Does anyone have a recommendation for a dumb watch (I don't want the fuss or expense of an Android or Apple watch. Garmin makes some nice models but they are still relatively expensive.
Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
21–30 of 76 posts
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Issues such as?
I'm not OP, but when I started run-jog-walking one mile, three days a week (which is a bit more than two minute stairs every day, but still asking muscles, joints, and heart to wake up), that my back pain lessened, some niggling knee tightness stopped bothering me, and I noticed an increase in how long I could go doing something moderately strenuous before craving a rest (e.g. moving boxes, or walking with a heavy ob…
This right there. No, you're right, it's not a panacea. However, it absolutely fixed the period back problems I've dealt with most of my adult life. Now if I do something to tweak my lower back, I can't wait to get to a treadmill or out onto the sidewalk. It's the one thing I know will make it feel better.
Of course, that's going to be different for everyone. It'll make some people worse. For me, though (and apparently for you, too), it is the right way to treat those issues.
For those with knees not tolerant of running, I've taken to also rucking around with a heavy backpack. It's fantastic for building torso strength, and "your body weight plus 30 pounds" is still far less impact than "your body weight, but running". Walk up some hills steep enough to make you pant and wonder if you can make it to the top and your body may thank you for it, the way mine thanks me.
BTW, doctors have a saying: "motion is lotion". Also, "when you stop moving, you die". We are not evolved to take root on a sofa. Our bodies are meant to move and jostle and bounce and twist. Absent specific reasons not to, it can make a huge difference in physical comfort.
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#23I like sprinting a couple times up our hill, ca 10s each, 4-6 times. It’s full out, and when I‘m untrained (like now), I‘m quite exhausted afterwards. But the dopamine boost I get from this is immense. It lasts 24-48h. I‘m in a general good mood for this period. Sometimes, a little more competitive than normal - that’s a downside. Normal jogging or long walks don’t have this effect, at all.
A long race will do it just fine. AKA Runner's High.
I also do hill sprints. I try to do one [HIIT] workout a week and also some longer runs.
Hill sprints tend to be safer then sprinting on flat surfaces. Last time I did my HIIT sprinting on level ground my knee didn't really like that at all. A stationary bike (like the "assault bike") is even safer. Or you can just do burpies. People who don't run and haven't sprinted in a long time shouldn't just jump into sprinting.
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#24As an anecdote of one, I was doing moderate intensity endurance exercise for a couple years with only modest improvements in basic cardiovascular metrics that kind of flatlined over time. As an experiment, I switched to high-intensity interval type training for a couple months, which required about half the time to do. All of my cardiovascular metrics immediately changed in a strongly positive way. When I did the old…
HIIT can have a pretty quick impact on your VO2MAX but that is going to level off. As others have said you will want a more balanced routine in the long run.
It is also possible you were over-training in your "moderate" intensity or conversely not increasing the load/distance enough. Training over years should result in good improvement even without HIIT. You will need to put a lot more time in.
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#25Does anyone have a recommendation for a dumb watch ( I don't want the fuss or expense of an Android or Apple watch. Garmin makes some nice models but they are still relatively expensive.
You could just make a playlist of your intervals and use earbuds, or exercising in the town square under a large clock
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#26Does anyone have a recommendation for a dumb watch ( I don't want the fuss or expense of an Android or Apple watch. Garmin makes some nice models but they are still relatively expensive.
I would look into a used entry model Garmin. Something like a 235 (I have my old one sitting around). It has an HRM though it's not a terribly reliable one.
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#27As an anecdote of one, I was doing moderate intensity endurance exercise for a couple years with only modest improvements in basic cardiovascular metrics that kind of flatlined over time. As an experiment, I switched to high-intensity interval type training for a couple months, which required about half the time to do. All of my cardiovascular metrics immediately changed in a strongly positive way. When I did the old…
That sounds exactly like what one should do for, say, couch to 10k: build a solid base in "zone 2" (low aerobic), which also serves not just as a cardio foundation but also builds the body's ability to withstand effort and impact.
Then once the base is built, to make any progress one needs stronger, more focused stimulus, so you introduce interval training at high aerobic (tempo and threshold paces) as well as anaerobic (400-800 "very hard" sustained and all-out sprints) training, combined with a few zone 2 long runs.
And then the cycle repeats: you have to let the body recover so deload, then start a new cycle.
Nicklas Rossner has fantastic resources; there's a video there that explains how to find your current bottleneck: https://m.youtube.com/@NicklasRossnerPT
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#28As an anecdote of one, I was doing moderate intensity endurance exercise for a couple years with only modest improvements in basic cardiovascular metrics that kind of flatlined over time. As an experiment, I switched to high-intensity interval type training for a couple months, which required about half the time to do. All of my cardiovascular metrics immediately changed in a strongly positive way. When I did the old…
What metrics were you tracking that moved?
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#29As an anecdote of one, I was doing moderate intensity endurance exercise for a couple years with only modest improvements in basic cardiovascular metrics that kind of flatlined over time. As an experiment, I switched to high-intensity interval type training for a couple months, which required about half the time to do. All of my cardiovascular metrics immediately changed in a strongly positive way. When I did the old…
HIIT can have a pretty quick impact on your VO2MAX but that is going to level off. As others have said you will want a more balanced routine in the long run. It is also possible you were over-training in your "moderate" intensity or conversely not increasing the load/distance enough. Training over years should result in good improvement even without HIIT. You will need to put a lot more time in.
I have a pretty diverse training load these days. Hiking, mountaineering, running, plus a few sports and some resistance. While I have overtrained in the past on running in particular, it was mostly due to lack of diversity. Nonetheless, none of those things puts the same load on the body as HIIT.
To be clear, I was objectively in good cardiovascular condition before adding HIIT. My resting heart rate has been in the 40s for years. The surprise was that there was so much easy margin left by adding HIIT to my regimen.
Re: Exercise intensity is associated with cardiometabolic health
#30I found that setting a two minute timer and running up and down a stair case with high intensity once per day can resolve a whole host of seemingly unrelated issues.
Same. I found that picking up a 28-kg kettlebell and climbing up a 20-storey building within 6 mins (switching up hands every couple of floors) is an awesome "functional" exercise. Hits cardio, grip strength and unilateral stability stuff.
This has strong vibes of "Do this and you will get rid of back pain" followed by the video of some crazy acrobatic stunt.
Congrats, BTW.