The Post You Have All Been Waiting For.... Right?

WARNING: This post is long, but hopefully worth it!

No, I am not posting my weight or weight loss today. I don't weigh in till the 15th which is Saturday. But I have talked some about metabolic training. I am NOT an expert in it and I am still learning a lot about it, but it is basically interval training. I am patterning mine by the Max T3 which is 12 minutes, plus warm up and cool down. I am currently doing this on a recumbent bike since my foot was hurting. My workout looks like this...

5 minute warm-up (I warm up at a 4.5 resistance, but do what is comfortable for you)
20 seconds ALL OUT (80%-90% of my max HR! At first this is easy to reach but read on!)
20 seconds rest
repeat this for 12 minutes (so you are really only working out hard for 6 minutes!)
3 minute cool down.

That's it!

I didn't want to blog about it until I knew it was giving me some sort of results. I started this on May 21st, that is a couple of days short of 3 weeks ago. The first week I went 5 days (Tues-Sat). The 2nd week I did 6 days and this past week I did 5 days (which means I have to do 7 days this week to make up and keep my commitment!) The first day on the bike I did my first 20 second interval at 6.0 resistance and I thought I was going to die pedaling as hard as I could. The first couple of days I didn't have my HR monitor but my heart was beating out of my chest! I ended up my last 20 seconds at 4.something. The 3rd day I had my HR monitor. I checked it as I was working out and, sure enough, I was between 83% and 85% of my Max HR.

The next week I noticed that I had to start at a higher resistance to feel challenging that first interval. I also noticed than I had to work a lot harder to get my HR up high enough. I thought my legs were going to fall off! I felt like I was pedaling 100 MPH and my HR was only going to 79%! My heart was already getting stronger! Steadily I would bump my first interval up a little bit and do higher resistances longer (multiple intervals, always 20 seconds at a time.)

Fast forward to today. First of all, I DID NOT want to go to the gym today. But I had to, I need all 7 days this week.

              Time out: Let me put a plug into my secret Facebook group, Suzanne's Rocks. They are some of my Facebook friends that I have asked to help keep me accountable and they really are my rocks! I just posted that I needed someone to tell me I needed to go to the gym and several came through for me! (Thanks Terry, Jami, and Elaine!) Ok, time in.

Today I started at a 10.0 resistance and did it 3 or 4 intervals before working my way down. I personally go down 0.4 each time. That's just what I do now. There is no rule. I listen to my legs. Sometimes I tell them to quit whining so much but I still listen to them. :)  I did my last interval at 8.8 resistance! Sometimes I do my very last 20 seconds at a higher rate than I started (like at 10.5, but I didn't realize it was my last one.) The human body truly is amazing! My legs were able to work hard to keep my HR up the whole time.

Now, let me tell you about my resting HR. This is how I know I am getting more than just results during my workout. I have something called an overelectrical heart. My niece had the same thing and she had something snipped in there. My cardiologist said if they do that they like to do it when you are pretty young. Basically I have a pretty fast heart rate and always have. My resting HR can be over 100 but it is usually in the 90s. I have worn the fancy heart monitor for 2 full days, even playing a basketball game in it and my cardiologist said it goes up normal and back down at a good rate, though sometimes it races for no reason whatsoever. Anyway. it's got a big long word that I can neither spell nor pronounce.  I haven't seen my HR below 90 in...well, I can't remember! I have seen it in the 80s several times this past week when I randomly check it at the house. The first time I didn't believe my monitor so I checked it again and then I took it manually. 84 bpm!

Now true metabolic training will involve other things as well, but it is still done in intervals. The main things are to keep your heart rate between 80% and 90% of your max HR (220-age to calculate your max HR) during your intervals and DO NOT EAT ANY CARBS FOR 2 HOURS AFTER YOUR WORKOUT!!  Not even good carbs like fruit. Your body is still burning calories after your workout. You want it to take those calories from what you have stored. If you give your body carbs it will burn them first since that is the easiest. I usually eat a boiled egg white if I really want something.

My motto with this is that I can do pretty much anything for 12 minutes and I can surely do anything for 20 seconds! I am tired of sitting on my butt working out so I am going to try the elliptical tomorrow. I really don't think I'll do this on the treadmill. I would prefer to do it on the road as to a treadmill. I will be starting some treadmill work soon though, I have to start training for a 5K! (more on that later.)

Sorry if this completely bored you, if you even made it this far! But this is something that anyone can do, but is also challenging for everyone. If you are in horrible shape, you will reach the HR range fairly easily, while elite athletes are challenged because they have to work really really hard to get their heart rates that high.

I need a picture.... blogs are not complete without a picture.  Maybe I can get him to be part of my Suzanne's Rocks group!

I have to go read a book now that I have no desire to read...ahhh grad school.

If you have a chance this week, go give this workout a try. (you can do it at home running in place if you have to!) When you do, comment and let me know!