Trying to Keep Going

JesterJoe

Read an article recently that doing the same exercises repeatedly will stall your weight loss and other benefits as your body gets too used to them. This was from the local major health organization that I belong to. Maybe that has been my challenge. I am considering signing up for some personal training sessions to break my routine and get some different perspective. I think I am healthy enough now. What do you think?

3dogsrunning

Your body doesn't get "used to it". It requires the same amount of energy to move te same amount of weight doing the same activity. People often experience a stall in progress because they lose weight, which means it now takes less energy to move a smaller amount of weight doing the same activity. One solution to this is to up the intensity or duration.
Changing it up isn't a bad idea either. A break in routine can be a good thing, I say go for it anyway.

inside_lap

Your local health organization is correct. Our bodies are extremely adaptable and will learn to do activities with less effort (ie it gets easier and your heart rate doesn't go up as high assuming the same effort, time, distance, etc). Good luck in your journey!

3dogsrunning

Your local health organization is correct. Our bodies are extremely adaptable and will learn to do activities with less effort (ie it gets easier and your heart rate doesn't go up as high assuming the same effort, time, distance, etc). Good luck in your journey!

HR isn't directly related to calories buned. It is a mistake that people often make on this forum. There is a correlation that allows for estimates to be done under specific circumstances, however, it is not a direct connection.

Two people, one fit, one not, of the same weight, doing the same activity at the same intensity burn the same amount of calories, The fit one will have a lower heart rate and percieved exertion but they still burn the same calories.


Some background on calorie estimates and HR
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak?month=201208
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak?month=201201

chani8

If you're looking for change and something fun, check out these exercises:

http://www.iwantsixpackabs.com/my_video_tips/sledgehammer.html

famoushamish

HR isn't directly related to calories buned. It is a mistake that people often make on this forum. There is a correlation that allows for estimates to be done under specific circumstances, however, it is not a direct connection.

True. But there IS a relationship between heart rate and calories burned (with a lot of caveats/conditions). In fact, quoting from one of the links you provided:

During steady-state cardiovascular exercise, there is a relatively fixed relationship between heart rate and VO2. An increase in workload requires an increase in VO2 which leads to an increase in heart rate. (A decrease in workload has the opposite effect). We know some approximate relationships between HR levels and VO2 level—e.g. 70% of HRmax is equal to 57% of VO2 max, 85% of HRmax is equal to 70% VO2max, etc.

Put very simply—if we know a person’s HRmax, HRrest, and VO2max, the individual “scale” for that person can be established. If the VO2max is 40, and we know the heart rate is 85% of HRmax, and we know that 85% HRmax = 70% VO2max, then we can calculate that the exercise workload is 28 (70% x 40), and that, along with body weight, allows us to calculate calories.

So if you have an HR monitor, put in your info and with something like say Polar do their 'Ownindex' test, you can get pretty good estimates for steady state cardio - like when running.

famoushamish

and now that I have posted my comment, I realise the discussion of calories/HR etc is getting way off track and not actually related to the original question...
So to get back to the original question, I highly recommend having some way of mixing up your exercises periodically. I use a program my gym includes called ActiveTrax. It generates a new exercise routine each time based on the equipment my gym has. It is a good idea to book periodic sessions with a trainer to give you a new routine regularly. Get some different muscles involved, keep things interesting so you don't get bored.

3dogsrunning

HR isn't directly related to calories buned. It is a mistake that people often make on this forum. There is a correlation that allows for estimates to be done under specific circumstances, however, it is not a direct connection.

True. But there IS a relationship between heart rate and calories burned (with a lot of caveats/conditions). In fact, quoting from one of the links you provided:

Yes, I believe I said that as well. My point is that HR does not equal calories burned. There is a relationship that allows for estimating under specific conditions, but there is not a direct relationship.

During steady-state cardiovascular exercise, there is a relatively fixed relationship between heart rate and VO2. An increase in workload requires an increase in VO2 which leads to an increase in heart rate. (A decrease in workload has the opposite effect). We know some approximate relationships between HR levels and VO2 level—e.g. 70% of HRmax is equal to 57% of VO2 max, 85% of HRmax is equal to 70% VO2max, etc.

Put very simply—if we know a person’s HRmax, HRrest, and VO2max, the individual “scale” for that person can be established. If the VO2max is 40, and we know the heart rate is 85% of HRmax, and we know that 85% HRmax = 70% VO2max, then we can calculate that the exercise workload is 28 (70% x 40), and that, along with body weight, allows us to calculate calories.

So if you have an HR monitor, put in your info and with something like say Polar do their 'Ownindex' test, you can get pretty good estimates for steady state cardio - like when running.

Im not saying that is incorrect either. I am saying that lower heart rate while exercising does not necessarily mean that you are burning fewer calories, more specfically when we are talking about fitness levels. You will find that HRM tend to be inaccurate for more fitter individuals for this same reason. That is why some models allow for you to change your VO2 entry for more accurate readings.