Plan B Forum

I think most experts on the cardio-pulmonary aspects of exercise have concluded that the traditional “aerobic” workout is not all that great for your heart (or your overall health, if you want to know the truth). If you get your heart accustomed to working at 75% of your max, continuously for twenty minutes, three times a week, it’s not a bad thing, but as with any other exercise if you don’t “mix it up” it just becomes a “normal” activity for your heart and the health benefit is minimal. “Interval” workouts force your heart to adapt to significant stress in short bursts, in the way that we were genetically programmed to do. It is also great for your lung capacity, which may be an even better contributor to longevity – and let’s face it, longevity is what it’s all about. Our human and proto-human ancestors exerted themselves in short bursts: either going after prey, or to avoid being taken by a predator. Interval training mimics those stresses, while distance running is not really what we were “bred” for.


Running intervals is a fantastic way of getting in shape. You should notice that trainers in all major sports (basketball, football, soccer, baseball, etc.) emphasize interval training, and NONE of them recommend distance running to prepare athletes for competition. That should tell you something.


But running intervals is a high-impact activity that can often lead to soft-tissue injuries, especially for people over 35 years old. Fortunately, you can get a good interval workout on a stationary bike, provided it has (a) adjustable resistance, (b) an rpm meter, (c) a timer, and (d) a heart rate monitor. Most good ones have all of these. This posting describes the ideal stationary-bike interval workout.


To set up the best parameters, you need to take a few moments and calculate your maximum exercise heart rate. The formula is 220 minus your age, times 90%. For a 40-year-old man, the number works out to be 162 beats per minute (“bpm”). The ideal workout contains 4-6 intervals, of progressively high intensity. For the sake of illustration I am going to describe 5 successive intervals, in which your heart rate will rise to progressive maximum rates, as follows: 70% of max, 75% of max, 80% of max, 85% of max, and 90% of max. For the 40-year old man mentioned here, that would be to heart rates of 126. 135, 144, 153, and 162bpm.


With the bike adjusted to a comfortable riding position, begin pedaling at an easy pace, at a minimal resistance level (1 or 2). Set the workout to “manual,” or any other setting that allows you to control resistance and pace, while monitoring heart rate. Note your initial heart rate.


After two minutes at a relaxing pace (minimal exertion, 50 rpm), increase the resistance level to something relatively easy, and increase your pedaling pace to 100 rpm. Your heart rate will begin to rise. Ideally, it will take about 90 seconds for your heart to reach the 70% number. You may have to experiment a bit to find the first resistance level in your first workout. But immediately after you reach the first target heart rate, you slow your pedaling pace back down to approximately 50 rpm, and reduce the resistance to the first minimal level. This is the recovery phase.


If you watch the heart monitor closely after you slow down, it will rise a few ticks above your target rate, then gradually start coming down. As time goes by, your level of conditioning will be indicated by how quickly your heart comes back down. Make a note of the decrease in heart bpm in the first 60 seconds, as that is your measure of fitness (it will be a little higher for the last couple intervals).


During this rest period (and subsequent rest periods, as well) you want to relax for at least 60 seconds, but longer if it takes longer for your heart to slow down 30bpm below the first target rate. So again, referring to the 40-year-old man, he will run his heart rate up to 126 at the end of the first interval and he be in the recovery phase for at least a minute, but definitely until his heart slows to 96bpm (or lower). No matter how long this takes, don’t start the second interval until your heart has slowed by at least 30bpm.


The second interval is also done at 100 rpm, but now with the resistance at one “click” higher than it was for the first interval. Again, continue until your heart rate comes up to the 75% rate, then slow down and reduce the resistance, and allow your heart to slow down at least 30bpm – a minimum of 60 seconds rest.


And so on. At the conclusion of the last (5th) interval, the heart rate should max out at the 90% level, and the final cooldown period should last at least until your heart has slowed to below 90bpm. At that point your workout is over. It should have taken you no longer than 15 minutes, and when you are used to it, it will be closer to 12.


According to my guru (Dr. Al Sears), this interval workout is much better for your heart and lungs than a half-hour “aerobic” run. I started doing this when a couple injuries prevented me from running long distances, and all of the indicators I track (resting heart rate, BP, cholesterol) have remained about the same as when I was running 4X per week.


I have been able to continue these workouts in spite of knee and ankle injuries and severe tendonitis in my Achilles tendon. As far as I can tell, it is the perfect workout for a geezer.

I also think that resistance training is necessary for overall good health, but that's a thread for another time.

I appreciate your points Dave, but find a cross trainer far better than a bike, as it is more of a whole body exercise, and the better ones can be set for automatic adjustments during interval training.

I agree - I love my cross trainer. If I could have nothing else, this for me is the ultimate exercise machine.

As it is I have a walking/running machine as well, and also an old fashioned rowing machine (the ones that also exercised the arms more than the new types they have now).
And a couple of different size weights (just the little ones for trying to stop flabby underarms )
It's all probably degrees of the same exercises - but for me my 'home gym' is pretty good with just these things.

I do have some other items that are intended as exercise tools, but these I would put more in the 'gimmick' category....
The kids got me a Wii - it's good fun and we use it for mucking around sometimes, but I can never be stuffed setting it up for regular exercises.
And when my son had a back injury we had to get one of those giant balls as part of his physio - they're apparently meant to be good for a heap of exercises but instead nowadays it makes an interesting decoration and toy around the house.
And I once was given those big elastic band type things that you're meant to be able to hook over things to help you with stretch exercises and stuff like that. And I was given a little aerobic mat with it. Maybe if I'd got an Olivia Newton-Jon headband as well it might have inspired me, but as it is it's just trendy clutter.

For those in the US, can the Aussie please explain...what the hell is what you call a cross-trainer?

Kinda like the "cross-dresser" of the exercise world.

Cross-trainer, sometimes called a ski-trainer or cardio-trainer or eliptical-trainer.





Fit bird is an optional extra.

I personally believe that the most important factor in avoiding "the dirt nap" and getting out of bed every morning is having a reason to get out of bed every morning....To feel like you need to be there for someone besides yourself....

I have a bike of the exact quality that Dave describes, and I actually try to use it...now and then...

But there's no denying the fact that I'm about 50 pounds over weight...I'm six foot tall, I always felt my best when I was between 170-180, and now I'm about 230....(though the actual number, as I explained to Tati, is strictly classified on a need to know basis, and she doesn't need to know...I do not step on a scale on the presence of others...

(I have comforted myself with the fact, that I have an enormous amount of energy for a fat man....kind of like Jackie Gleason... )

The fact is, there is nothing that makes one feel like they need to go on another day, more than the idea that someone else they care about is depending on them....(At least that's been true in my case)

As I've said before, I was 40 years old, a confirmed bachelor, assuming I would never get married and never have a child....

When The Warrior Princess was born...

And I got a lot of grief from friends of mine my age, who were dealing with teenagers, telling me that I was too old to try to play that role....

And now here I am 10 years later, having had my second child when I was 50, (and my friends are still telling me they expect me to keel over Tony Randall style...(hey, he was 78 fercrisakes... )

I firmly believe that what keeps most of us going, (except perhaps for the sociopaths) is "other people needing us"....

I don't think I would be anywhere near as vigorous as I am today, if it were not for the sense that "my children need me"....

Bravo Jim!

I swore when I became a dad that I would never be like my own father. Though he was never fat, he also was never involved in my life. I wanted to play, and always have played, a full and active role in Hatch's upbringing. We've climbed rocks*, mountains, and hiked over hills and dales**. We've visited many places, five different countries, and travelled around the world three times together. She's been to the gym with us, and loved it, we play a big part in her basketball team. I am officially her proof reader and substitute teacher for all homework, (apart from maths an physics, I'm shite at those.)

Those reasons and many more, (not forgetting the hot sex with Hen,) are good enough reasons to keep active, keep fit and keep YOUNG!


*Don't.

** Nor this.

Post deleted...


Too much personal information......

The one thing I've always said...

That wild horses wouldn't drag out of me....

Was "you're going to do it because I'm your father and I told you so"...

I really considered that to be the very last refuge of a scoundrel; and when I was a child, I swore up and down I would never say that to any child of mine...


And I hate to admit it, but I've actually caught myself using that brain dead expression with my own kids...

"Those reasons and many more, (not forgetting the hot sex with Hen,) are good enough reasons to keep active, keep fit and keep YOUNG!"



Well it's a bit far to commute and I'm worried about the jet lag, but you know... I do need the help to lose a few kg.

Lord Jim wrote:Post deleted...


Too much personal information......

Dammit Jim, you know the rules about posting personal information on here!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for you to be banned now...

Sean wrote:

Lord Jim wrote:Post deleted...


Too much personal information......

Dammit Jim, you know the rules about posting personal information on here!

I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for you to be banned now...

Speaking of Lord Jim's "too much" personal information, I was able to copy it before he deleted it.

If you are interested, I will sell that mysterious deleted post by LJ to you for a fair price, which I've initially set at approximately 34 cents American.

Be the first on your block to know more about Lord Jim than he wants you to know.

(I am also very willing to delete the copied post completely & permanently if Lord Jim is willing to pay me $34,000.00 before May 1st in plain unmarked bills no larger than $20.00 each)

Nothing personal.

It's just that I have another Maserati payment due later this month...

Best Heart-Lung Exercise for Geezers?


Sex with a great-looking woman at least half his age.

Sex with a great-looking woman at least half his age.

That will keep you young....

Works for my Swede, although the age difference is only 10 years

"Feeling young" is not the same as being healthy.

Although longevity is mainly determined by heredity, I think we have an obligation to do whatever is possible to maintain good health while we still can.

There is nothing "wrong" with using a cross-trainer, but the level of muscle exertion is minimal, which is why I follow a program of real resistance training in addition to the interval training I described at the top of this thread. The point of resistance training should be to maximize strength, and a cross trainer don't do that.

Doing the same motion over and over again a million times will not make you any stronger, any more flexible, or able to do anything other than repeat that same pointless motion a million times over in the future. Which is why I think distance runners who do nothing other than running are kidding themselves about their overall health.

All kidding aside, you're right Dave. I know very few runners who don't do some sort of interval training (and strength training as well) -- in the old days we called them fartleks, or "speed" training, or intervals. Warm up, run a 200 at 90% effort, run the next at 50% effort, run the next at 90% effort, back to 50% and so on, and so on -- as many as you needed, and any distance really from a 100 up to a 400 or even more.

To get the best results, you need to test your own max HR, and then establish your zones from there. It's pretty simple, anyone who wears a hear rate monitor and can do simple math can figure it out.