“You don’t necessarily have to run fast, you just need to be able to get your heart rate to 85-95% of your maximum heart rate, >repeatedly. For a CAD patient or an overweight person, this could mean a brisk walk. If you’re out of shape, you don’t have to >fly across the terrain at amazing speed for your heart to get all excited.”
This is the main point of contention as I see it. I hold that getting newbies to consistently attain 85-95% of their maximum heart rate just isn’t going to happen most of the time.
I hold that getting newbies to consistently attain 85-95% of their maximum heart rate just isn’t going to happen most of the time.
Just curious: are you familiar with Tabata routines? I’m wondering if high-intensity interval training would have newbies attaining near-maximum heart rates.
Just curious: are you familiar with Tabata routines? I’m wondering if high-intensity interval training would have newbies attaining near-maximum heart rates.
Personally, I was in my best cardiovascular health while I was doing high intensity interval training, and I also dreaded workouts the most. High intensity interval training was the most daunting prospect out of any workout routine I implemented.
As a data point, I can sustain ~70% on a stationary bike more or less indefinitely, and I can certainly achieve ~85% in bursts. (This is approximating my max heart rate as 200 bpm; I am 27, so the standard estimator makes it 193, and 200 is slightly conservative. I do not know the actual value.)
It’s possible I’m not in the class of people you’re aiming at, but if so you may want to be more specific (i.e. “people who are substantially overweight and out of shape.”) I am definitely not a veteran of purposeful exercise; but I am a person without a car, so I certainly do a lot more incidental walking than the average American.
My personal experience is that you get the person to do it 2-4 times and after that the activation cost goes up from feeling like you’re dying at the end of a HIIT session and they never build the habit.
This is the main point of contention as I see it. I hold that getting newbies to consistently attain 85-95% of their maximum heart rate just isn’t going to happen most of the time.
That’s really not a problem, at least not physiologically. One cannot sustain this level of effort for more than a few minutes, which, it turns out, is enough. You’ll need a heart rate monitor (cheststrap + wristwatch), get on a treadmill and warm up gently. Work out at around 4 x 4 minutes, with 3-4 minutes of lower intensity walking or jogging in between. Why 4 x 4 minutes, and not something else? Because this has been found to strike the balance between compliance, or self-compliance, as the case may be, and physiological benefits.
For an optimal workout, for a pro athlete you would want to do something like 30 or so 15-second intervals, but sticking to such a regimen is unrealistic for newbies if you don’t have someone coaching you. It takes more willpower than most people actually have, so it doesn’t really work. Most people do have just enough willpower to work hard for four times four minutes, and then go home.
Walking, jogging or running at a steady pace for an extended period of time at intensities below the lactate threshold does not confer dramatic health benefits. It’s still good for you, but you won’t be able to feel your body noticably improving from week to week.
At four minute intervals you are working beyond your lactate threshold, so walking, jogging or running is not sustainable at this level of effort for an extented amount of time. Push too hard, for too long and you’ll can get nauseous or just feel terrible from burning lactate instead of glucose, if so you need to hold back. 4x4 minutes with 4 minutes rest in between should give an increase of around 0.5% per workout in VO2max, if memory serves. You should notice obvious increases in endurance within a few weeks. One needs to commit to any exercise regime, including this one, but it’s not too hard or painful if you’re doing it right.
One should also do strength exercises in addition to interval training. Your 3x5 schedule sounds great for this.
This is the main point of contention as I see it. I hold that getting newbies to consistently attain 85-95% of their maximum heart rate just isn’t going to happen most of the time.
also added to benefits list: an air of danger.
Just curious: are you familiar with Tabata routines? I’m wondering if high-intensity interval training would have newbies attaining near-maximum heart rates.
Yes, reliably. I’m not guaranteeing they’ll all survive but most of them should.
Personally, I was in my best cardiovascular health while I was doing high intensity interval training, and I also dreaded workouts the most. High intensity interval training was the most daunting prospect out of any workout routine I implemented.
never tried it personally.
As a data point, I can sustain ~70% on a stationary bike more or less indefinitely, and I can certainly achieve ~85% in bursts. (This is approximating my max heart rate as 200 bpm; I am 27, so the standard estimator makes it 193, and 200 is slightly conservative. I do not know the actual value.)
It’s possible I’m not in the class of people you’re aiming at, but if so you may want to be more specific (i.e. “people who are substantially overweight and out of shape.”) I am definitely not a veteran of purposeful exercise; but I am a person without a car, so I certainly do a lot more incidental walking than the average American.
My personal experience is that you get the person to do it 2-4 times and after that the activation cost goes up from feeling like you’re dying at the end of a HIIT session and they never build the habit.
That’s really not a problem, at least not physiologically. One cannot sustain this level of effort for more than a few minutes, which, it turns out, is enough. You’ll need a heart rate monitor (cheststrap + wristwatch), get on a treadmill and warm up gently. Work out at around 4 x 4 minutes, with 3-4 minutes of lower intensity walking or jogging in between. Why 4 x 4 minutes, and not something else? Because this has been found to strike the balance between compliance, or self-compliance, as the case may be, and physiological benefits.
For an optimal workout, for a pro athlete you would want to do something like 30 or so 15-second intervals, but sticking to such a regimen is unrealistic for newbies if you don’t have someone coaching you. It takes more willpower than most people actually have, so it doesn’t really work. Most people do have just enough willpower to work hard for four times four minutes, and then go home.
Walking, jogging or running at a steady pace for an extended period of time at intensities below the lactate threshold does not confer dramatic health benefits. It’s still good for you, but you won’t be able to feel your body noticably improving from week to week.
At four minute intervals you are working beyond your lactate threshold, so walking, jogging or running is not sustainable at this level of effort for an extented amount of time. Push too hard, for too long and you’ll can get nauseous or just feel terrible from burning lactate instead of glucose, if so you need to hold back. 4x4 minutes with 4 minutes rest in between should give an increase of around 0.5% per workout in VO2max, if memory serves. You should notice obvious increases in endurance within a few weeks. One needs to commit to any exercise regime, including this one, but it’s not too hard or painful if you’re doing it right.
One should also do strength exercises in addition to interval training. Your 3x5 schedule sounds great for this.