Questions for all Cardio Pros

[pintoca]

So,

I've been doing almost daily cardio (45min @ 75-80%, 6x week) for the past 6 months. THe results have been excellent so far. I am cutting.

I started with the elliptical, since I was mighty heavy and the impact on my kneess would have been a little bit too much.

Anyway, eventually I outgrew the elliptical and I found myself struggling to keep my heart rate where I want it... so I started little by little to run on the the threadmill. Got to the point where I was doing 50% elliptical and 50% threadmill...

so dar so good.

A week ago I started the following program:

I found out 3 things during this first week:

1. If I run at this pace, my heart rate is NEVER below 85%... so I am running 45 min at 85-90% MHR... Is this good or bad? I don't feel dizzy or like dying. Bear in mind I do this 7 times/week.

2. HIIT in the evening is not really HIIT, as I cannot get up to 95% MHR... with luck I hit 90%... I do HIIT with the elliptical

3. My legs hurt everyday... I thought "OK, I will suck it up and it will go away.." but it has been a week already and no sign of getting better. MY left knee is hurting on the outside and I am concerned about overtraining... If anything I am willing to drop the HIIT in the evenings...

4. Quite possibly, I wont't be able to run on Tuesday mornings, followingf my monday evening leg workout... I need to rest.

So, what do you think? This week has been good, except for the knee issue from yesterday and that is my main concern... should I just suckt it up or cut this back a bit?

K for sound advice folks

Pintoca

 

[silverfish]

Not a pro but I'll give it a shot.

Sounds like overtraining for 2 reasons.

1) You now have an "injury" that won't heal if you keep going. Eliptical trainer doesn't cause stress on the joints. The running and HIIT and both stressful. It's probably nothing serious at this point but further training could leave you with a season long nagging injury. Too much pounding too soon may be to blame.

2) You can no longer get your HR up (during HIIT). If I remember correctly this is caused by the body telling you it's been overused. Almost like it's trying to protect itself. (When Jogging-->)If your HR doesn't come down after a few minutes (or 2-3 miles) when you are running then something is up. I usually have an initial spike in HR, then it settles in after a few minutes (10-15).

I would try to either cut back alot, but still do the cardio. (Maybe return to the eliptical and cut the HIIT for now). Or better yet, if it is possible, take a week off and let your body adapt to the new stresses you are subjecting it to. Possibly some sort of active recovery. Try cycling or rowing to keep with the cardio but reduce the stress on the knee and legs.

Hope I helped somewhat.

 

[|D_J^B_J|]

So,

I've been doing almost daily cardio (45min @ 75-80%, 6x week) for the past 6 months. THe results have been excellent so far. I am cutting.

I started with the elliptical, since I was mighty heavy and the impact on my kneess would have been a little bit too much.

Anyway, eventually I outgrew the elliptical and I found myself struggling to keep my heart rate where I want it... so I started little by little to run on the the threadmill. Got to the point where I was doing 50% elliptical and 50% threadmill...

so dar so good.

A week ago I started the following program:

I found out 3 things during this first week:

1. If I run at this pace, my heart rate is NEVER below 85%... so I am running 45 min at 85-90% MHR... Is this good or bad? I don't feel dizzy or like dying. Bear in mind I do this 7 times/week.

2. HIIT in the evening is not really HIIT, as I cannot get up to 95% MHR... with luck I hit 90%... I do HIIT with the elliptical

3. My legs hurt everyday... I thought "OK, I will suck it up and it will go away.." but it has been a week already and no sign of getting better. MY left knee is hurting on the outside and I am concerned about overtraining... If anything I am willing to drop the HIIT in the evenings...

4. Quite possibly, I wont't be able to run on Tuesday mornings, followingf my monday evening leg workout... I need to rest.

So, what do you think? This week has been good, except for the knee issue from yesterday and that is my main concern... should I just suckt it up or cut this back a bit?

K for sound advice folks

Pintoca

I'm no expert on cardio, BUT:

1) If you feel okay, I wouldn't worry.

3) I'll be honest, when I first saw your program, I thought you were overdoing the cardio and would feel extremely sore in the legs (trust me, I know the feeling).

HIIT uses glycogen for fuel, and glycogen is depleted after an intense lifting workout, so I can't see how doing HIIT would be ideal here. In any event, you are doing cardio in the morning, so why the need to do it twice a day? Once a day is more than enough IMO. As you well know, you can only lose a certain amount of BF each week, so overdoing the cardio will just increase the likelihood of losing muscle, I doubt it will speed up fat loss.

 

[BUBBLES]

How much have you lost in these 6 months?

 

[pintoca]

Thanks for all the replies... I guess my program is one of those that look good on paper( I wrote it on an "inspiration moment"... ) but not too good in real life.

I will cut down the HIIT in the evenings and concentrate on cardio once a week. To tell the truth, I think that tomorrow I will need to settle for a walk (maybe 65% MHR) until my knee is OK again. One thing I don't want to risk is an injury.

I will hit you all once I spread it a bit...coincidentially I gave you all three K recently.

Hera, to answer your question I am down some 57 lbs, about 54lbs fat and 3lbs LBM since I started 6 months ago.

I have a log on up on the diet board. The last update I gave was for my 6th month, you can find it here with all details and stats:

http://elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382752

Thanks for the comments guys, some good advice and insight here. I guess I am too close to the trees to see the forest.

Pintoca

 

[pintoca]

Quick update on this.

After 3 days of rest (no cardio at all), my legs feel about right now. My left knee, however, was bothering me still this morning: I have a feeling, on the outside of my knee as if it was a spring in tension... when I go down stairs I can feel something there tensing-up and I just wait for it to give... creepy stuff this feeling.

Anyway, I am not risking something worst... Tonight I will try with the elliptical at no inclination and very easy pace (will try to get my HR to 65% or so, that is easy)... if that works ok, tomorrow I will WALK at a brisk pace in the morning... (the time change messed up my morning cardio, now it's dark again).

I'm also dropping the HIIT in the evenings... it seems now like a bad idea... (stupid me)

I guess that 207 lbs is STILL a lot of weight for my knees...

How much do you all weight and have you have a problem with your knees before because of running? Also, with the description of the feeling, do you have an idea of what is going on?

Pintoca

 

[mr.cuts]

Does your gym have a stepmill? This is the ultimate cardio machine. Personally, I feel that it is superior to running. It allows you to achieve a very high heart rate and is very low impact. This machine is the core of my cardio regimen.

 

[pintoca]

a stepmill ? you mean one of those stairs machines? if so, yes.. I have never used it though... might be worth a try tonight!!!

Thanks for the heads up

 

[mr.cuts]

a stepmill ? you mean one of those stairs machines? if so, yes.. I have never used it though... might be worth a try tonight!!!

Thanks for the heads up

Do a google search on the "stairmaster 7000PT Stepmill" this is the machine I am referring to. It is way better than the normal stairmasters. Cardiologists actually use this machine for stress testing, due to the intensity of the machine.

 

[silverfish]

I currently weigh 205, down from 225 a few weeks ago. I'm trying to get to about 180. I tried the eliptical machine yesterday and was impressed. More sweating than the lifecycle and less impact than the treadmill. I have some back problems and had some leg trouble last summer. I am convinced it's from the extra weight. According to the charts I should weigh around 160, at the high end, for my height.

 

[silverfish]

Do a google search on the "stairmaster 7000PT Stepmill" this is the machine I am referring to. It is way better than the normal stairmasters. Cardiologists actually use this machine for stress testing, due to the intensity of the machine.

They are a very effective workout if you set it up right. I used one of those at a gym where I used to belong. After you get the hang of the machine, don't hold onto the side rails, much better workout. You can really sweat your balls off on that machine.

 

[pintoca]

I will give the stair thingie a try tonight... we have the normal stair masters though, not this behemoth of a machine...

 

[muscelove]

Hey Pintoca Im sure than when u first started the fat came off very easily due to your strict diet and cadrio sessions. After a while did u see your rate of progress slow down? Also make sure u let that knee heal properly. I injured myself due to stupidity about 6 months ago and kick myself in the ass everyday.

 

[pintoca]

Hey Pintoca Im sure than when u first started the fat came off very easily due to your strict diet and cadrio sessions. After a while did u see your rate of progress slow down? Also make sure u let that knee heal properly. I injured myself due to stupidity about 6 months ago and kick myself in the ass everyday.

Hey man, the graphic for that is here, see for yourself. I tried ALL the cardio machines this week to see which one caused me no pain: At the end, only the recumbent bycicle worked. I cannot make my heart go to 80% in that thing without crapping out, so I am training @ 65-70% right now (hey, better than no cardio).

To avoid the plateau thing, I organized an ALL natural cutting contest up at the Diet board to keep us motivated: I created a brand new diet, cardio and training plan to go for 12 weeks... goal is to move from 25% to 15% in 12 weeks...

OK, here is the graph to answer your question:

In this thread here http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=382752 I was bitchin a bit about my 6th month reslut not bein on par with the previous 5... so the idea of the competition came to me to bump things up a bit.

Pintoca

 

[gvc3k]

They are a very effective workout if you set it up right. I used one of those at a gym where I used to belong. After you get the hang of the machine, don't hold onto the side rails, much better workout. You can really sweat your balls off on that machine.

I dont know why but it really bugs me when im on a stairmaster and the people to the sides of me are completely leaning on the rails throughout the entire session, thinkin that they are doing good. Thats like being on a good diet, but havin a candy bar with every meal. Why do something if you're not gonna give it your 100%. it actually is a sort of motivation for me though, cuz i just don't wanna look like that when i'm excersizing

But anyway... Pintoca, have you asked a doctor to look at your knee? If there's somethin wrong you should get it checked out b4 puttin more stress on it

 

[pintoca]

I am going on monday... it is quite difficult to get an appointment on short notice unless it's an emergency... feels much better now though, but I am not running again for a while.