****Official Weight Loss and Exercise Thread****

[Silock]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

I decided to start doing intervals. Last two days I been busting ass. 20 minutes, 10 reps. I swear I read a post about that on this board somewhere...

Cardio intervals or circuit training intervals?

I'm counting calories again, too. I was gonna make losing 30 pounds my new year's eve resolution, but **** that. That's for pussies. I'm starting NOW. 2010 is the year I get ripped as ****.

Do it. I know you can. I know you hate me, but if you need advice, help or support, I'm here.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Silock

Cardio intervals or circuit training intervals?

Cardio. Mostly I'm doing it because I decided I hate doing 5 miles of slow state.

BTW, am I doing it right? 30 seconds of sprinting (11 mph), 90 seconds of fast walk (3.5 mph). In 20 minutes I cranked out 2 miles.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Cardio. Mostly I'm doing it because I decided I hate doing 5 miles of slow state.

Good. Steady state sucks most of the time. It can be good after you've lifted or done some HIIT, but most people don't have the time to put in a good, long run after doing either of those things.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

BTW, am I doing it right? 30 seconds of sprinting, 90 seconds of fast walk. In 20 minutes I cranked out 2 miles.

It depends on your level of fitness. A good rule of thumb is you go to 90-95% of your max effort on the intervals and go again when your HR reaches 60% of your max on the rest intervals. The shorter the rest intervals, the more calories you'll burn, and the quicker you'll get into shape, which will reduce your recovery time even further.

90 seconds is a bit long, but again, I don't know where you're at fitness-wise. Personally, I do either 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off or 1 minute on and 45 seconds off. Anything over about 45 seconds is just me being lazy, because my HR is pretty recovered by then. But, I've been doing it for years, so your experience may vary.

A heart rate monitor really helps for that. Even if you feel like you can't go, if your HR is at the right level, you definitely can. You can pick up a decent one on Amazon for about $30-40 if you don't have one. I got mine during a wootoff for $20.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Silock

It depends on your level of fitness. A good rule of thumb is you go to 90-95% of your max effort on the intervals and go again when your HR reaches 60% of your max on the rest intervals. The shorter the rest intervals, the more calories you'll burn, and the quicker you'll get into shape, which will reduce your recovery time even further.

90 seconds is a bit long, but again, I don't know where you're at fitness-wise. Personally, I do either 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off or 1 minute on and 45 seconds off. Anything over about 45 seconds is just me being lazy, because my HR is pretty recovered by then. But, I've been doing it for years, so your experience may vary.

A heart rate monitor really helps for that. Even if you feel like you can't go, if your HR is at the right level, you definitely can. You can pick up a decent one on Amazon for about $30-40 if you don't have one. I got mine during a wootoff for $20.

Hmm. I'll try less rest next time. I'm in decent cardio shape but not tip-top.

[Silock]

Good plan. Shorter intervals really are the best. It really, really sucks at first, but it's the quickest way to get to where you want to go. It's like ripping off a Bandaid instead of pulling it slowly.

[Silock]

Something that might help acclimate you to the shorter intervals is to work your way up the speed ladder.

Start at 5 mph, then back to 3.5, then up to 5.5, then back to 3.5, and keep increasing it by .5 every time you go back up to a sprint. It'll take a few minutes to get up to the highest setting, but once you do, it'll be super-intense. Might not work for your running style, but I personally find it harder to slack off near the end if I start off at a lower intensity and then move it up.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

Something that might help acclimate you to the shorter intervals is to work your way up the speed ladder.

Start at 5 mph, then back to 3.5, then up to 5.5, then back to 3.5, and keep increasing it by .5 every time you go back up to a sprint. It'll take a few minutes to get up to the highest setting, but once you do, it'll be super-intense. Might not work for your running style, but I personally find it harder to slack off near the end if I start off at a lower intensity and then move it up.

I did this workout called sprint 8s that was based on this theory. It supposedly increases your body's natural output of HGH. It also helps you shed pounds. I'll include it below, and I'll put my "usual" (I've done both higher and lower settings) treadmill settings and ending time readings for each interval as an example. I modified it a bit for the treadmill and my own uses:

3 minute warmup on treadmill (3:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (3:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (5:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (5:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (7:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (7:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (9:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (9:30): 10 mph
1.5 minute recovery (11:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (11:30): 10.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (13:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (13:30): 11 mph
1.5 minute recovery (15:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (15:30): 11.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (17:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (17:30): 12 mph
1.5 minute recovery (19:00): 7.5 mph
Cooldown jog of a few minutes: 6.0 mph

Now this workout is actually intended to be done outside where you can fully sprint, and you're supposed to walk back to where you started as your recovery. I have a hard time fully sprinting on a treadmill, and I can't stand walking on a treadmill, so I adjusted it to eliminate the walk. You will be the loud idiot stomping like a maniac on the treadmill with this workout, but it's a kickass 20 minute cardio.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by NewPhin

I did this workout called sprint 8s that was based on this theory. It supposedly increases your body's natural output of HGH. It also helps you shed pounds. I'll include it below, and I'll put my "usual" (I've done both higher and lower settings) treadmill settings and ending time readings for each interval as an example. I modified it a bit for the treadmill and my own uses:

3 minute warmup on treadmill (3:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (3:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (5:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (5:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (7:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (7:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (9:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (9:30): 10 mph
1.5 minute recovery (11:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (11:30): 10.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (13:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (13:30): 11 mph
1.5 minute recovery (15:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (15:30): 11.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (17:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (17:30): 12 mph
1.5 minute recovery (19:00): 7.5 mph
Cooldown jog of a few minutes: 6.0 mph

Now this workout is actually intended to be done outside where you can fully sprint, and you're supposed to walk back to where you started as your recovery. I have a hard time fully sprinting on a treadmill, and I can't stand walking on a treadmill, so I adjusted it to eliminate the walk. You will be the loud idiot stomping like a maniac on the treadmill with this workout, but it's a kickass 20 minute cardio.

This is the post I read. I'll give this a whirl today.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by NewPhin

I did this workout called sprint 8s that was based on this theory. It supposedly increases your body's natural output of HGH. It also helps you shed pounds. I'll include it below, and I'll put my "usual" (I've done both higher and lower settings) treadmill settings and ending time readings for each interval as an example. I modified it a bit for the treadmill and my own uses:

3 minute warmup on treadmill (3:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (3:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (5:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (5:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (7:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint session (7:30): 9.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (9:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (9:30): 10 mph
1.5 minute recovery (11:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (11:30): 10.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (13:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (13:30): 11 mph
1.5 minute recovery (15:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (15:30): 11.5 mph
1.5 minute recovery (17:00): 7.5 mph
30 second sprint buildup (17:30): 12 mph
1.5 minute recovery (19:00): 7.5 mph
Cooldown jog of a few minutes: 6.0 mph

Now this workout is actually intended to be done outside where you can fully sprint, and you're supposed to walk back to where you started as your recovery. I have a hard time fully sprinting on a treadmill, and I can't stand walking on a treadmill, so I adjusted it to eliminate the walk. You will be the loud idiot stomping like a maniac on the treadmill with this workout, but it's a kickass 20 minute cardio.

Not bad... the only thing I can't get over is how long those rest intervals are. I know it's good for the person that doesn't do it all the time, but I would be wasting time taking that much recovery.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

Not bad... the only thing I can't get over is how long those rest intervals are. I know it's good for the person that doesn't do it all the time, but I would be wasting time taking that much recovery.

Yeah, I don't know. 7.5 isn't really "resting." That's still marathon pace for me.... so "rest" is a little bit of a misnomer in the way I do it. But yeah, the way it's intended... there's no way I could spend that much time just walking or jogging slowly. That's pretty much why I adjusted it. I wanted to bump up my lactic threshold for endurance while also making it so that my "normal" pace was comfortable enough that I could recover during it.

[Frosty]

I finally broke into the 160's this morning. I was 169.6 lbs, which makes for exactly 30 pounds lost. My 33 inch waist Levi's 501's are loose and I am in Medium shirts, when I can find them with long enough arms.

About 8 more pounds would get me into the 10% body fat range, which is where I think I will end up.

[Silock]

Yeah, I know. I don't want to seem elitist or anything, but I warm-up at 7.5. That's just where I'm at, so it seems out of whack to me.

As long as it works for you, that's what matters.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Silock

Yeah, I know. I don't want to seem elitist or anything, but I warm-up at 7.5. That's just where I'm at, so it seems out of whack to me.

As long as it works for you, that's what matters.

Hey. I'm 36 with two kids, a full time job, and a demanding wife. I've got no problems admitting that I'm not as fast as I used to be. I barely have time to train more than 3 hours a week. At one time, I would get in around 50 miles of running, 50 miles of bike (commute) in a week, along with gym and at least 5 hours of climbing (worked at a school with a climbing gym and sponsored the climbing club).

[Silock]

Originally Posted by NewPhin

Hey. I'm 36 with two kids, a full time job, and a demanding wife. I've got no problems admitting that I'm not as fast as I used to be. I barely have time to train more than 3 hours a week. At one time, I would get in around 50 miles of running, 50 miles of bike (commute) in a week, along with gym and at least 5 hours of climbing (worked at a school with a climbing gym and sponsored the climbing club).

Yeah, I'm lucky in that my wife and I don't have kids, and don't plan on it. We go to the gym together. It's a lot easier to fulfill the "spending time together" quota when part of that time is spent together at the gym.