Strength workouts that keep heartrate up?

Scubdup
Scubdup Posts: 104 Member
edited November 27 in Fitness and Exercise
Can anyone suggest good workout formats that will keep my heart rate above 70%max for 30 mins?

My health insurer rewards members for exercising for certain lengths of time at certain heartrate levels.

It's meant I've been doing more cardio sessions (no bad thing) but I'd like to get back to doing some strength training too.

Yesterday I managed to do some EMOM mini workouts and juggled my heartrate well enough to get the max reward and that's inspired me to try and cone up with some more of that sort of workout.
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Replies

  • VUA21
    VUA21 Posts: 2,072 Member
    Incorporate cardio between sets to keep your heart rate up. My former (but on great terms - I got to where I wanted to be) trainer had me doing burpees and windspints between sets. I know, I know, no one likes burpees and wind sprints, but they will keep your heart rate up through your sets.
  • Scubdup
    Scubdup Posts: 104 Member
    edited June 2018
    Urgh. Thanks for the replies (I think! - Those workouts sound tough!)

    I found a few articles that completely back up what you've both said:-
    One element of my adhoc attempt yesterday that was interesting was doing some Dumbbell Overhead Walking Lunges for the first time. I didn't expect these to be nearly as challenging as they were.

    I think a combination of circuit-training and "met-con" style workout formats, combined with a few compound movement exercises should get me what I'm after.
  • Avidkeo
    Avidkeo Posts: 3,209 Member
    Fitness blender have a few good strength and HIIT combination videos that work great to keep your heart rate up. Have a look on their website for HIIT and Strength combined videos
  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
    I prefer circuit strength training as well so I can get through my workout faster. My husband is the opposite and takes an hour to do his routine and I probably take about 30-40mins for the equivalent routine.
  • Stockholm_Andy
    Stockholm_Andy Posts: 803 Member
    h1udd wrote: »
    Kettlebells....... or do your weights in a circuit ..... or Jill yourself and do kettlebell training in a circuit

    But check out what you do with a kettle bell ... clean and press for 20 reps each side followed by renegade rows for 20 reps, followed by snatches 20 reps each side followed by 20 goblet squats, amrap pull-ups, 50 swings and repeat until your 30 mins is up

    ^That's what I would have said. Thanks H1udd.

    Good conditioning cross over.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Cherimoose wrote: »
    Scubdup wrote: »
    My health insurer rewards members for exercising for certain lengths of time at certain heartrate levels.

    How would they know what your heart rate is??

    I would separate weights & cardio to get the most out of each of them. It's hard to lift heavy and with proper form while rushing around trying to keep your HR up.

    I assume he's linking his Fitbit(or equivalent) to an app they provide.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    edited June 2018
    I do the weight circuit at my gym, which is 10 machines and stepping in between.

    You use machine # 1 for 1 minute, then rest for 30 seconds. They have a step bench in the middle and I do that for 1 minute. (I don't just step, I really get some height on it to keep my heartrate up), then rest for 30 seconds. Then machine #2 for 1 minute. Rest 30 seconds. Step 1 minute, then rest for 30 seconds and so on...

    It takes about 30 minutes. There is a stoplight at my gym that tells you Green for go and Red for Stop. By the end of it, I'm sweating.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    Lift lighter weights faster?

    You could do things like sets of 15 light squats, super-setted with 15 light bench. Then sets of 15 light straight legged deadlift, alternating with sets of 15 barbell rows. But the weight would have to be light. You could add this to the end of a regular lifting routine. Or you could just do cardio.

    So yeah, you aren't going to get a good strength workout trying to keep your heart rate up. You need rest when lifting.
  • MeteoraTitanium
    MeteoraTitanium Posts: 102 Member
    h1udd wrote: »
    Kettlebells....... or do your weights in a circuit ..... or Jill yourself and do kettlebell training in a circuit

    But check out what you do with a kettle bell ... clean and press for 20 reps each side followed by renegade rows for 20 reps, followed by snatches 20 reps each side followed by 20 goblet squats, amrap pull-ups, 50 swings and repeat until your 30 mins is up

    I agree, kettlebells!
  • Jerrypeoples
    Jerrypeoples Posts: 1,541 Member
    i am doing mass2. wont lie. its a killer workout. 4 days a week (m, tu, th, fr) and its on average 40 minutes each time
  • qweck3
    qweck3 Posts: 346 Member
    Do some burpees in between sets. Unless you are in amazing shape the burpees will keep that heart rate up.
  • Egger29
    Egger29 Posts: 14,741 Member
    Superset Opposite muscle groups with no rest. (Chest/Back, Quads/Hamstrings, Biceps/Triceps, Isolated Shoulder Front, Side, Back).

    The opposing muscles rest and stretch while you to the opposite movement and you'll get a killer workout. Plus, you can do twice as much work in the same time as sitting between sets and phone scrolling.

    In my workout yesterday, I went between Bench Press and Lat Pull while two other people shared the same equipment so there was no time for rest. By the time I was done 3 sets each I was completely winded like I'd been running.

    Circuit style workouts work well too and most gyms have machines set up in a series specifically for that. Hard to do if it's busy though as the ideal is NOT to rest at all between machines and go around from one to the next without stopping.

    Similarly, if you're stuck with a single apparatus, you can do things in between sets on the floor: Crunches, Planks, Burpees...all good. Lots of ideas for you!
  • christschild2
    christschild2 Posts: 97 Member
    You can do a Les Mills Bodypump class. They use a barbell with weights to music. It is fun and a change of pace. The barbell (Smartbell) is designed to for quick removal and placing of weight plates. You can determine how much weight you want to lift. It is usually an hour long class and is hosted in quite a few fitness centers/gyms here in the USA and around the world. I know that the Powerhouse Gyms host them here.
  • Karen_can_do_this
    Karen_can_do_this Posts: 1,150 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    If you are doing a workout to improve your strength then deliberately seeking to keep your heart rate high is a great way to ruin the effectiveness of your workout.

    Decide if the rewards offered are worth compromising your workout to achieve them.
    CV workouts and HR have a definite link, strength and HR - no!

    Your training should have definite goals, if that's to improve your strength then do strength training properly which involves suitable rest/recovery between sets and will result in a low average HR.
    If your goal is to earn maximum rewards then do some variety of circuit training and accept your strength progress will be compromised.

    Personally if I really wanted these rewards I would earn them through dedicated cardio and I would entirely separately strength train - but train properly.

    My health insurance offers a similar deal. My Apple Watch and health app are linked to an app they provide. The benefits in my opinion are pretty awesome. I get around it by lifting weights on seperate days to cardio.
    But that’s me.
  • JBApplebee
    JBApplebee Posts: 481 Member
    Find your nearest 9Round (if there's one nearby). It's mostly body weight exercises, but we do use dumbells, kettle bells & weighted bars also. Today wasn't a great day for me & my average heart rate was 69% for 36 minutes. If I didn't leave my HRM on so long trying to milk more calories out of my workouts, my average HR would be higher.
  • tammie614
    tammie614 Posts: 48 Member
    walking lunges get my heartrate up. squat to shoulder press also gets my heartrate up. in between sets do something like jump rope, burpees (argh), mountain climbers, box jumps, or even squat jumps :-)
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
    I do Super Sets where you go from one exercise to the next with no rest, then rest only 2 minutes before starting over. I also love doing circuit training with weights. I do 3 reps of each exercise (usually 8-10 different exercises) without stopping for 5 rounds, then take a 2 minute break. Then I do 3 rounds and another 2 minutes followed by the last 2 rounds.

    e.g.

    ***Do 5 sets of this***
    Bench Press x 3
    Dumbbell Curls x 3
    Tricep Pulldowns x 3
    Dumbbell Press x 3
    EZ Bar Curls x 3
    Tricep Extensions x3
    Leg Press x 3
    Calf Press x 3
    Leg Extension x 3

    ***After 5 sets, rest for 2 minutes***

    ***Do 3 sets of the above***

    ***After 3 sets, rest for 2 minutes***

    ***Do 2 sets of the above***

    This way, I get 30 total reps but instead of doing 3x10, I am doing 10x3 and can actually do heavier weights each time. I move from one exercise to the next, to the next, etc. so I get a good sweat on. Also, once I get in better shape, I add cardio like jumprope at the end of each set, so would do jumprope for 30 seconds or 60 seconds before starting over at the beginning.

    This is just a rough example, but you get the idea :)
  • Fitwithsci
    Fitwithsci Posts: 69 Member
    You can make about any workout increase HR through multiple means. Multi-joint/total body lifts are going to give you a good bang for you buck. More muscles activated in a single movement mean greater amounts of blood flow to the activated muscles (which requires a higher HR). Doing fast movements like Kettlebell swings, or Olympic lifting will also get you up there. Its going to be more difficult to go heavy and still maintain a higher HR simply because heavier lifts often require (its recommended) longer recovery time between sets, at least if the goal is strength gains. You could also try moving quickly from lift to lift with no rest in between like a circuit. An EMOM, as you mention, is a good option, switching back and forth from push to pull exercises or a strength exercise and a cardio exercise with no rest in between will definitely get your heart rate up there. I would recommend a push pull style circuit so that while one muscle group is working the other muscle group is resting, this way you are not constantly taxing the same muscle groups. A good example of this would be a pull up/thruster EMOM. A proper strength or Olympic lifting routine will give you short spikes in HR followed by longer 3-5min. rest periods which is not what you want (from the sound of things) the goal of these routines is complete, or near complete recovery between sets so HR will be quite low for the majority of the workout. I hope this helps, feel free to PM me if you have more questions or want more details.

    I do agree that Health Insurers a great a ruining a good workout, I have increased rates due to my high BMI even though my %bodyfat is like 11-12%. Unfortunately the health benefits of cardio (at least in terms of insurance dollars) are far better documented than that of strength training, and you will likely have a difficult time convincing your insurer otherwise (I used to work in health insurance). I know some insurers provide nominal discounts for documented physical activity, but its typically not enough to inspire change in the majority of their clientele. If it were up to me, personal training and/or gym memberships would be covered by insurance. Although it would complicate the fitness industry dramatically (I will leave it up to someone smarter than me to figure out the details ;) ). If anyone on here is in politics they should push for this, it would save all of us a lot of money!

  • giantrobot_powerlifting
    giantrobot_powerlifting Posts: 2,598 Member
    If you take a movement, like barbell back squats, and train for a cardio respiratory adaptation, you have not trained for strength, but for cardio. All you’ve done is conditioning at this point and not get stronger.
  • nomoredoughnuts
    nomoredoughnuts Posts: 130 Member
    Crossfit workouts do exactly that.

    You can find new ones everyday or search older ones here:

    https://www.crossfit.com/workout/
  • solarpower03
    solarpower03 Posts: 12,161 Member
    Do some complexes with barbells- Cosgrove is good
  • FluffBGone1975
    FluffBGone1975 Posts: 64 Member
    I recommend a Kettlebell HIIT workout with lots of swing intervals. That really gets my heart rate up!
  • Scubdup
    Scubdup Posts: 104 Member
    Thanks a lot for the replies. A lot of constructive criticism in there.

    I *do* accept that these workouts won't be the very best strength training, and so, to a degree, my question is, to an extent - "What is the best strength training I can do whilst maintaining a certain %max heartrate?"

    I'd be very grateful for any science-based info about the risk of ruining strength training with a high heart rate.

    By way of update, for anyone else looking for ideas on the same theme, yesterday I largely ended up doing a series of couplets where I alternated between a compound strength training exercise, and an exercise that was more suited to upping the heart rate (eg, bent dumbell rows and ab bicycles).

    To those insisting on a complete split between cardio and strength training, can you post what workouts you do to train your glycolytic system?
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