Does this mean I should do less intensity???

S

starbuck

Cathlete
Hi For Educated Crowd or anyone out there

My thing is this, I went for a gym assessment (where I work they have a number of memberships for staff I was fortune to be given one) anyway yesterday I had my assessment. I was measured (turns out I am 5ft 1") weighed (don't ask), blood pressure taken, lung capacity test, flexibility and aerobic endurance.

On the aerobic side I had to ride on a stationery bike for 5 minutes at 3 levels with a heart rate monitor. She told me at end that on the aerobic test I did well in the first two levels on the 3 my body wasn't able to adapt to the challenge and not enough oxygen was going to my muscles to fuel the movement.

Personally I felt fine on the last level very challenged it was harder but easier than doing 5 minutes of a Cathe tape. She made me wonder if I should be working out at a lower intensity for longer so not doing say Imax and MIC the higher intensity portion.

Confused what are your thoughts.

Babs
 
Wow Babs :-wow Good point, I have been wondering this a lot lately, I would too be interested in the answer :)

anna :)

Bumping.........
 
I saw an interesting piece that you may find interesting...

http://www.mindundermuscle.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1623

I'm more pointing to the "article" in the very first post--not so much any responses.

It has made me greatful that I know my own abilities & limitations & would neverlisten to advice that seems contrary to what I should be doing for my own health & safety.

I would like to see what Cathe or even Maribeth has to say about this topic. I'm not questioning her judgement at all because I have seen her decline to answer when she isn't comfortable with what we are asking of her. This makes me respect her answers all the more when she does respond in a specific manner.


I'm ready to take the next step! http://www.smilies-world.de/Smilies/Smilies_klein_1/a_smil09.gif
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-02 AT 09:12AM (Est)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Dec-05-02 AT 09:07 AM (Est)[/font]

Thanks Anna and Gettingfit

Gettingfit I read this and agreed I don't put too much of what she said I told her I used exercise videos and lifted weights at home but didn't go too much into detail as I don't think she approved, and I didn't want to argue with her (she gave me some good advise about my knees by the way). Most gym instructors here don't approval very much of home exercisers unless supervised by some "personal trainer".

I just wanted to make sure I am doing the right thing for me with people out there who are doing what I am doing and have more practical advice than someone trying to sell me something (no offense to Cathe I will defend her and her tapes to the death).


Personally I find the advice I get here is more in tune with my body and where I want to go with my fitness.

But as I said this lady left me confused as to whether I should contine adding intensity to my rotations or go for more low intensity cardio.

I can't remember what the response to previous posts on this subject.

Babs
 
I have an appointment with a PT tonight for the same type of evaluation as you had Babs... I know that I will be asked about my present level of activity and the type of activity I do. I pretty much know that I'll also get a strange look when I say that most of my workout schedule revolves around fitness videos (and mostly Cathe's) *sigh*. Let's just hope that this PT is different and that she will not treat me as if I'm a wuss for working out at home.

BTW, I'm also curious as to other's comments on your question.

Janick http://www.clicksmilies.com/sammlung/sport/sport003.gif
 
Janick

As I stated at VF I did noted my resting heart rate so I will be doing the calculation to see what my maximum heart rate is based on my own body (rather than what they normally use in the calculations) see if you can find out.

Babs
 
Babs,

I am definitly in the "anyone out there" category of your salutation, but I am a little confused. This PT was only measuring your heart rate through use of a heart rate monitor? So she's suggesting you are working above the top end of your training range at the most intense level of the testing?

I always wear a heart monitor when working out. I like it because I preset it to measure both heart rate and calories burned. While I know the calories is probably not entirely accurate it's motivating to me. Anyway, I know my heart rate at the top end of my training range is about 160. When I'm doing most of Cathe's cardio it gets up there. When I see that I simply back off my intensity just a little to keep it high (say mid to high 150's) but not over the top of my training range for the remainder of whatever high intensity section I'm doing. I do that with IMAX or MIC or any of them.

Just my .02. Hope it's helpful.

Katie
 
Hi Katie

Yes she just measured my heart rate with the monitor the test came no where near Imax or MIC. Both of which I do as my intense workouts to get my heart rate up and body pumping. So for the time being I will stick with the workouts.

Babs
 
Count me as one of the "anyone out there"

I always thought that in order to increase cardio capacity one had to push past the previous level. (like with intervals) If your pt is right, well, how do you ever increase?

I've always figured if I could keep doing it I was okay. But if I started to trip or felt like I was going to throw up then I better slow down.

-joy
 
If I don't push past that target level I don't get the endorphins at all. So what about that? I don't like not getting those they help a lot with every day stress's.

Edith
 
There was a story on the news last week about "quick-fix" home exercise equipment sold on television. It was the standard post thanksgiving "you've stuffed yourself so now you need to work out" story. They went to a local gym and talked to a personal trainer who gave a short lecture about how it wasn't good to workout at home. Then they talked to a few people in the gym who said that they can't work out at home because it was boring, etc. So apparently health is only for the elite who can afford several hundred dollars a year to afford a good gym? It was such an irresponsible story because they didn't even mention that most 'in-home' excising is the same as what you'll find at a club. Cathe's certainly not a "quick-fix" infomercial gadget!
 
There may also be an issue here that you were tested on a stationary bike. If cycling is not normally your thing, you may have had to exert yourself more to do it...I know when I go back to my bike after the winter, I am amazed by how hard it is, all over again, when I've become unaccustomed to that particular movement. Same with running, after a break. Just a thought..

Christine
 
Babs,

I would question this advice. First of all, 5 minutes isn't long enough for a good test -- it's not even enough for you to warm up! Was it 5 minutes altogether, or 5 minutes at each of 3 levels (15 minutes total)? It generally takes the body 5-10 minutes to warm up sufficiently to be able to work out effectively. If you aren't properly warmed up and do a heavy exercise load, your body is going to exhibit a lot more signs of stress than if you are warmed up.

If you work out at too low an intensity, you will not see any improvements. Since people's heart rates are individual and do not necessarily keep to the standards used with heart rate monitors, you might be better off using the "rating of perceived exertion" rather than heart rate. On a scale of 1-10, where 1 is nothing and 10 is really really hard, you should be working at between 6 to 8 (moderately hard to hard). If you are in good health, it is OK to go up to 9 for short intervals of time (I am often at 9 for short periods during Cathe tapes, and I think from reading the posts in this forum that lots of others are too).

You know your own body best. If you are not experiencing heart problems, breathing problems or extreme fatigue after your workouts, and don't have injuries, then you are probably fine to do what you're doing.

By the way, I have been a fitness instructor for 18 years and at the very beginning, used to work in a gym. I was told to be "very conservative" when giving fitness assessments and recommendations; we weren't supposed to turn anybody off (because of making them work too hard -- they might not want to keep their membership) or get the company into potential legal trouble due to injuring clients. Mind you, that was a long time ago, back in the days where women were told to lift very light weights (1-5 lbs) for 3 sets of 15 repetitions. I hope your gym is more enlightened.

Take care.
Stebby
 
Christine hit this one on the nose

As a PT and Fitness Specialist, I encounter this a alot with clients who do very sport specific training. Runners often do not fare well on the cycling (YMCA) test because cycling is not their sport. Group exercise participants who can do a kick-butt "Cardio Blast" class with me often fall short as well.

These folks have the endurance but the muscles are not used to the challenge of cycling and increasing resistance during the test. Their leg muscles give up, but that doesn't necessarily equate to low or average cardiovascular endurance. Although our protocol at work is the YMCA bike test, when I have a fit client who engages in a specific sport on a regular basis, I find a test to accommodate their sport. The results are always much higher.

Hope this helps!
-Roe
 
RE: No

Had to chip in my $.02 -

I think both the assessment tests you were given, and the "results" you were given, are highly suspect. Heart rate monitors are incapable of determining the amount of oxygen uptake by the muscles; they only measure - well, heart rate. I would also ask whether your assessor determined what YOUR resting heart rate was before doing the assessment, or if she guaged your heart rate strictly on the age-adjusted formula.

I agree with a previous poster who noted that a 5-minute test isn't really worth a whole lot, especially when it's on a bike (which doesn't work a whole lot o' muscle groups).

I'm sure there are plenty of gym employees, both group fitness instructors and trainers alike, who are very threatened by the prospect that people use videos / DVDs at home for at least a part of their program. Of course they'd be threatened - that might cut into their profit margin. And of course they'll frown on anyone who has the audacity to work out at home, without the "supervision of a qualified trainer" - God forbid someone actually educate HERSELF!

Keep your skepticism alive, Babs! And do I-Max, MIC, The Intensity Series ad infinitum to your heart's content (pun intended).

A-jock
 
RE: No

Thanks Everyone,

I will continue with the intensity, yes I don't really do stationery biking (or any biking)at the gym because I read that they don't work you as well as other cardio machines particulary say the treadmill.

I do really find that IMAX and MIC really work me and doing them once a week helps me to improve my cv workout. I also use them to gauge how I am developing the less I have to modify and the longer I can go shows me how much I am improving.

As I have said before yes trainers don't like the idea of training at home with vids both from profit margin point of view and that often they feel that home exercisers are just playing at it (they have not come across Mindy, or Cathe here in the UK).

I will after all the wonderful advice given here continue with my intensity and lifting heavy weights (something I want to supplement at the gym).

Oh by the way Aquajock Ab Hits what an investment I absolutely love thanks for pushing it is really helping with my planks I will soon be able to keep up with Cathe.

Babs
 
Hey, Babs,
The biggest factor to recognize is that fitness is very specific to individual mode, meaning that a world class runner will not perform as well on an aerobic bicycle test as s/he would on an aerobic running test. It has little to do with the degree of overall fitness and much to do with specificity of training.

A much more accurate test of your capacity would be a step or treadmill test. If you aren't a cyclist or don't participate regularly in spinning, a bicycle protocol won't reflect your true capacity.

Cycling requires much more in terms of endurance of an individual muscle group (the quads) vs the entire cardiorespiratory system. Apparently, the person administering the test didn't understand this fact of physiology.

Take the comment with a big grain of salt. If you can do I-Max and MIC, you are quite fit aerobically!
Maribeth
 
RE: Assessment Tests

Why do you have to tell those adminstering the assessment tests that you work out at home? It seems to me that a cardio workout is a cardio workout no matter where it's done. Same for a weight workout. Why not just tell them that you do, for example, 3 advanced (if you do Cathe) or intermediate (if you do The firm or some other non-advanced workout) cardio or weight workouts--or whatever your schedule is. Most people can tell that I workout. They probably assume that I go to a gym. I only go into that detail if they ask. Normally I just say that I do -x- amount of circuit style workouts, or -x-amount of heavy weight workouts, or -x- amount of stretching per week, or -x- amount of cardio workouts. The assessment these "professionals" give sometimes seem prejudiced against home workouts. That's their problem! We know we can get a fabulous workout at home with quality tapes like Cathe produces.

Don't give them the opportunity to down grade your workouts!


Cathy
 
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