Mike95060
Work In Progress
^ 1000% supportive of fitness in the name of vanity. It works as a motivator 
+1 on using the scale sparingly.
+1 on using the scale sparingly.
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Time to get Fit thread
- Thread starter ThumperX
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two wheel tramp
Budman's Favorite
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2010
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- your mom’s house
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- DR650, X2!, TTR250, 790 ADV S, 950 SM-R, 89 Transalp, TTR2Fiddy
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- Triple R
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- AMA #2771957
^ 1000% supportive of fitness in the name of vanity. It works as a motivator
+1 on using the scale sparingly.
Oh, there is so much vanity involved.
I won't lie, having an excuse to buy some new clothes hasn't made me sad, either. It's also nice to see a picture of myself and like how I look. Berto, I am taking regular photos to track progress. But maybe I should do it more often.
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As often as you want R. They're only for you, anyway.
Sharxfan
Active member
I do obsess over the scale a bit trying to track how I am doing day to day but I use it as a means to an end. I have a ton of weight to lose and am finally getting serious about it.
Took a long 2 months off the gym due to a lot of external factors. Finally got back into it last night and saw first hand the expected loss of strength and such but not too bummed out as i knew it would happen. hit the treadmill for a 30 minute walk to get the body used to being on the treadmill again and will probably start jogging intervals next week once I have acclimated again. Starting slow on the weights as I don't want to pull anything this early in the game.
It is cooling of down here in the land of heat and humidity so I expect I will be more active outside especially as my workshop is calling me and needs some time and attention paid to it so that I can get it setup the way I want.
Took a long 2 months off the gym due to a lot of external factors. Finally got back into it last night and saw first hand the expected loss of strength and such but not too bummed out as i knew it would happen. hit the treadmill for a 30 minute walk to get the body used to being on the treadmill again and will probably start jogging intervals next week once I have acclimated again. Starting slow on the weights as I don't want to pull anything this early in the game.
It is cooling of down here in the land of heat and humidity so I expect I will be more active outside especially as my workshop is calling me and needs some time and attention paid to it so that I can get it setup the way I want.
Climber
Well-known member
There are a number of measurements that I track.
Weight is one of them, but weight isn't all or even half of the equation. If you had been inactive for awhile, then get fit again, your weight will initially drop as you put demands on your body, but then it will go up as you add muscle mass to your body which will be replacing fat.
I like to track resting heart rate, that gives me an indication of fitness level, also the average heart rate during an activity like riding your bike on a known path, comparing it to average speed and seeing if your heart rate is lower or higher during a faster run. There is also max heart rate and max speed. One caveat on heart rate is that when the temp gets over 105 that you're riding in, your heart rate is going to be higher as your body struggles to keep your temp down.
Then there are the intangibles that you can't really measure aside from knowing what you're putting in your body. This is as important as exercise, especially as you get older. Ensuring that you're not putting crap in your body and getting the balanced diet that best gives your body the materials it needs to function and thrive while not putting other junk in is very important. I do a blender drink with fruits (banana, pineapple, papaya, mango), juices (guava and cranberry mix), elderberry powder (my sister makes it) and flaxseed meal (great source of Omega3). This gives me plenty of fiber, Omega3 and other really healthy things.
Finally, there is sufficient sleep, the #1 lesson that I've learned about sleep is to keep the sleep times consistent. Sleep is when your body is repairing itself and your mind is sorting things out, without it, you're going through a slide downwards.
Weight is one of them, but weight isn't all or even half of the equation. If you had been inactive for awhile, then get fit again, your weight will initially drop as you put demands on your body, but then it will go up as you add muscle mass to your body which will be replacing fat.
I like to track resting heart rate, that gives me an indication of fitness level, also the average heart rate during an activity like riding your bike on a known path, comparing it to average speed and seeing if your heart rate is lower or higher during a faster run. There is also max heart rate and max speed. One caveat on heart rate is that when the temp gets over 105 that you're riding in, your heart rate is going to be higher as your body struggles to keep your temp down.
Then there are the intangibles that you can't really measure aside from knowing what you're putting in your body. This is as important as exercise, especially as you get older. Ensuring that you're not putting crap in your body and getting the balanced diet that best gives your body the materials it needs to function and thrive while not putting other junk in is very important. I do a blender drink with fruits (banana, pineapple, papaya, mango), juices (guava and cranberry mix), elderberry powder (my sister makes it) and flaxseed meal (great source of Omega3). This gives me plenty of fiber, Omega3 and other really healthy things.
Finally, there is sufficient sleep, the #1 lesson that I've learned about sleep is to keep the sleep times consistent. Sleep is when your body is repairing itself and your mind is sorting things out, without it, you're going through a slide downwards.
stangmx13
not Stan
Im trialing a Whoop right now to track HR 24/7 and get more metrics for Recovery and Strain. Whoop is essentially a fancy Fitbit that requires a subscription because their data analytics are supposedly that good. The app is telling me they need 1 more day of data before I unlock things. But so far I am not impressed.
Mike95060
Work In Progress
"Recovery" "Productive" and "Maintaining" are things im still a bit puzzled about in the garmin world. I feel like it's hard for me to know when I should be recovering according to Garmin. It seems like i spend a lot of time in "maintenance" even when my workouts are kicking my ass and im on it 4+ per week. If my only activity was running I think I would just do the workouts my watch tells me to and take rest days when instructed. But since I mix in biking and swimming I can only sort of follow Garmins advise. Life gets in the way a bit too with scheduling training sooooo? I wear my Garmin 24/7 so It should have a good idea about what i need when right?
Climber
Well-known member
Just FYI, in the track world, we do recovery weeks as part of a regular 4-6 week schedule. It doesn't mean you don't do anything, but rather, do lower intensity (and not high volume) activities. Sprinters would do their standard warm-up, then some easy drills followed by a recovery run of about 15 minutes. This would last for the week and helps to avoid plateauing, there is a little drop but a higher level at the end of the next hard period. The idea is that you're giving your body a chance to catch up on the damage/repair cycles that happen daily under normal moderate exercise.
stangmx13
not Stan
Ive been ignoring Garmin's Recovery Time recommendation. It's too conservative to build fitness IMO. And if you are using multiple devices, like a watch to record runs and an Edge to record rides, it won't share the recommendation across devices. That data is only stored on the device, that's why you can't find it online in GarminConnect.
Garmin Training Status of Recovering, Productive, and Maintaining is determined by your Training Load. Your training load is some rolling avg of the Load of your recent activities. If the load is trending upwards, you'll get 'Productive'. If the load is trending the same, you'll get 'Maintaining'. If the load is trending down, you'll get 'Recovering'. You can see the trend on the 'Training Load' page.
Go to Training Status
Tap 'Load' and select the 'Training Load' tab. If your white line is in the upper half of the green bar and/or the green bar is trending upwards, you will get 'Productive'. If it's in the bottom half and/or the green bar is level, that's only 'Maintaining'. And downwards is 'Recovering' or something worse.
And if you want to see the load for all of your exercises easily, it's on the 'Exercise Load' tab.
A lot of my training recently is focusing on maximizing load. Load is dependent on effort and how much time you spend at high HRs, which is obviously relative to your own fitness. You can notice above that my Nov 27 ride was similar load as Nov 26 but under half the distance. Nov 27 was solo threshold intervals, Nov 26 was a ride with friends that was mostly Z1 for me. After weeks of paying attention to this, Load seems to be a pretty good metric for how hard I actually tried and how tired I'll feel the next day.
Going back to the white line on the 'Training Load' page. I "lose" about 150 load on a rest day. So any day where I don't get >150 load will cause that white line to trend downwards. In order to be 'Productive', I'll need >150 load every day or >1050 load per week. I think calculations for that '918' are pretty close to sum for the week, so I'm a little short of the 1050... hence why I'm stuck in 'Maintaining'. I could ride all week if the rides are ~150 load. But throw in a few 200-300 loads and I will feel the fatigue. And that's what it takes to build fitness. Well, that and finding to time to do the load.
IMO, all of this suggests that consistent activity at a certain level is the key to increasing fitness. Do hard days with maximize load, do tempo days to maintain load, and do base days as a form of active recovery. TrainingPeaks and Strava both show other metrics for fitness, but they both respond to activity and rest similarly. Consistency is key.
I've actually been frustrated with this lately. I've been riding 5-6 days a week. But the rides have not been enough load to warrant even a single day off
Garmin Training Status of Recovering, Productive, and Maintaining is determined by your Training Load. Your training load is some rolling avg of the Load of your recent activities. If the load is trending upwards, you'll get 'Productive'. If the load is trending the same, you'll get 'Maintaining'. If the load is trending down, you'll get 'Recovering'. You can see the trend on the 'Training Load' page.
Go to Training Status
Tap 'Load' and select the 'Training Load' tab. If your white line is in the upper half of the green bar and/or the green bar is trending upwards, you will get 'Productive'. If it's in the bottom half and/or the green bar is level, that's only 'Maintaining'. And downwards is 'Recovering' or something worse.
And if you want to see the load for all of your exercises easily, it's on the 'Exercise Load' tab.
A lot of my training recently is focusing on maximizing load. Load is dependent on effort and how much time you spend at high HRs, which is obviously relative to your own fitness. You can notice above that my Nov 27 ride was similar load as Nov 26 but under half the distance. Nov 27 was solo threshold intervals, Nov 26 was a ride with friends that was mostly Z1 for me. After weeks of paying attention to this, Load seems to be a pretty good metric for how hard I actually tried and how tired I'll feel the next day.
Going back to the white line on the 'Training Load' page. I "lose" about 150 load on a rest day. So any day where I don't get >150 load will cause that white line to trend downwards. In order to be 'Productive', I'll need >150 load every day or >1050 load per week. I think calculations for that '918' are pretty close to sum for the week, so I'm a little short of the 1050... hence why I'm stuck in 'Maintaining'. I could ride all week if the rides are ~150 load. But throw in a few 200-300 loads and I will feel the fatigue. And that's what it takes to build fitness. Well, that and finding to time to do the load.
IMO, all of this suggests that consistent activity at a certain level is the key to increasing fitness. Do hard days with maximize load, do tempo days to maintain load, and do base days as a form of active recovery. TrainingPeaks and Strava both show other metrics for fitness, but they both respond to activity and rest similarly. Consistency is key.
I've actually been frustrated with this lately. I've been riding 5-6 days a week. But the rides have not been enough load to warrant even a single day off
Mike95060
Work In Progress
^ thanks Robert, I was just about to make a new fitness thread and post up those same screenshots for my data.
I feel your frustration on pushing it and not getting out of "maintenance" or getting a rest day. I'm experiencing the same thing. I use my Garmin for all my activities. That and subscription Strava are where all my data lives.
Impressive Load bro (eeeew)
I was "productive" in October. November is "maintenance"
Brett good point about the "cycles" of training intensity. I feel like I sorta do that by accident. Some weeks I just don't have it in me. That's usually when I tell myself i need a little rest/recovery. I'm sure it would be better to have a bit more structure to that cycle.
I feel your frustration on pushing it and not getting out of "maintenance" or getting a rest day. I'm experiencing the same thing. I use my Garmin for all my activities. That and subscription Strava are where all my data lives.
Impressive Load bro (eeeew
)I was "productive" in October. November is "maintenance"
Brett good point about the "cycles" of training intensity. I feel like I sorta do that by accident. Some weeks I just don't have it in me. That's usually when I tell myself i need a little rest/recovery. I'm sure it would be better to have a bit more structure to that cycle.
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stangmx13
not Stan
Mike, October was super productive for you. Thats exactly what I wish I could see a lot more often. Nov may be a good example of doing the same workouts but them being less productive because you are more fit. Or maybe that's just what I tell myself to feel better about the numbers
You have a lot more Tempo days than I do. That proportion of tempo may be very tiring. Id guess that you'd want to swap a few tempo for higher intensity and a few for base. High intensity for the gains and base for more active recovery.
You have a lot more Tempo days than I do. That proportion of tempo may be very tiring. Id guess that you'd want to swap a few tempo for higher intensity and a few for base. High intensity for the gains and base for more active recovery.
Mike95060
Work In Progress
Thanks Robert. I was so happy in Oct
I know I skew towards high aerobic in most of my training. I'm trying to balance it out. It's frustrating because some of those orange workouts were attempts to be in the purple. I find it's a little tricky to stay in the low aerobic zone too sometimes. I also think its hard for me to jump into high intensity work without a Loooong warm up. Like, 20 minutes in zone 1-2 minimum before it feels ok to push. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe thats a function of being 45 years old lol.
It's crazy to me how nuanced endurance/cardio training is. Weightlifting is so much more straightforward.
I know I skew towards high aerobic in most of my training. I'm trying to balance it out. It's frustrating because some of those orange workouts were attempts to be in the purple. I find it's a little tricky to stay in the low aerobic zone too sometimes. I also think its hard for me to jump into high intensity work without a Loooong warm up. Like, 20 minutes in zone 1-2 minimum before it feels ok to push. I'm not sure what that means. Maybe thats a function of being 45 years old lol.
It's crazy to me how nuanced endurance/cardio training is. Weightlifting is so much more straightforward.
two wheel tramp
Budman's Favorite
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2010
- Location
- your mom’s house
- Moto(s)
- DR650, X2!, TTR250, 790 ADV S, 950 SM-R, 89 Transalp, TTR2Fiddy
- Name
- Triple R
- BARF perks
- AMA #2771957
Climber, you dished out two gems I have been pondering for a few days.
The first was about recovery weeks. I have kept pushing and pushing. Longer and longer distances.Trying to move faster. After reading your posts I realized I don't have to go full bore every day. Yesterday I wasn't feeling it and had not slept well so I did a mellow 50 minutes.
The other gem was that I need to sleep. I've reset a lot of sleep habits since I returned from my travels. Jetlag is a great opportunity to reset your sleep. I noticed I have slowly been returning to my evil ways and your post reminded me that sleep is super important.
Thank you.
And, Robert, Mike, you two make me want to get some sort of fancy doohickey to help measure my heartrate while exercising. I am super fortunate that even at my fattest my blood pressure was good.
The first was about recovery weeks. I have kept pushing and pushing. Longer and longer distances.Trying to move faster. After reading your posts I realized I don't have to go full bore every day. Yesterday I wasn't feeling it and had not slept well so I did a mellow 50 minutes.
The other gem was that I need to sleep. I've reset a lot of sleep habits since I returned from my travels. Jetlag is a great opportunity to reset your sleep.
I noticed I have slowly been returning to my evil ways and your post reminded me that sleep is super important. Thank you.
And, Robert, Mike, you two make me want to get some sort of fancy doohickey to help measure my heartrate while exercising. I am super fortunate that even at my fattest my blood pressure was good.
Climber
Well-known member
TWT, glad that I could help out!
With track training, I have knowledge that I've put a lot of work into accumulating, I'm always glad to share it with others.
There is a lot of knowledge among the people in this thread, I also get reminded on things I've been lax on and reading the posts helps me out pretty often.
Regardless of sport, our bodies respond to the same things, though endurance vs explosive strength do require somewhat different approaches in specific but much the same in general.
With track training, I have knowledge that I've put a lot of work into accumulating, I'm always glad to share it with others.
There is a lot of knowledge among the people in this thread, I also get reminded on things I've been lax on and reading the posts helps me out pretty often.
Regardless of sport, our bodies respond to the same things, though endurance vs explosive strength do require somewhat different approaches in specific but much the same in general.
Mike95060
Work In Progress
^ Brett, should I do a threshold run if my legs are still A tiny bit sore from my workout monday?
My watch is suggesting 17:00@8:25/mile with a 10 minute warmup and cool down. That is a threshold workout for me right now. It's a workout I want to do but, I did a weighted hill climb workout on monday that kicked my ass and made my legs pretty sore. I have full range of motion today with no real pain, just some residual soreness. Any thoughts?
My watch is suggesting 17:00@8:25/mile with a 10 minute warmup and cool down. That is a threshold workout for me right now. It's a workout I want to do but, I did a weighted hill climb workout on monday that kicked my ass and made my legs pretty sore. I have full range of motion today with no real pain, just some residual soreness. Any thoughts?
Sharxfan
Active member
If it was my old ass I would wait. I have ignored soreness before and paid the price when I pushed it.
Right now easing back into the gym after a long layoff so I am really going easy as I am still sore from Monday workout but I am old so take with a grain of salt.
Mike95060
Work In Progress
Heart rate training is a game changer. Nothing has kept me more consistent, engaged, focused or in better shape than my Garmin. There is a bit of a learning curve and cost involved but I think the value is immense. It's probably the cheapest long term healthcare I can think of. I spent $400 on my Garmin Forrunner 255 music with the chest strap and Im very happy with it. You can spend less or more so think about what you really need or want and shop around. I only really know the Garmi ecosystem a bit but, if you have questions ask away.
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2002
- Location
- Walnut Creek
- Moto(s)
- Monica Sweetheart!!!!
- Name
- Berto
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- Barf Racer
R: you should definitely get a wearable of some sort. Garmin's product lines are solid to start with, IMO. The Fenix 7 could launch a mission to Mars and command it, practically. IMO. I can get Garmin product at a good discount through my sister Pro Form deal.
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two wheel tramp
Budman's Favorite
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2010
- Location
- your mom’s house
- Moto(s)
- DR650, X2!, TTR250, 790 ADV S, 950 SM-R, 89 Transalp, TTR2Fiddy
- Name
- Triple R
- BARF perks
- AMA #2771957
I am leaning towards an iWatch because it will be easy for a Luddite like me to learn. I reckon I better do a comparison of the two.
Good to know, and thank you. I am heading out for my usual walk while the sun is shining.
Monday I get this damn booboo on my back packed and I hope that gets it healing. It is impinging on a lot of my activity. I want it healed!
Mike95060
Work In Progress
The biggest drawbacks I have heard about the iwatch are
1. battery life. This is important because if you have to charge it while you sleep, you will miss out on some data while you sleep. I wear my garmin 24/7 and charge it about once a week.
2. The touchscreen. The lack of buttons makes it hard to use the watch in a wet environment. The iwatch is useless if you swim.
The Garmin ist that hard to learn (im not a tech person and i got it)
1. battery life. This is important because if you have to charge it while you sleep, you will miss out on some data while you sleep. I wear my garmin 24/7 and charge it about once a week.
2. The touchscreen. The lack of buttons makes it hard to use the watch in a wet environment. The iwatch is useless if you swim.
The Garmin ist that hard to learn (im not a tech person and i got it)
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