YD Fit Club

[Buoyant Babe]

Originally Posted by Ding Dang Doo

It's bloody windy out there! My ears have started to ache because of the cold!

Pete

If they are anything like your avatar I'm surprised you didn't take off!

Well done by the way on making an effort.

Hxxx

[sean0801]

Originally Posted by frosty the snowman

Interesting to hear heart rate mentioned. Does anyone know of a source of affordable heart rate monitors? I don't want one with 20 different zones and a barometer. Just something very basic. A lot of people seem to recommend them. Any comments?

Frosty, Boots are doing a heart rate monitor for £9.99 as well as BP monitor for the same. Mrs sean tests mine with her proper kit and it gives the same results, so seems decent stuff

[Ding Dang Doo]

Originally Posted by Buoyant Babe

If they are anything like your avatar I'm surprised you didn't take off!

Well done by the way on making an effort.

Hxxx

Oooooh... that is sooooo below the belt... my avatar is MUCH better looking than I am! But my ears aren't quite as prominent as they are there.

Oh, and thanks... I think!

Pete

[Okeanos]

Originally Posted by lloydwatkin

Here's the basics of HRM training: Heart Rate Training – The Basics - Runner's World General

As I understand it, lots of people get the whole fat burning zone thing confused. Basically if you're running in the fat burning zone then you are burning fat at the most efficient rate possible (let's say 100%). When you bump up the pace and hit the cardio zone, you're still burning fat just not as efficiently (let's say 75%).

What is not often considered is that you're burning more energy when you're training harder so,

• 100 calories per hour (fat burning zone) * 100% = 100 calories/hour
• 150 calories per hour (cardio zone) * 75% = 112.5 calories/hour

So, even though you're not burning off the fat as efficiently as in the fat burning zone you're still burning off more in a set period of time (and at the same time you're giving your heart a good work out too).

I think training in the fat burning zone is good when you start off however as you don't have the fitness to do a long cardio workout so,

• 10 mins of flat out = 50 calories
• 1hr of steady pace = 300 calories

Losing the fat as your exercising for longer and you don't get the demoralising bit of having to stop (probably quit, go for a beer ). The cardio bit comes with time and as the weight comes off it becomes a bit easier so you can start burning fat in the cardio regeime instead - this I agree strongly with, start at fat burn work up to cardio.

That's how I see it anyways Oh and all these numbers are made up, but get the point across hopefully!

Lloyd

PS
It's good to snack between meals (keeps blood-sugar stable, and metabolism up) just keep it healthy. I keep banannas and apples in work for when I get peckish (don't you know :P)

The above is a good rule of thumb. What you have to consider when working above the fat burn zone is that you are burning glycogen, the fuel carried in the body. After strenuous exercise you will continue to burn fat as your body recovers. The biggest problem is after strenuous exercise you feel hungrier than after fat burn exercise, as your body tells you it is low on fuel, so you eat, that tops up your glycogen, you don't lose as much weight.

Certain foods are better for raising metabolism, melon, pineapple, spices & chillies to name a few. There are some thoughts that eating the right stuff before you go to bed could raise your metabolism while you sleep!! It could also give you dreams/nightmares. Green tea raises metabolism, caffeine raises metabolism and heartrate, which is why green tea is better for you than tea or coffee.

Basic heart rate training is based on max heartrate, unless you do a test for this then just use 220-your age (women 222-age). So if your 40 your max heartrate would be 180, you don't want to go there. For fatburn you want 65% of max, so 117 bpm for a 40 year old man will be the optimum. The more you do the fitter you become, the harder it is to raise your heartrate. For fitness a heartrate above 75% will work nicely without overdoing it.

[Okeanos]

On the subject of 10k races, if anyone is in Cornwall we have a couple.

August Friday 17th St Levan 10k Nr Penzance, (the most westerly run in England)
October Sunday 7th Newquay 10k Newquay

There's also a couple of 5 milers locally in June.

Local race diary

[nomis]

[quote=Ding Dang Doo]My weight on 1st January was 14st 7lb...

Not an excuse, but finding time for exercise is my main issue.

Not sure how this quote thingy works, but this is for Ding Dang Doo.
When my children were toddlers part of the bed time regime was to get them to take it in turns lieing on my back whilst I did press-ups. The higher up your back the tougher it gets. Then have them sit on your feet or shins and do sit ups (muscle control is important here as if you, ahem, "let one go" the laughter that follows delays bed time by approx 30 mins, or so I'm told!). Finally, piggy back step-ups on the bottom stair then carry up to bed for the good night story. Invariably the first one comes back down the stairs and it ends up you finishing off with carrying both up (one front, one back) as the finale. A word of warning, once you start this you'll find your children great motivators and have to do it every night for the next five or so years! The good thing is it always takes the same time as you don't increase the reps as they slowly get heavier. If you do try this please let us all know how it went, we had such a laugh and I miss those times big time as mine are now 18 and 20. Good luck.

[David G]

Blimey....all this 'science' above is doing my head in.....and I'm an Engineer.

I think I'll stick with the "Eat Less.....Move More" mantra......

Anyone know what that is in Latin..maybe I could make a logo with a motto or something for the YD Fit Club.

David.

[Ding Dang Doo]

[quote=nomis]

Originally Posted by Ding Dang Doo

My weight on 1st January was 14st 7lb...

Not an excuse, but finding time for exercise is my main issue.

Not sure how this quote thingy works, but this is for Ding Dang Doo.
When my children were toddlers part of the bed time regime was to get them to take it in turns lieing on my back whilst I did press-ups. The higher up your back the tougher it gets. Then have them sit on your feet or shins and do sit ups (muscle control is important here as if you, ahem, "let one go" the laughter that follows delays bed time by approx 30 mins, or so I'm told!). Finally, piggy back step-ups on the bottom stair then carry up to bed for the good night story. Invariably the first one comes back down the stairs and it ends up you finishing off with carrying both up (one front, one back) as the finale. A word of warning, once you start this you'll find your children great motivators and have to do it every night for the next five or so years! The good thing is it always takes the same time as you don't increase the reps as they slowly get heavier. If you do try this please let us all know how it went, we had such a laugh and I miss those times big time as mine are now 18 and 20. Good luck.

nomis - this is a GREAT idea! I shall put this in my regime from this evening, the little ones do like their routine at bedtime!

I'll keep you informed - if I survive!

Pete

[Keith L]

Originally Posted by David G

Blimey....all this 'science' above is doing my head in.....and I'm an Engineer.

Look at it in simple engineering terms then - the hole at the top is bigger than the hole at the bottom so throughput is limited or it builds up So you're right, eat less, move more.

But way to go guys, good luck to you! I'm a recent convert myself when I decided to quit smoking six months ago, I joined the gym at the same time to try and keep the weight down. Ciggies are long gone but I've stuck with the gym, going two or three times a week. Until the weather went duff in December I was also running about 20 miles a week, but last time I went out was boxing day when I just did a short 5K.

I also recommend a HRM, Lloyd's are doing them for about a tenner as well. Running to a HRM does initially feel slow but you speed up as the weeks go by, I found that keeping it down to 140BPM or less also improved endurance, at that rate I can plod to 10K. Don't go mad with the running, slow down, don't be afraid to power walk. The first time I went out 5K took me 40 minutes, walking more than I ran. Within three weeks that was < 30 mins all running. Have a look at Cool Running :: The Couch-to-5K Running Plan for an example of the walk run training schemes out there, Google it!

Keep it up, I saw a statistic recently that said 60% of the January gym members have vanished by February.

K

[Sakara Drinker]

There was something in the paper the other day that said most of Brits give up their New Year health kick by Jan 13th. Keep it up guys and gals, your all doing well.