PWSX3 Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 This weekend was supposes to be nice so instead of going to the gym I thought I would go for a hike. There is a new park that they opened two new loops to & I had never been there before. There is one loop for horses/hikers, one for mountain bikes/hikers, & the third is for all three except the horse trail is kind of off to the side most of the time. Yesterday I went for the hike, the lower loop is 4.5 miles which I was planning on doing but decided to do part of one of the other ones as well. I figure I ended up hiking around 6 miles all together. After watching some of the mountain bikers I decided that looked like fun so I went back today & rode my mountain bike on the lower loop. That was the first time off-road for me on my bike so it was a lot of fun, didn't have any trouble except one up hill switchback that the front tire was coming off the ground so I stopped & kind of fell to the side which was down hill but I was able to hold my bike up. It was really nice to get out & enjoy the nice weather while it lasts, they are talking snow in a couple of days. I rode my bike most of the summer, started going to the gym three weeks ago & I spend 45 minutes on the elliptical machine but tonight I'm still a little sore in places.... All in all it was a good weekend, love to spend some time outdoors by myself. Link to post Share on other sites
norajane Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Sounds like a great weekend. I love to hike, and discovering new trails is awesome. Do you always spend 45 minutes on the elliptical? I bought one last weekend, and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it best. 45 minutes sounds like a lot of time to me. I've been alternating days where I do 30 minutes at a fairly steady pace and intensity to build up my endurance, with days where I do High Intensity Interval Training. The HIIT is a shorter workout in total minutes (15 minutes, plus the warm-up and cool down), but it kicks my ass like you wouldn't believe. I'm hearing it's a better workout because your heart rate stays really high, which increases your post work-out oxygen consumption, which supposedly increases your metabolic rate so you burn more energy for hours and hours after the workout - unlike the steady cardio, where you basically stop burning energy as soon as you step off the machine. I do intervals of 30 seconds at the fastest/highest intensity I can possibly do, and then 30 seconds low intensity to "catch my breath"..as if! It feels like I'm going to implode, my legs are screaming "fire! fire!", my lungs are bitching "hell no!!" and my heart is cursing "wtf??!" And then it's like I'm going to DIE for at least a half hour after my cool down...it's great! Have you ever tried HIIT? Link to post Share on other sites
Author PWSX3 Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 Have you ever tried HIIT? I have never tried this but I'm an old man (47) & that doesn't sound like fun to me. Last winter I was going for an hour, not sure how yours is set up but at the gym you have to set the tension which I set at 13 & my heart rate is around 140-150 & it shows I burn around 900 calories depending on how hard I push it. I think the speed is around 5.5-6 MPH but like I said I'm not sure how good the computers are on those things. I just know I do sweat but I do feel good when I get off, I'm not over tired. Link to post Share on other sites
norajane Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I have never tried this but I'm an old man (47) & that doesn't sound like fun to me. I just turned 40! You're not that old, from where I sit! Your max heart rate is 173 (220-your age). So, it sounds like you're working out at about 85%. That's a pretty high intensity level as it is. You don't have to go all out to get the intervals benefit. Varying your intensity level during the workout will do the trick. Your machine probably has an interval program set into it. Try that one day and see how it feels - you might surpise yourself. Link to post Share on other sites
Ariadne Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 Oh, PWSX3 went on a bike ride people! Ariadne Link to post Share on other sites
Author PWSX3 Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 I just turned 40! You're not that old, from where I sit! Your max heart rate is 173 (220-your age). So, it sounds like you're working out at about 85%. That's a pretty high intensity level as it is. You don't have to go all out to get the intervals benefit. Varying your intensity level during the workout will do the trick. Your machine probably has an interval program set into it. Try that one day and see how it feels - you might surpise yourself. I usually use the random setting so the tension goes up & down throwout the workout. My heart rate will vary from 130-160. I will look at see if there is a setting & give it a try. Link to post Share on other sites
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