Treadmill Wworkout- Am I doing it wrong?

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liagiba1977
liagiba1977 Posts: 8 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Issue # 1:
I have been trying new things on the treadmill because I am getting bored of exercising.
Someone told alternate between 5 min at incline 15.0 at 4mph, and then 5 min of 0 incline at 5mph- which for me is jogging, and then go back to incline 15.0 at 4 mph, and repeat, repeat, repeat for 45 min. This person said it's ok to hold on to the treadmill when doing the 15.0 incline, but I have been reading and I found out you should NEVER hold on to treadmill. So...which one is it?

Issue # 2
Since I've been doing this "workout", my heart rate stays between 170 and 192! I can tell when I am reaching 192 because my ears start buzzing and feeling lightheaded. According to my calculations (226-36 x.75) my 75% should be 143. I burn around 600 cal., but I don't see much difference in the scale.
Am I hindering my weight loss by exercising so hard? I've read that the "fat burning" heart rate is a myth, but I also read that if my heart rate is too high, I am not burning any fat and the results are poor. IS there a REAL ideal heart rate to lose weight?

Replies

  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    #1--Yes, interval training can be really helpful. I don't know about such a swing in incline though. I don't even incline that high, and 5min CAN be kind of a long interval.

    #2 -- Slow down. If you start to feel light headed, you're going to hard. A rule of thumb that some (I won't say most) go by is: If you could still hold a conversation during your workout. If not, you might be pushing too hard. The more seasoned cardio vet could get away with going harder, but this might be a good place to start.

    How do you now you burn around 600 cals (HRM, treadmill, guess)? Your diary is also closed. It would be interesting to see what your caloric intake is, IMHO.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    #1--there is no point to holding on to the handrails unless you absolutely need it for balance (which I know that many people do).
    From a workload standpoint, however, you are not actually doing that amount of work if you are holding on. Why not just put the grade at 10-11% and do the true work? or decrease the speed so that you can walk the 15% grade w/out holding on? There is nothing magic about 15% grade--it's just a workload, like the 4.0 mph speed. What you are trying to do with incline walking is to increase the workload to a level that is appropriate for your fitness level--the benefits are that it has less impact so if you cannot or do not want to run, you can still do a harder workout OR you can sometimes go longer walking at an incline because it doesn't beat your legs up as much as running. So do the actual workload that is appropriate for your ability. If you hold on, you can forget any kind of accuracy on the calorie readout. If you don't hold on, and enter your weight, then the numbers will be pretty accurate.

    There is nothing magic about alternating running and incline walking either. However, it can be useful if either a) you just want to have some variety in a workout and/or b) you want to build up your running endurance.

    #2 You are not necessarily hindering your weight loss, but you still might be working too hard. If you are feeling lightheaded, that is probably harder than you need to work. The 220-age figure is probably not that useful for you, so I wouldn't fixate on the 143, but the other range is probably a little high.

    Make some adjustments to the workload that are more tailored to your current fitness level and you will probably have some better workouts.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    I don't have much "science" to give you, but there are a lot of treadmill workouts online. Some are geared toward increasing your endurance, some toward increasing your speed.( I think the runnersworld website has some) Running is a great calorie burner. The workout I choose and the intensity vary so that I keep throwing curve balls at my body. Some days it's hill repeats. Some days speed intervals. I never hold onto the bar. I feel that if I'm doing a hill that's too hard for me to do on my own, I need to lower it till I can do it on my own.

    I don't think it's a good idea to get your heart rate so high that your ears buzz. That's kind of scary. I don't know about fat burning zones, but if my hrm says I burned 600 cals, I don't concern myself with if I did the "right" way. I just pat myself on the back and move on. You don't say how long you've been working out. It really takes time. If the scale isn't moving, make sure you're weighing, measuring and logging everything. Often that's the problem, not the exercise.
  • liagiba1977
    liagiba1977 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks for the replies. I have made my diary public, I am pretty sure my cal. intake is part of the problem :/
    I have been working out since January. I couldn't do more than 10 min of power walking then. I can do jogging now and zumba for 45 min. My ticker says I lost 26 pounds, but I started MFP in February and I had already lost 14 pounds. It was so easy at the beginning.
    Yes, I go by the calories that the treadmill shows I have burned, I do put my weight and age when I start.
    When my heart rate goes up and start feeling sick, I slow down, and my heart goes down to 140s-150s in less than 2 min, so I recover quickly.
    I think I am just hitting that time in which my motivation is starting to run out :( Thanks for the help, I will slow down.
  • 9jenn9
    9jenn9 Posts: 309 Member
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    If you can swing it, you might want to get a heart rate monitor. My treadmill says that I burn 1/3 to almost 1/2 more calories than my hrm says. I do usually eat back my exercise calories. If I went by what the treadmill said, I'd be eating more than I should.

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