do at this particular gym on Sundays.

Wow, I'm breathing hard just reading along. Sounds like a good workout.

Thanks for your advice and encouragement, J_B!

A gym etiquette question, I dunno if it varies by gym but I've been watching and haven't seen this situation yet and am not sure what's most appropriate... The limit is 30 minutes, right? But there have never been any people waiting when I've been using the treadmill so far. Like, LOTS of them available. So today I used the treadmill for 30 minutes, stopped it, cleaned it off, looked around uncertainly (nobody waiting), went over to the next treadmill over, and went on that one for the next 15 minutes. :-?

I guess I can just ask 'em (the people who work there) what to do in that situation.

phftt, if there is at least one open piece of equipment of the type you are using then you probably don't need to worry about it. The gym I go to has 30 min limits too, but unless you're there before work or at 5:00pm there isn't a problem. Take a look around the room at the 30 minute mark. If your on a treadmill and they're all busy and people are waiting then start a five minute cooldown, otherwise you can carry on.

That makes sense, J_B, thanks.

Pssst, Chai... I got a bellydancing video! Just did it, 30 minute workout, OMIGOD! Ouchie. Reminded me in a good way of when I used to dance, though... "pleeeeease can I put my arms down now?!!" Just holding your arms out at your sides for a long time while doing things with your feet/ legs can be murder.

I think that will do a good job of breaking up the running with SOMETHING else. And since it's a video, I can make a fool of myself in the privacy of my own home and for free. (Got it from the library). I was hoping it'd be captioned for the best of all possible worlds, it wasn't but it was really clear and easy to follow.

I did the elliptical trainer today, liked it more than I expected to. Nice to the 'ol knees. Managed to keep heart rate at about 150 for a long time. I've been looking for stuff about technique -- I don't quite get if you're supposed to keep your feet flat, stay on your toes, push down with your heels, what -- and found this.

http://www.ellipticalhome.com/

Seems fairly useful, noting it for future reference.

Anyone here have experience with elliptical trainers/ advice?

I'm optimistic about being able to use it to mix things up a bit -- that's been my biggest problem so far, all I wanna do is run.

Training guide? I don't need no stinkin' training guide!

Seriously, I have an eliptical at home, and I just love it.

Are you going to the gym, or did you buy one?

For years I used them at the gym, and of course they have the commercial grade machines that would cost several thousand to buy.

Even at a gym, there's different brands, that feel different to your body. I liked the ones that you could raise or lower the pedal level so you could feel like you were walking up steep stairs, or conversely, feel like you were cross country sking.

When I had the space to get one, I went forth and purchased a less expensive one made for individual use at home...It's a pro-form
I had to try out several lower price machines at different stores until I found one that felt comfortable to me. That's important, or of course you won't use it.

Technique wise, don't worry how you're "supposed" to do it Soz. I've found that by moving my feet to various parts of the pedals, you work out differentt areas of your body. Put your heels as far back to the rear of the pedal, and it works your buttocks, splay your feet out or in to get your inner or outer thighs. Keep your heels to the surface and work your calves. Get a reall good hip sway going side to side and it'll start to strech you sides and feels great on the hips. Roll your pelvis foward and back and it works your lower back.

In other words, experiment and have fun.

The reasons I bought one for home use was so that (a) I didn't have to do the whole gym thing any more (rushing there after work so I could hurry up and exercise so I could rush home; dealing with idiotic people who worked there; touching machines that had God knows what on them; watching/listening to TV/music that wasn't my choice, etc. And (b) having the complete opposite at home. I've started recording shows like the Sopranos, Big Love, and Nova and such to watch while I'm exercising. Makes the time go by really fast when you watching exactly what you want.

Does that help?

Does this mean you got your three checkmarks for this week, soz?

Thanks, chai!

Just that -- knowing that there isn't necessarily one "right" way to do it -- helps a lot.

I found a few tips that seem useful, like keeping your upper body straight, abdominals tight, and not depend on the handlebars too much (I'd figured as much, but I like to be sure of these things, have gotten through a whole lot of strenuous exercise in my life without any particular injuries and would like to continue that trend if at all possible!)

Not three yet, J_B, but I'm optimistic. I've only gone twice since I started this, and once was in last week's bloc. But yesterday (when I went) was the first day of the next bloc, so I think I'll be able to get two more without much problem. We'll see!

Oh and yeah, it's at the gym; when my ship comes in maybe I'll buy one for my home, but nowhere near being able to afford it yet! Can definitely see how it'd be nice to have one at home. The good news is that my gym has a bank of TV's with captioning and I can almost always find something I want to watch, or watch a few simultaneously, which is interesting! I pretty much never watch adult TV anymore ("Survivor" was about it, and it's done for the season), so it's kinda nice to catch some NYPD Blue or whatever that I'd never watch in front of sozlet.

Unless you go to the gym when there's hardly anybody there, I'd suggest you forego the "hip swaying and pelvis rolling" techniques :wink:

oh momma!

FYI, when you're ready, the one I got for home was only a few hundred, so it doesn't have to be a very big ship!

That's definitely less than I thought -- thought it was more in the thousand + range.

Still, I'm probably going to stick with the gym for a while yet, not least because of the variety available. (I.e. I'm even less likely to buy an elliptical trainer AND a treadmill, but I do want to keep running as well as mixing it up with the elliptical, plus get into the weights a bit, etc.)

Noted about the hip rollin'... ;-)