RFI: Cardio Equipment

[NickA]

Once I get a little more comfortable with the bike, and get the mudflap on there, a heart rate monitor will likely be my next purchase.

I'm on the fence about wether to get something dedicated vs an Apple watch that I can't decide if I want or not.

I can't speak to the Apple watch specifically, but wrist based HRMs seem to really suck for exercise that involves gripping (lifting, rowing, etc). I've tried to use a Garmin Vivofit while rowing, and it rarely reads higher than 70 bpm. Meanwhile my Polar chest strap monitor shows 130 or whatever.
Some googling reveals that this is common with wrist HRMs, something to do with the muscles being flexed all the time.
ETA: the point I didn't actually make - I'd bet the Rogue bike would have the same issue, since you're constantly pushing/pulling on the handles.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[rob_s]

Thanks for the info guys. Good to know I can continue to waffle on the Apple Watch.

it appears this is probably the way to go
https://www.roguefitness.com/polar-t...rt-rate-sensor

[blues]

Thanks for the info guys. Good to know I can continue to waffle on the Apple Watch.

it appears this is probably the way to go
https://www.roguefitness.com/polar-t...rt-rate-sensor

A few bucks cheaper on amazon...


https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Coded-H.../dp/B000ARDPPU

[rob_s]

According to this article which was linked in my federal employee / retiree newsletter, strength training is superior to cardio for heart health:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323732.php

I've been thinking about this idea a lot lately.

What finally pushed me over the edge to get the bike was a mountain biking day with my 10 year old where I was getting winded going up and down a few small hills. I don't want to miss out on doing things with my kids, and so I want to be fit enough to keep up with them as best I can.

The Echo bike seems, possibly, not the best tool for this job, but I have it now so I'm going to carry on and try to make it work for what I want, which is more cardio than strength, and in particular more sustained cardio and stamina.

To that end, I got back on it today (we went riding actual bikes for a couple of hours Sunday, mostly flat so I did fine). Today I tried the intervals, and I think I'm going to like that. I did the 20/10 interval for 4 minutes, with the 20 seconds at ~60rpm and tried to get up to 60 in under 5 seconds of starting out. I did this three times, with a 5 minute rest in between, so I was at it overall for 22 minutes. I was pretty beat afterwards. I'm going to shoot for a repeat of this on Thursday. My ultimate goal initially will be to get up to a total of 30 minutes of this (so adding one more cycle, basically) and then start working on reducing the rest time between sets.

No idea if any of that is smart, or makes sense, or will meet my criteria or help me achieve my goal, but that's what I'm doing.

I also got the wind guard on-order, and found out the wall mount on the tv in the bedroom has enough travel to pretty much be able to see it from the bike, so that'll help too. Gotta turn on the subtitles though.

[blues]

I've been thinking about this idea a lot lately....(snip)

Wait a week and a new study will come out saying that no exercise at all is superior to strength or cardio training for heart health and longevity...but only if additionally supplemented with cigarettes and lots of coffee.

Seriously though, any strenuous activity is going to be helpful...but if you are targeting riding ability specifically, you probably would have been better off, imho, with the Concept 2 bikeerg (stationary bike). That said, it is pricey. (I've been waffling about whether it would be a good fit for my training needs but realize it's just because the rower makes me cry sometimes. I'll never exceed its ability to provide as much torture as one can stand.)

I try to get two lifting workouts a week and two cardio workouts. I prefer intervals to steady state cardio training but I will occasionally mix it up.

The only way to get better at biking, in my experience though, is by biking and mimicking the stress of hills etc that you will encounter.
(The C2 does allow adjustment of the fan level on the fly though it isn't an elegant method.)

Happy training. Whatever you do puts you ahead of the curve in my view.

[Larry Sellers]

Not to derail but just wanted to interject what has worked for me. I work with a bunch of guys who strictly lift weights: deads, squats, bench, curls you name it. Unfortunately for them we don't work in a field where we are handed a set of dumbbells in front of a burning home and told "CURL THESE #50 DUMBBELLS AND THEN GET IN THERE!" I have found that interval or metcon workouts have done wonders for me.

Simple example was yesterday. I set a timer for 8 minutes and for those 8 minutes I rotated through 4 exercises with a set amount of reps per evolution. Started with 4 pullups, 6 pushups, 4 kettlebell swings @ #40 and then 6 ballistic curls with a 10# macebell. It doesn't seem like an insane workout but after the third time through them all you look at the timer and still have 6 minutes to go and it is a smoker. The only time between rounds is the few seconds it takes me to drag my body to the next piece of equipment. I vary the exercises daily and it always exhausts me and does wonders for my cardio ability.

[mmc45414]

What finally pushed me over the edge to get the bike was a mountain biking day with my 10 year old where I was getting winded going up and down a few small hills.

Unfortunately for them we don't work in a field where we are handed a set of dumbbells in front of a burning home and told "CURL THESE #50 DUMBBELLS AND THEN GET IN THERE!"

Part of what appealed to me about the bike is I like to ride bicycles, so it would be applicable. I still prefer walking on the treadmill. I am just walking but I get up to 3.5mph and ramp up the incline to 10 degrees, and speed up till I hit 4mph for at least the last .25-.5mi, so at 5'-9" this is not loafing, it is about as fast as I can walk. But the treadmills seem to start at about $1800 for something that is not a total PoS, so for now the home equipment is gonna be the spin bike. No matter what, I had a serious cardiac deal that coulda killed me about seven years ago, am pretty much recovered, but every time I crank out a workout I can figure that today is not gonna be the day.

The Echo bike seems, possibly, not the best tool for this job, but I have it now so I'm going to carry on and try to make it work for what I want, which is more cardio than strength, and in particular more sustained cardio and stamina. … To that end, I got back on it today.

This time of year my job does not include any travel, so I have been hitting the treadmill almost every (week) day last week. Yesterday was the first day it felt like it was not my first time. I think it is just going to suck, no matter what kind of torture machine you are on.

the wall mount on the tv in the bedroom has enough travel to pretty much be able to see it from the bike, so that'll help too. Gotta turn on the subtitles though.

I bought a set of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Edifier-R1280...A23AS8PFN4IRUQ
Maybe run a wire around behind you and put them behind you?

[Larry Sellers]

The secret is...it all sucks...all the time and the only thing that gets me into my dryfire dojo/gym is the fact that I LOATHE how I feel when I don't workout. David Goggins talks about it...he hates working out (I'm paraphrasing) but the feeling of not working out feels worse.

I need to be in shape because quite frankly more than a handful of dudes I work with don't do anything to keep themselves in shape. It's a self-preservation thing for me literally and figuratively.

[rob_s]

if you are targeting riding ability specifically, you probably would have been better off, imho, with the Concept 2 bikeerg (stationary bike).

The only way to get better at biking, in my experience though, is by biking and mimicking the stress of hills etc that you will encounter.
(The C2 does allow adjustment of the fan level on the fly though it isn't an elegant method.)

Not so much trying to get better at biking, specifically, but moreso just trying to improve overall cardio and stamina for anything related to enjoying the kids while they're still young enough to want to spend time with us. That's biking, canoing, hiking around Norwegian mountains next July... etc.

[mmc45414]

The secret is...it all sucks...all the time and the only thing that gets me into my dryfire dojo/gym is the fact that I LOATHE how I feel when I don't workout.

My problem has always been is that I have not been diligent enough to ever get past the point of things being a bitch every time. One recent change is, since my job involves travel, is if it is at all practical I have been trying to stay in a hotel for consecutive nights. It might involve more driving during the day, but facilitates exercise in the hotel. I used to think it was too much hassle, but then I had some moment of clarity and realized when I was home I had all kinds of drags on my time, but now I try and trade a bar for the treadmill.

Also, all of the streaming entertainment REALLY helps. I have a set of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
that work with my phone while I am on the treadmill, then I go back to the room and pair them to my laptop and finish watching the movie.
@rob_s They might work with your TV also?