michael_hatten Member

I almost never use Fitbit calories. Fitbit calculates calorie burn from heart rate but it takes a while for you heart to catch up with your effort. I use the calories reported by my machine (rower, recumbent bike, treadmill) or the metabolic formulas published by the American College of Sports Medicine.

I've become a rower believer. There is some technique to learn but, done correctly, there is almost no impact on joints. Every move is controlled and you can actively and easily manage the intensity. I can get my heart rate up to the anaerobic threshold and keep it there for 30 minutes to 1 hour without any joint pain. The…

I like 60s Rock Drive. Since I mainly do cardio, I appreciate those rock tempos. And they remind me of my callow youth.

I have come to appreciate the rowing machine. We have a Concept2 RowErg and I use it regularly. I get a good workout but it's relatively easy on the joints. It gives a whole body exercise (legs, arms, back, core) and you can tune it to your level of fitness.

I use a calculator from ExRx. It seems pretty accurate. https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

I do incline intervals. I keep more or less the same pace but I vary the incline up and down. I break the time into 1/4 mile segments. On the higher inclines I focus on making it to the end; on the lower inclines I catch my breath and prepare for the next high incline interval. It breaks the distance into short challenges…

My wife is good with her Concept 2. The thing that makes it good is the fluidity of the motion. It should feel like there is some stored momentum in it that you tap into. We had a shock absorber type rower but seldom used it because it just didn't feel right. My wife swears by her Concept 2. She uses it 5 days a week and…

I have about the same set-up. My philosophy is to do cardio to save my heart and weights to save my mobility. I used the CDC guidelines and exrx.net as models. I do 5 40-minute cardio sessions a week and 3 short (10 - 15 minutes) weight sessions a week. I feel great and I don't feel like I've let the gym take over my life.

If I think I know more than the diary about how many calories I've burned, I just change the value. The default number can't possibly know your actual load so I use other calculators to figure out a more accurate number.

I use an elliptical a lot. The key is to know how hard and how long you are working. I originally wanted to do about 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week (CDC Recommendation). Now I do over 200 minutes of vigorous exercise per week. I vary the work by adjusting the resistance. I measure my effort by heart rate. I…

I suspect the elliptical would be easier on the knees than stair climbing. At some point in your life that might be important.

One big difference between lifting and cardio that I noticed is that there is a lot of "dead" time while lifting. Between waiting your turn, adjusting machines, and rest time between sets, your actual exertion time might be less than you think, With cardio, once you start the exercise, you're hitting it full time until you…

5 days a week -- 40 minutes cardio at 85 - 90% MaxVO2 3 days a week -- full body weight circuit - about 10 minutes 2 days a week -- recovery I am 68 and my principles are to do cardio to save my life and weights to save my mobility. So far I'm satisfied with how it's going.

The older I get, the more I believe in the effects of genetics. You can maximize your potentials but once you hit about 50, the genetics kick in and you look more and more like your aunts and uncles.

I have strength and cardio days but I really do cardio every day. On strength days I do a strength circuit in addition to the cardio.

Check this link out. I use it to figure out what may treadmill sessions work out to. I have an interval routine at 3.8 mph with inclines ranging from 4 to 9. I had to build a spreadsheet to come up with an overall number, http://42.195km.net/e/treadsim/

Truth is; I really don't care about beer nutritionals. I just look at it as calories that taste great. I don't drink beer out of habit so buying a lo cal light beer that is barely more than water is just not worth it. I'd rather drink one really good beer and work it into my caloric input of the day.

I had the same problem. I worked at a desk from home and spent a lot of time on the phone or at the keyboard so my life was pretty sedentary. I did an hour or so of exercise every day in my home gym but still... So I started just taking a little break every hour or so (if work allowed) and doing a set of some exercise. I…

I always trust a measure that knows my weight and the resistance level more than one that doesn't. When I'm using a machine that doesn't know my weight I assume it's using 150 pounds as a reference. I adjust the reading with this formula: Your_Weight/150*Machine_Reading. 239/150*278=443.

Ultimately that became my philosophy, too. 1. Diet for your arteries 2. Do cardio for the heart 3. Do stretches for mobility 4. Do resistance training for functional strength CDC provides pretty good guidance on how much to do. The weight kind of takes care of itself.

I like craft beers. Some of them are over 250 calories a bottle but I don't care. I'm only going to drink one and I want something special.

I get your point. I just work the other way. I do cardio for heart and lung health. Weight control is a side effect. I just noticed that if I knock off the cardio, my appetite spikes and I end up eating too much.

My other two meals are pretty balanced. The totals are about 1500 - 2000 calories with about the right levels of macronutrients. I give myself an evening snack that is usually peanut butter on a toasted sandwich round (high total fat but most of the fats are unsaturated "good" fats) or a bowl of grape nuts with soy milk.

I'm sticking to my story. Beer, at least the beer I buy, is a natural food that's been around for thousands of years and fills me up without THAT many calories. The biggest drawback is that almost all the calories are carbohydrates which doesn't help my wife with her lo carb diet. She makes up for it by eating bacon and…

I agree that eat less, exercise more works. I've lost 35 pounds this year following that not very complex formula. What I'm pushing back on is obsessing on the numbers. They aren't that accurate and it can make you nuts.

Why do you think you can cut your cardio because you've reached your target? The cardio got you there. From my experience, if I cut the cardio the weight comes back. I started to use MFP to track my fats. My last cholesterol test was a little high so I want to see if I can bring it down by keeping fats lower. My doc said…

If he ate that many chicken breasts it wouldn't be very good, either. OTOH, some beers were developed by ancient monks to be consumed during fasts for "a meal in a bottle."

I just ignore the calories I might have burned strength training. For all the effort you put in, it doesn't really burn that many ergs. It builds your muscles, flexes your joints, and raises your hear rate but the periods of actual effort don't really add up to much. Burn your calories on the cardio machines.

BTW -- I also have a rack of dumb bells, a few iron weights, a weight bench, an elliptical trainer and a treadmill. I acquired them over the years and use them all to keep the workouts interesting.

I've used a home gym almost exclusively and I think it's great. I have a cable-style weight machine from Pacific Fitness. The stack isn't as big as a pro gym set up but it fits my needs pretty well. I know I won't be lifting the big weights no matter where I work out. I find that saving the time I would have spent…