Why isn't my endurance progress consistent?

lorigem

Just out of curiosity really...

For the past 3 or 4 weeks, I've been doing HIITs twice a week. I do them on the elliptical and I slowly progressed to 30 seconds on, 1.20 off at a rate of about 220 strides on, 140 strides off. I do this for 8 rounds or 17 minutes. Kicks my *kitten* every time. But I've been able to complete and maintain it for 2 weeks. I noticed yesterday (and the time before that), I couldn't complete the 8 rounds! I'd have to rest longer and go slower. Wtf? I'm just wondering why my body isn't consistent? I eat plenty so I'm not lacking food and I have a nice daily caloric deficit. I'm losing weight at a good rate. I suppose that's not really the issue. Not freaking out over this but a bit frustrated.

Any thoughts?

bokodasu

Fitness progress is pretty much never linear, except at the very beginning, which can be a shock once you get past that part.

There are about a million reasons why, and not always good ways to tell which one it is. Most of them mean your capacity to recover being overwhelmed with the amount of stress you're putting your body through. The troubleshooting steps are pretty much the same though, so you kind of just run through them until you see progress again.

1) Change it up - switch from always doing the elliptical to the rower or jogging or the stationary bike, or push a car around or something.
2) Take a break - just flat-out skip a workout, take a nice stroll through the park instead.
3) Eat more. You may or may not be eating enough - real HIIT is hard, and if you're losing weight you don't actually know if you're sufficiently fueleing your workouts. Also, yay female hormones - there are times of the month where you will need more calories just to exist than other times. You don't necessarily have to eat more every day, but throw in a couple of cheat meals and see if it helps.
4) Sleep more. Most of that muscle-building stuff happens when you're sleeping, so if you're not getting enough you're just going to be constantly wearing your body down and never rebuilding it.

Good luck!

erikkmcvay

Whole grains? Complex carbs?

To maintain endurance I eat 50-55% carbs -- whole grains not simple or refined sugars.

Typical daily diet for me is rolled oats, bran and chia with maybe a little granola for crunch and 3/4tbs honey with 1/4cup of milk then at lunch I eat 1 1/2 cups of who grain rice and quinoa. Dinner usually involves rice (whole grain) and a veggie salad before meat.

I use protein shakes and bars to keep my protein intake around 25% of daily cals unless on a day like today where I'll up my protein to recover from my 15.3 mile mountain bike ride I did this morning (burned 1200+ cals).

Whole grains for endurance

scottb81

Unless you are doing a lot of steady state aerobic exercise, what little endurance HIIT builds will max out in around 4 to 6 weeks.

HIIT is a rotten way to train endurance if that is your goal.

lorigem

Fitness progress is pretty much never linear, except at the very beginning, which can be a shock once you get past that part.

There are about a million reasons why, and not always good ways to tell which one it is. Most of them mean your capacity to recover being overwhelmed with the amount of stress you're putting your body through. The troubleshooting steps are pretty much the same though, so you kind of just run through them until you see progress again.

1) Change it up - switch from always doing the elliptical to the rower or jogging or the stationary bike, or push a car around or something.
2) Take a break - just flat-out skip a workout, take a nice stroll through the park instead.
3) Eat more. You may or may not be eating enough - real HIIT is hard, and if you're losing weight you don't actually know if you're sufficiently fueleing your workouts. Also, yay female hormones - there are times of the month where you will need more calories just to exist than other times. You don't necessarily have to eat more every day, but throw in a couple of cheat meals and see if it helps.
4) Sleep more. Most of that muscle-building stuff happens when you're sleeping, so if you're not getting enough you're just going to be constantly wearing your body down and never rebuilding it.

Good luck!

Great troubleshooting tips, thanks! I agree, I do need to switch it up. I'll definitely try that.

Unless you are doing a lot of steady state aerobic exercise, what little endurance HIIT builds will max out in around 4 to 6 weeks.

HIIT is a rotten way to train endurance if that is your goal.

Not my goal, per se. But I'd rather do HIIT than steady state cardio. And lifting on my 3 other days. I just figured I'd be able to move up to say, 45 seconds on, 1.00 off and so on. But if I can't manage to stay consistent with my current rate, I can't imagine switching that up later on.

Whole grains? Complex carbs?

To maintain endurance I eat 50-55% carbs -- whole grains not simple or refined sugars.

Typical daily diet for me is rolled oats, bran and chia with maybe a little granola for crunch and 3/4tbs honey with 1/4cup of milk then at lunch I eat 1 1/2 cups of who grain rice and quinoa. Dinner usually involves rice (whole grain) and a veggie salad before meat.

I use protein shakes and bars to keep my protein intake around 25% of daily cals unless on a day like today where I'll up my protein to recover from my 15.3 mile mountain bike ride I did this morning (burned 1200+ cals).

Whole grains for endurance

I didn't know that - thanks! I currently try to stay at 40-30-30 but admit, I am lacking in whole grains.

erikkmcvay

Whole grains are also a good source of dietary fiber and can have a positive effect on blood sugar levels unlike simple carbs (which is what most people think of when they think of carbs).

To be fair some use the term 'simple carbs' differently and I've seen them defined different ways but here is how I use the term for what it is worth: simple = refined, high sugar content, fast into the blood stream and quick to increase blood sugar levels (high glycemic index). Whereas 'complex' to me are things like: whole grain rice (long grain brown, short grain brown), wheat berries, rolled oats, chia etc -- they have higher dietary fiber levels, are natural and can have a positive impact on blood sugar levels. It takes longer for the body to convert them into sugars so they provide long term energy and are harder to convert to fat -- in fact, you can burn them off before they become fat.

You do need some simple carbs in your diet but they should IMHO be natural so things like Honey instead of white refined sugar or Agave Necter. My wife and I switched to Agave and Honey from sugar in our coffee and are much happier Fruits also contain a lot of sugars but it's natural and they also have dietary fiber.

Many here think you must cram down the protein and while SOME studies do show excellent fat loss on higher protein diets they don't seem to promote good endurance levels -- the natives used to eat Chia seeds on LONG runs because of the energy reserves and hydration helping qualities of Chia -- whereas high carb diets (like mine) DO promote endurance which anyone doing a lot of training (cardio) is going to need.

I've also read, and believe experienced, that complex carbs are a mood regulator.

Furthermore, I can feel 'full' when eating whole grains, far more so then when I was eating mostly fats and carbs. Perhaps this is why my vegan sister is so trim! lol Eating whole grains tends to make you feel better with more energy throughout the day and it makes you feel full after eating. What's more is that I find it less likely that I will need to snack or binge when eating them UNLESS I beat myself up on a long ride and don't compensate with protein -- and this is where I think most just give up and go one way or the other. It's too easy to decide you just need protein, it's harder to watch what you eat daily and maintain a diet that addresses your needs based on daily activity levels.

of course, if I were weight training again and trying to get bigger and stronger I'd up my protein but a lot but I'm not doing that, I'm trying to lose weight

one thing I also tell people as an experienced body builder who's packed on he muscle before (more then once) is this:

It's easy to gain muscle, you just eat LOADS of protein and workout properly.

It's hard to lose fat because we want to eat and get hungry.

So, I'll lose the muscle and the fat if that's what it takes to get back down to a decent 'fit' weight and then if I want to put the muscle back on I'll do that in short order

Of course that's a little unfair because I gain it back fast after having built it up before but I think it still stands.