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Originally Posted by skysooner
Two questions here:
I've started a heavy weight loss program (Weight Watchers) combined with cardio 5 or 6 days a week. I also do some ab and weight work but not intensively as we are waiting for a gym near our house to open their doors. I'm doing an hour on a recumbant bike on those days I do cardio. I know the recommendation is to do roughly 30 minutes of cardio at your target heart rate daily. Is it better to step up the resistance on the bike or to go for speed and distance or does it really matter? I'm burning roughly 720 calories in an hour at my current rate.
My wife is in pretty decent shape but gained about 4 lbs over our Mexican vacation about a month ago. She has been trying to lose it ever since. She also does Weight Watchers and runs 4 to 5 miles 7 days a week. The weight is just not coming off, and she wasn't sure whether she needed to vary her exercise a bit or take a day off now and then. We had read some things that seem to suggest that your body can get used to a certain type of workout and not lose weight unless you vary the intensities on different days.
Any advice?
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Heart monitor. Get one. Use it. Then change things up. One day high intensity, the next, recovery at a lower heart rate.
And forget the old target rate crap. There is new science out now. Zone training.
Monitoring your heart rate while you exercise provides a constant measure of your exercise intensity. Exercising at the right intensity for the right amount of time is the key to getting the most out of your workouts and meeting your fitness goals.
Heart Rate Training helps you exercise smarter-not harder. It can help you lose weight, increase your metabolism, increase your speed and help you avoid overtraining.
I'll include a link here to a place where you get download an Adobe file that shows how to figure your "anaerobic threshold" or AT. It also gives training zones around your AT. You need to spend a certain amount of time working your heart, which usually called "intense" cardio. This burns sugar and carbs but when they're gone, you burn muscle. Kind of counter-productive, right?
You also need to train your body how to use stored fat for fuel. To do that you work out in much lower zones for a longer period of time. It is almost too easy but very effective.
I read about a runner who used to work in one fast mile at about 5:30 in each workout. His trainer had him stay at a lower heart rate for three months. IN the beginning he ran an 8:20 mile at the lower heart rate. By the end of the three months he could run a 5:20 mile at the same heart rate. Even better, he wasn't starving after a workout because his body was using its own fuel. Sure, he needed a recovery meal of some sort but wasn't screaming for food.
The point here is that many people work their asses off and accomplish much less than they could if they just understood how the body really works.
And nutrition is another whole topic, especially post workout. There is a 30-45 minute "window of opportunity" to get in the right stuff - like protein - so it hits your muscles. Later than that and it isn't used the same way.
Good luck!