Laree
(Rhymes with Marie)
Posts: 21436
Loc: Santa Cruz, CA
Registered on 03-25-04
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02-16-06 05:00 PM - Post#185156
You know, the truth is, I think Dave's wrong about cardio. (There, I said it.) At least, I know for certain most women need more cardio work, but I think men need more cardio than Dave suggests, too. Now, I know his basic premise is that people will skip the gym entirely if they have to do cardio, or they'll skip their weight training in favor of wandering along on a treadmill watching tv, and of course in those cases, he's bang on: skip the cardio and get on the gym floor.
But for the rest of us who maybe don't train two hours a day, and who are trying to be more fit and maybe a little leaner, I really think he may have led some astray. So let's talk about adding regular cardio workouts to our training programs.
When Dave does talk about cardio, it's high intensity interval training (HIIT) he points to, and for good reason. We were sold a bill of goods when taught back in the '80s that low intensity aerobic training burned more fat than training at higher workloads. In fact, the percentage of fat burned is higher, but the total calories burned at higher intensity is far greater, meaning the overall fat burning increases as the intensity goes up.
Plus, doing higher intensity work increases the calorie burning after the training session, by as much as 100-200 calories per day, which will really add up over the course of the month, and that's for doing nothing… just a big bonus!
Fat burning's nothing, though, when compared to the fitness benefits of interval work. We just get in shape faster when we train harder, it's that simple. And we get in better shape working harder than is possible with slower cardio, making aggressive intervals an obviously better payoff.
Still, why wouldn't we go for the best of both worlds? We've got seven days during the week to play out our training programs, so let's throw in some intervals, a couple of longer endurance workouts and a rest day, slide in our weight training routines and scramble it all up into a chef's supreme.
While we're at it, I think we should talk about heart rate training, doing cardio work with a heart rate monitor strapped around the chest. These days a monitor doesn't cost that much, around $70 for a no-frills Polar unit, which will do the job perfectly. If you find aerobic work boring (raises hand, jumps up and down!), I'm here to tell you things are 180 degrees opposite when doing planned and monitored heart rate interval training. It's a beautiful thing when you turn away from the clock, let me tell you. Truth is, the clock comes in handy, sometimes for the start/stop time, other times for the interval duration, but the days of watching the second hand tick tick tick around the dial for 30 long minutes is all-the-way over.
Now about the intervals, where do you start if you've never tried interval training? That's kind of the fun of it, because there's no wrong way to do it. I really mix it up, and that's why it's so much more interesting than just trudging around the track. The most famous -- and generally acknowledged to be the most effective -- is the Tabata Protocol, named after the researcher who developed the work, Izumi Tabata: Six to eight very hard 20-intervals with 10-second rest periods. If you do the math, you'll see you've got a total of about four minutes work here… add in a ten-minute warmup and a five-to-ten-minute cooldown (use your heart rate monitor to verify your cooled 110 bpm), and your total commitment is 20, 25 minutes.
This isn't where you're going to start as a new HIIT trainee, however. Beginners will do best by reversing the intervals, starting with shorter efforts and longer rest periods, gradually decreasing the rest over the first three or four weeks. Here's the beauty: Progress is quick, and it's measurable with your heart rate monitor.
You can work yourself pretty hard using longer effort/rest combinations, let's say one minute effort and one minute rest, or 90 seconds effort with 30 seconds rest. Or, using your heart rate monitor, you can use music to schedule your switches; for instance, upping your beats per minute five or ten beats with each new song until you hit your target for the day, or perhaps even your maximum heart rate, before heading back down the ladder.
Bulletin: This is not your absolute max, meaning you hit it and you die; it's the maximum rate you can reach with purposeful physical effort. The most common estimation is 220 minus your age, however often that's not even in the ballpark. For instance, mine at age 50 using that formula is 170, yet I saw 190 on my monitor just this morning. It'll take a little experimentation to discover your number, and once you have it you'll be able to use that to plot your intervals to best work your cardiovascular system.
One more thing about max heart rate: The more fit you are AND the more accustomed to the specific training, the harder you have to work to reach it. This is a good argument for cardio cross training, isn't it? I cross train within each cycling workout using increased resistance seated, coming out of the saddle against resistance, speed work and combinations thereof. And I cross train from workout to workout doing a variation of a steady hill climb, a Tabata protocol, an endurance ride, but while I have to work very hard at hitting my known max of 194, if I were to do a track workout, I'm probably be panting my heart out of my chest at around 150.
By the way, if you overdo your heart rate during a workout, you'll know it. You'll be wiped out all day. Take the next day off... all the way off.
Once you start on a cardio training program (and by this I mean a training program, not your obligatory 20 minutes pedaling as you watch CNN), you'll want to mix up your energy output. If you have hard interval day, perhaps you'll want to follow it the next day with a lighter effort day.
Using the monitor, I'll sometimes ride longer, an endurance-boosting ride -- up to an hour, carefully warming up over the first ten minutes to hit 130 beats per minute. Then I'll bump it up a little, either the pace or the resistance or both, to target 145, where I'll stay for 45 minutes, when I'll slow everything down for the last five minutes to get off the bike at around 115 bpm on the monitor.
Next you'll fold your weight training into the mix, planning your days in advance so you don't accidentally do all your hard training at once, weights and interval cardio, that is. A weight training day would be followed by one of your less intense cardio workouts, perhaps something like the longer distance one described above. And when you're working this hard, you need to plan an off day, too; let your whole body rest one day a week.
Higher energy workouts -- strenuous exercise -- will boost your metabolism. It's going to make you more fit; it's going to burn more calories during exercise and after; it's going to make your heart and lungs stronger; and it's going to lean you out in a way the old-fashioned 45-minute routines never could. You can do it with a watch (and a walkman or mp3 player), but if you can spring for it, add a heart rate monitor to your pack for remarkable results.
My resting heart rate dropped from 64 to 56 in the first two weeks of this new effort. (Bravo! I'm fitter!) I can now use that number to measure fitness, overtraining, illness, simply by checking my pulse for a minute each morning before rising. A 10-beat bump, and I take a training day off, whether it's on the schedule or not.
I'm convinced the best cardio training tool is the indoor spin-style bike. This would be a bike with a weighted flywheel, not a standard stationary bike, equipped with regular bike pedals. Spring for some bike shoes; the difference between pedaling with regular shoes and clipped in is huge -- clipped to the pedals enables both pushing and pulling during each pedal stroke, which is both more effort as well as a whole lot more fun. The benefits of training stationary over pedaling outdoors includes the ability to use the heart rate monitor fully; you're not limited by the terrain, traffic or weather. You can close your eyes and concentrate on your pedal cadence and the workload. Other tricks include spinning with one leg in order to balance leg strength and coordination, using music to set cadence (double time, triple time... half time), then using resistance to focus on the target heart rate.
Other cardio offers different benefits -- sure, I know… being outside! -- but none that I can think of offers the whole package for absolute training. My second choice would probably be a Concept 2 rower, although I'm not well versed in its use.
You'll discover all this stuff on your own if you start a heart-rate-based cardio program, but I think it's more interesting from the beginning and you may get more caught up in it if you know to look at it as more than the compulsory 30 minutes, three times a week, because-my-wife-makes-me-do-it drudgery.
If you really want to round out the picture, add 15 minutes of flexibility work after your hard interval days. You may not become Mr. Universe with this combination, but since I don't think they even hold that competition anymore, maybe you can settle for fit and healthy past your ninth decade.
Here's our collection of IOL threads on cardio:
http://www.davedraper.com/forum/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/12858/an/0/page/0#12858
And here's more on aerobic fitness and heart rate monitors from our wiki database.
http://www.davedraper.com/forum/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=PmWiki.AerobicFitness
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Ivan
By the Grace of God
Posts: 1146
Age: 57
Loc: Beloit, Wisconsin
Registered on 03-30-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:06 PM - Post#185157
HIIT is the only way to do cardio. It rocks, literally. When training for the contest I participated in it was HIIT that got me down to 5% bf.
You're right about beginners. Take more time to rest between intervals. True, true.
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Phil_N
Carpal tunnel from posting!
Posts: 3044
Age: 45
Loc: Brooklyn
Registered on 06-09-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:07 PM - Post#185158
No flowers for Valentine’s Day? Huh? LOL
Sorry, that wasn’t funny… not one bit…
OK I agree with you, I plow through my workouts and I still think that doing cardio makes a big difference.
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bulch
pete
Posts: 4965
Age: 33
Loc: England
Registered on 11-18-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:20 PM - Post#185159
Briliant Laree, Thanks!
bulch :@)
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Anonymous
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:23 PM - Post#185160
Way to go Laree....
take one of the most favorite things that Dave says away from. me now.. geez...
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Laree
(Rhymes with Marie)
Posts: 21436
Loc: Santa Cruz, CA
Registered on 03-25-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:27 PM - Post#185161
Quote:
garyed said:
Way to go Laree....
take one of the most favorite things that Dave says away from. me now.. geez...
heh heh. Well, you won't be alone with this feeling.
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J3ffr0
Liking it
Posts: 128
Loc: South GA!
Registered on 01-12-06
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:31 PM - Post#185162
Quote:
Bubo said:
No flowers for Valentine’s Day? Huh? LOL
Sorry, that wasn’t funny… not one bit…
Dude, that was VERY funny.
<ducking>
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DennisH
Growing old is not for sissies.
Posts: 3495
Age: 59
Loc: Michigan
Registered on 09-29-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:45 PM - Post#185163
Let's see...in his newsletter Dave says, "like the opposite sex, you can't live with them, you can't without them".
In this post Laree says, "Dave's flat wrong about cardio".
I know nothing, I see nothing (as he quietly creeps out of the room).
Dennis
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Fit in Pink
Working on Consistency
Posts: 2280
Age: 54
Registered on 10-03-05
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 05:48 PM - Post#185164
Right on Sister Laree!! Women naturally have more fat than men. Men can lose their fat quicker than women. I can do all the weight training in the world to build muscle and, yet, in order for it to be noticeable, I must do cardio to lean out. In the past, I've heard different things at different gyms and, a lot of times, the recommendation was to focus on the cardio first; lose your desired weight and then build your muscle. Perhaps, for those really overweight, this is the best way. As for myself, I prefer the combination with slightly more cardio than weights. On a health stand point of view, cardiovascular activity benefits both sexes.
| Slow and steady wins the race. (From the "Tortoise and the Hare") |
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brucedl
Grand Pooh-Bah
Posts: 2011
Age: 65
Loc: Everett, Washington
Registered on 05-12-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:01 PM - Post#185165
Dave doesn't read this stuff much does he?
I like to do some cardio work combined with diet to bring my weight down. I use a treadmill and do it early (3:00 a.m.) before I go to work. That way it's done and over before I wake up enough to realize what I am doing to myself. I put my cd on with "TOP GUN" and walk for about 45 min to an hour. I go by heart rate and keep it around 140 to 145. I drink about a quart of water while I am walking. Simple does it for me.
One thing everyone must be aware of is their ability to withstand the punishment to their body from cardio. Younger people can generally go much harder than old geezers like me with out giving themselves repetitive use injuries. Switching from a treadmill to a bike can help to keep from over use injuries.
HIIT is great if you are able to do it with having to make a 911 call.
A gradual increase as was pointed out is the way to go. If you are in doubt about your general health you should get check up from a GOOD doctor to be sure that you will survive.
I want to make it clear that I am not against any form of exercise, people just need to ease into it.
Bruce
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jej
average
Posts: 4272
Loc: Oklahoma
Registered on 11-01-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:12 PM - Post#185166
I do cardio seven days a week, for cardiovascular fitness. Don't know how much good it ever did me for fat loss.
From a running/walking perspecive, intervals present some difficult issues. Yes, they can get in you fine cardio shape. However, done on a regular basis, particularly by older or less fit trainees, they tend to cause more injuries than slower running/walking. For competitors, they tend to produce unexpected performance highs and lows - not good if training for a specific competition day, but maybe not too relevant for non-competitors. In the 1950's, even marathon runners trained pretty much exclusively with intervals. In the 60's and 70's, that changed to where most trained with intervals only to peak for competition.
I do not know how much of the injury issue is running/walking specific - related to the impact that goes with foot-strike. So, I do not know how much it goes away if you are biking or doing other things that do not involve impact.
jej
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Deston Fallon
At home here
Posts: 395
Loc: Dallas
Registered on 04-18-05
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:23 PM - Post#185167
I am guilty here too. I hit the treadmill in the AM for perhaps 12 to 22 minutes. More often no more than 16 on a hill walking fast. Gives me a little sweat. Thanks for the help Laree!
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EdMaleRNMuscle67
rhymes with Ed
Posts: 1621
Age: 43
Loc: Trenton, NJ, USA
Registered on 04-04-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:28 PM - Post#185168
Good info Laree. I do cardio for the health benefits and also because I simply enjoy it. I went a long time without doing any cardio because I didn't have the time with a long weight workout and because I was concerned about losing too much weight and strength. Since I increased my cardio I like the leaner look I have and I feel better overall. The fact is that I will never be a Dave Draper or Arnold. It's taken me a long time to realize this..LOL. I'm in this for life and good health is my goal.
| Getting stronger every day. |
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cajinjohn
Old time trainer
Posts: 12585
Age: 75
Loc: Okawville ILLINOIS, USA
Registered on 03-30-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:30 PM - Post#185169
Who is sleeping on the couch.
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Amazonblonde
Sun and Iron Worshipper
Posts: 12834
Age: 43
Loc: Clermont, Florida
Registered on 04-09-04
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Re: Dave's flat wrong about cardio
02-16-06 06:35 PM - Post#185170
I could never live without cardio...along with good for my heart..takes the stress away and keeps me from beating up my co-workers:-)
| Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated!!! |
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