I am getting antsy. I have stuff to do outside but the ground is frozen.
So I go to the gym. That way I will have stamina when the balloon goes up and I can start digging holes.
For now, the "right" amount of running seems to be one minute at 6.0mph followed by two minutes of walking at 3.0mph. Lather, rinse, repeat. That works out to twenty minutes (2.0 miles) at 6.0mph and 40 minutes (2.0 miles) in an hour.
Twenty minutes into the workout my pulse rate was 145-to-147 half-way through the 2 minute walking/recovery periods. I kept checking to see if it would creep up toward the end of the work-out but it didn't. Opinions vary, but I believe that bpms in the 140-150 region are high enough to be useful and low enough to be safe for 65 year-old, chubby mid-Western men like me.
I think that I am looking at two weeks of every-other-day to build cardiac/lung capacity and some skeletal muscle. Then I will start slowly decreasing the length of the 3.0 mph recovery periods or alternating one-minute and two-minute recovery periods.
6.0 mph seems to be a "smooth" speed on my preferred treadmill. It may have something to do with the springiness of the treadmill's bed and rubber-bumpers and my weight.
I'll be interested to see how it works over the longer term.
ReplyDeleteEvery person is very different!
DeleteMy lungs are pretty ok, even though I worked in a factory where vinyl "stuff" frequently burst into flames (dioxin risk). Bones are kind-of OK for my age. Circulation in my left leg is compromised but everything else seems to be in-the-green. I am 35 pounds over-weight. I THINK I am a young 65 year-old but how can you tell?
The BPM monitor is useful for initial calibration your "effort" or how much you lean into the pain-curve. I use it at the beginning of this kind of thing and then reference it occasionally to make sure I am not getting too far into the weeds.
Progress is fast at the beginning (as long as I avoid injury) but it flattens out after a bit.
What are you burying? Woody
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with the 5th Amendment?
Delete"Being American, I knew I had the right to remain silent.
Being 1/4 Irish, I did not have the ability."
The Irish gene always has something to say. Laughing and smiling thinking of my late Mother.
DeleteGood for you !! Keep fighting and stay in shape. As you get older things will happen and being fit is "money in the bank". It will make a huge difference down the road.---ken
ReplyDeleteWont you bp drop as you get more fit? You would have to increase the activity level to maintain it, no? Or is that what the less resting time is for? I ride my stationary bike a minimum 20 mins everyday @ 12mph with light upper weight lifting 3x/week. I'm 70 and about 30lbs over but I like food alot and a beer now and again. I want to be ready for summer and the garden work. Maybe I should be doing more but I don't want it to become a chore.
ReplyDeletemaxx
Ultimately, my limiting factor will be how effectively my lungs can pass oxygen to my blood stream.
DeleteImprovements in my skeletal muscles will make my motions more efficient and increase the amount of anaerobic capacity (which is a supplement to the slow-twitch, aerobic capacity). I expect those skeletal muscles to improve more quickly than my heart's ability which in turn will improve more quickly than my lungs.
So the two-weeks is to get the skeletal muscles' house in order. Fiddling with the ratio of "fast" and "slow" is an effort to get to where I can run "fast" for 30 minutes.
https://www.brianmac.co.uk/conintrn.htm is an essay about "Interval training"
Brother, you nailed it. The Lungs. I'm at about 36% capacity. There is a very fine line between too fit and unable to support it and out of shape and unable to do much. I'm no longer fat, probably a bit underweight. That helps with the GVW vs mass airflow .
ReplyDelete