High/low intensity?

[scotty1]

Hi, sorry if I'm rehashing old ground here.

K, my gf's going to start running. She's going to start going down the seafront (about a mile). But I was thinking, instead of increasing the distance and going on a slow jog, wouldn't it be better if the distance was kept the same and the speed increased until it was pretty fast, and then increase the distance?

My thinking here is that high intensity exercise is better then low for fat burning. True?

Also, I was going to recommend she does a few sets of pushups (girly ones) and sit ups to complete the workout. Good?

Any comments would be appreciated, especially from those members that really know their sheit.

scott :)

[Ford Prefect]

Yes. An even better idea would be for her to do a comfortable jog for a 1/4 mile, then sprint for a 1/4 mile, then jog for a 1/4 mile, etc etc

[scotty1]

Yeah I mentioned that to her. if you could briefly outline why that would be great. :)

[scotty1]

ttt I can see you Ford!

[Arhat of Fury]

Check this out
http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/256beast.jsp

Check out the running man article, It will answer your questions.

[Toby]

I do:

http://trainforstrength.com/Endurance1.shtml

For more info search google for "Tabata protocol".

My roadwork is over in 5 minutes :D. You could go further than that I guess, but 20/10x10 kills me. You need some way to keep time (and preferably effort). I got a Polar S610i. Excellent tool.

[scotty1]

Thanks.

[Ka]

Yeah its all been said so I'll second everthing:p
I second the sprint, recovery trot, sprint etc
Go by time rather then distance,say 30 mins of above
Second Tobys Tabata
Tabata
Put 4 mins on a timer,
Choose the excerise of choice(Burpees or Box Jumps,Medi ball swings sound good for her,but mix it up do whatever she's into)
20 sec work as hard as possible(come on its only 20 sec)
10 sec rest
Continue until the bell goes.
Next excerise
Maybe a Heart Rate Monitor to map progress,monitor recovery time,I found they are a usefull tool.
Kitchen/Boxing/countdown Timer,Stopwatch, come in handy,good for your meditation as well;)

[Toby]

Originally posted by Ka
(come on its only 20 sec)


I hope you're joking :p :p

20s with 10s rest is murder. You barely have time to catch your breath. My HR often doesn't decrease at all. In fact, often it's higher at the end of a rest interval. Tabata workouts are hard-core ;).

[Ka]

LOL:D
No one seems to get my sense of humor.
Toby, Yes that was said with sarcasm, I use that line to egg people on,after all its only 20 seconds;)

High Intensity is good,but variety is best,cycle through Endurance and Power.Mix it up Baby:cool:
Scotty
Hope your GF achieves her goals.

[scotty1]

Cheers mate, so do I.:)

[scotty1]

Ok, first off, I saw a sign in my local gym saying that for fat burning purposes, medium intensity work is better than high intensity.

So are they lying? They're saying to be able to hold a conversation while you're working out, or you're training too hard. Are they just trying to avoid people fat people dying on them?

Also, with the sit ups and push ups, I said just do three sets of a number you find challenging but comfortable. Is that about right?

i love this, you guys tell me what to say and I get to look all knowledgeable and stuff.

[Toby]

Don't believe anything you read in a gym ;).

I believe part of it is the target audience they're aiming for. I also believe that gym trainers (like some sifus) might not want to make it too hard for their clients because the clients won't come back. But your gf's not scared of a bit of pain, is she?

Anyway,

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9139179&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8897392&dopt=Abstract

these ones look interesting too:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2357980&dopt=Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3356666&dopt=Abstract

and:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=8028502&dopt=Abstract

Hope those links work. They're just abstracts, so if you want the whole papers you'll have to do a bit of digging.

Re the pushups/situps - what are they for? Endurance or strength? If strength, do less but find a way to make them harder. E.g. you sit on her back for pushups or she holds plates for situps (or look into Janda situps ;)). If endurance, I'd be doing them until failure for 2 or 3 sets with shortish breaks between. Hopefully Ford or Iron will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong.

Hope that helps.

[scotty1]

Thanks Toby, she's not really training for strength or endurance in particular, her aim is just increased all round strength and fitness.

But anyway, none of it's important now as she's joined a gym where she gets a personal program and trainer etc. But thanks anyway.....

I'll probably post her program for you guys to critique!:)

[rubthebuddha]

"swiss-ball squats, arched-back bench press, and a bunch of work for her lower abs."

if the program she's on calls for any of this, shoot the trainer and have her talk to us. :D

[abobo]

Originally posted by scotty1
I saw a sign in my local gym saying that for fat burning purposes, medium intensity work is better than high intensity.

So are they lying? They're saying to be able to hold a conversation while you're working out, or you're training too hard.

Take a look at 1 (http://www.cbass.com/FATBURN.HTM), 2 (http://www.cbass.com/Tabata_GXP.htm), 3 (http://www.cbass.com/INTERVAL.HTM)

[Toby]

Originally posted by rubthebuddha
arched-back bench press I used to do bp with as straight a back as I could. I even used to put my feet up on the bottom of the bench. Then, I heard (maybe from Ford?) about powerlifting type benches. Each set, I lie down with my head on the end of the bench. Then, I push my arse as far towards my head as I can. Then, I lift up my head and shoulder blades and push them down towards my butt. This gives me a nice arch. While I'm lifting, I push with my feet so my shoulder blades are getting pushed hard into the bench and my butt is almost lifting off the bench. In fact, sometimes my butt is pretty much weightless. You could take away the lower half of the bench and I'd be held up by my feet and shoulders.

Anyway, this (amongst other things) has increased my bench quite a bit. It feels very safe. Dunno if it is. It feels like my shoulder blades are pretty much the only load bearing part of my body on the bench. The tight arch is maintained by core pressure (for want of a better term) and by the feet driving the shoulder blades down.

But I agree with you re the swiss ball squats and lower ab work :D


Scotty1, she can't go wrong with 3x8-12 or 2x20-25 for general fun/fitness. Mix it up a bit so she doesn't get bored (if she's inclined to) e.g. vary pushup hand width, do inclines, declines, use various situp techniques (again, the Janda for fun - do it right, though ;)).

Also, the links abobo provided summarise the papers I linked, but in English for the non-scientifically minded. Much easier reading ;).