Some General Exercise Questions

[blondesmiler]

What is my target heart rate for losing weight?

 

Is it more reps little weights or big weights less reps for wanting to tone up but lose fat?

 

Is variety the key, so your body doesn't get used to what you are doing?

 

I have a old whiplash injury, a slipped disc and bad knee from skiing years ago, should I avoid any particular exercises or weights machines?

 

Is arm bike doing the same for your upper body as a normal bike does for your legs?

[splintered thing]

What is my target heart rate for losing weight?

 

There are standard formulas all over the net and you probably won't hurt yourself by using them, but they are really all completely irrelevant. The only thing that really matters is what feels right for you and everybody's different.

 

Everyone will also tell you about the "fat burning zone" which is almost completely meaningless as well. If you look at a graph showing the relative percentages of fat versus carbohydrate burned in moderate-duration exercise, the average person will burn a greater percentage of fat under those conditions. *However*, if you can push yourself harder, you will burn more fat, not less, it's just that you will also burn more carbohydrate as well. This is not a bad thing, quite the contrary.

 

Note also that fat burning occurs not only during exercise, but is also affected by how that exercise raises your resting metabolism when you are not exercising. For example, your baseline metabolic rate tends to be lower in the evening than in the morning and as a result exercise in the evening will raise your metabolic rate higher above baseline and your resting metabolic rate will remain elevated longer. Equal amounts of aerobic exercise will result in somewhat greater fat loss when performed in the evening versus in the morning.

 

For reasons that are less clear, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) produces a significantly larger increase in resting metabolic rate than an equal number of calories burned in Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) form. HIIT is harder to push yourself through, however.

 

Is it more reps little weights or big weights less reps for wanting to tone up but lose fat?

Both work and there are arguments either way. The most important factor in whether an exercise program works is whether or not you stick to it. Do what you like and can do safely and comfortably. The rest is just small details.

 

Is variety the key, so your body doesn't get used to what you are doing?

That's more important if you are trying for a "Mister Universe" physique. You want enough variety that you avoid any kind of repetitive stress injury and also targeting secondary muscle groups instead of only a few prime movers will help reduce injury and keep your body balanced. (e.g., exclusively targeting chest muscles and ignoring back and the smaller shoulder muscles can put you at risk for thoracic outlet syndrome or rotator cuff injuries.)

 

Listen to your body. Do what feels right.

 

I have a old whiplash injury, a slipped disc and bad knee from skiing years ago, should I avoid any particular exercises or weights machines?

Be careful with lower back exercises; your back is much stronger than you realize and will let you work it hard enough that you will be very unhappy for the next two weeks, so start slow with squats, deadlifts, etc., and work your way into them. Be careful with leg presses, not because they are themselves dangerous, but if you get sloppy and uncontrolled or twist your legs during them, you can put too much stress on your knees.

 

Stationary bikes are good, though, because your knee joints are large but have essentially no blood supply. They require movement to circulate the synovial fluid through the joint to provide oxygen and nutrients to the cartilage. Bikes are good because they warm the joint and keep it moving without impacts or lateral or torsional stresses.

[MichaelKEH]

Ya everything splintered thing said was good, I would say do your cardio when convienent however and not worry about the time of day -in my opinion the difference in results is almost negligable: so dont kill yourself over it. Alot of people like morning cardio because it wakes them up -and some people find they are too tired to get motivated for evening cardio: so to each there own. The general rule for heart rate is (200 - your age) as the limit. Depending on what you are doing anything over 80% of that is fine IE: for me 200 - 20 = 180 (Limit) * .8 = 144+ as good range. If you decide to do HIIT cardio be carefull not to push yourself too hard! You will feel like crap after your done, maybe have a heart attack, and definately wont want to do cardio anymore if you push too much.

 

Is it more reps little weights or big weights less reps for wanting to tone up but lose fat?

Technically its more reps less weight for toning and fewer reps with more weight for bulking... but it actually has more to do with diet than anything else -you grow in the kitchen, not in the gym I really beleive in training 5x5 for strength however; focus on being stronger and in better shape -it allows you to set real goals that you can attain in a timely matter. If your goal is a "6 Pack abs" that doesnt happen overnight -nor does it happen very quickly at all so you will likely get discouraged. I Love StrongLifts beginers 5x5 program because you will get measurable strength and fitness improvements immediately -looks will naturally follow a little slower.

 

You dont have to worry about getting big and muscular; as a woman that would be INCREDIBLY difficult for you -you would have to eat ALOT to do it naturally; so you can train any way you want really.

 

Is variety the key?

No, perserverance and progression are the keys. People dont get any better when they do the same thing every day with the same weight; if you dont have a program that is structured to challenge you continually and make you get better -you wont get better. So yes: for people who dont know what there doing variety works... for people in the know, just get a good progressive training program. Again what splintered said about muscle imbalances is more for really strong people -but it is still a slight risk for you. Focus on compound excersises such as overhead press, row, squat, bench press, deadlift, chin ups, and dips: These excersises work multiple muscle groups. If you do isolation excersises such as dumbell curbs they only work one muscle, not all of the other supporting muscles around it.

 

I have a old whiplash injury, a slipped disc and bad knee from skiing years ago, should I avoid any particular exercises or weights machines?

Thats not good. I advise everyone to avoid the leg press because its dangerious; but i avoid machines altogether because they stabilize the weight for you and force you into unnatural movement patterns. Be very carefull however if you take my advice and give stronglifts a try -squats especially are hard to do with proper technique; and proper technique is key if your not going to hurt yourself. Some gyms like the university gym here offer free fitness consultants that can help you improve your technique. I cant stress enough how important that is -if you cant do it with proper technique; just stay on the eliptical trainer However i injured my lower back when i was a teenager and strength training has really helped me -I no longer get any back pain at all and i have alot of core strength and stability.

 

As a final note: if it hurts you did it wrong. So if you do squats and your knees hurt a little, or your back hurts a little and you feel like you need to stretch -you did it wrong. Same goes for any excersise: it is not supposed to hurt. Muscle pain the next day is normal until your body get used to excersising (I dont get that anymore, you wont either after about a month) but any kind of joint or bone pain or any pain that shows up right away is not good. You never progress and add more weight until you can do all your reps with proper technique.

[blondesmiler]

Thanks for the info, I do find that variety stops me from getting bored, I am not one that is overly struck by exercising, its just a health and weight thing that drives me, not a love of exercise so I like to switch things around even in one workout I will do a mix of cardio stuff. I hope this isn't counter productive.

 

Whats the average time to start seeing results? I have lost 3/4 inch off each arm which I am dead chuffed about, and inch here and there off other areas too thats since the beginning of the year. So is 2 months about the right sort of time line to be seeing some difference?

 

If don't change my routine will the results come to a stop?

 

Is arm bike doing the same for your upper body as a normal bike does for your legs?

[MichaelKEH]

Sounds like you have been seeing results already if you have lost some inches. Everyone is different but if you are overweight it is generally easier to lose weight until your body reaches its "comfort zone" where in you will have to work harder to lose. For example -years ago when i was 250 pounds of chub i dropped down to 200 without much effort, but had to fight to go down any from there. So yes your results will slow down eventually wether or not you change your routine.

 

I have never heard of an arm bike sorry; but elipticals are good low impact machines -good enough they have them at all the physio therapy clinics around here for when people injure themselves.

 

Lastly you will keep getting results as long as you push youself; your body adapts to excersise -so you will continually get more fit as long as you keep it adapting; that actually sums up the basic principal of it all, your nutrition will determine how quickly (if at all) that you adapt and the excersise itself is more of a catalyst to the adaptation. Thats why it is nice to have a structured and planned excersise program where you go up in weight on a regular basis: when left to yourself to decide when to go up in weight you will not be pushing yourself to get results as fast as you could.

 

I beleive it is detrimental to motivation to focus on looking better, if you focus on getting healthier and stronger you can much more easily track your progress and be happier with the results than if you focus on somthing subjective like looks. Try to keep in mind that you can spend 3 hours in the gym busting your balls on different machines and get far less benefit than 1 hour doing a specific planned whole body workout; so rather than wander around looking at the equipment going "that ones free, ill do that" its best to actually do somthing: Pilaties, yoga, tie-bo, stronglifts, whatever you want to do... but its best to actually have a plan and measurable goals.

[Star Gazer]

Is arm bike doing the same for your upper body as a normal bike does for your legs?

 

No. A bike works your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Basically, the entire leg. The focus on which particular muscles you're working will depend on whether the bike is upright or recumbant.

 

As for the arm bike, think about how it works. It's basically a push-pull (chest/back) motion, not a lift-press (biceps/triceps) motion. Thus, the arm bike predominantly works your chest and back (if you're doing it right), not your arms.