My First Extended Elliptical Workout

Warning! The following blog post is for information purposes only and may bore you to sleep. If you have insomnia, now may be a good time to read it.

       I first used my new elliptical trainer last Friday morning but only did 30 minutes on it while using the stationary bike for the second half of my workout. On Monday afternoon, after taking my morning sleep coming off the night shift I decided it was time to take the elliptical machine past the half hour mark. First I set the machine to one of the pre-programmed workouts which consisted of 2 minutes easy tension, then 2 minutes medium, then another two minutes of slightly harder tension on the pedals. I set a preliminary goal of 40 minutes and when I hit that mark went for another 10 then another 10. So I was able to double my time on the elliptical using those ladder intervals. All the while I was watching the documentary movie “No Impact Man” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1280011/.

      Compared to last Friday, the machines’ squeaks and groans were significantly lesser so I hope it stays that way if I use it regularly. If I were to rate that workout, I would give it a grade of Fair because even though I was breathing hard at times, the highest pulse rate I hit was only 130 beats per minute. I may have do use a more challenging pre-programmed workout. Maybe find one where the harder intervals lasts longer than the recovery intervals. What I like about the machine is that it is the closest that simulates running compared to the other machines I have.

      I don’t know if I’ll ever go over an hour on the machine so I’m pretty satisfied with what I accomplished last Monday thanks to No Impact Man. Excuse me! Is that you I hear snoring???

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My Home Gym Is Complete

      After many years of accumulating exercise equipment at home, I can unequivocally say that my home gym is complete, even though it is missing weight stack machines. What I have is an array of aerobic specific equipment comprised of a treadmill, rowing machine, stairstepper, upright stationary bike, recumbent stationary bike, and the latest addition, an elliptical trainer. Those plus a couple of hundred pounds of free weights in the form of dumbbells and barbells, complete the home gym. I must not forget to mention the chin up/pull up bar attached to a door frame. The pursuit of fitness is not really a pursuit for me but rather a daily habit that needs to be completed. Since I have been unable to run every day for the last four years, I need the variety of workout machines to keep me engaged.

      In addition, what gym would be complete without a weighing scale? A few months ago when I thought the springs of my mechanical, round-dial type bathroom scale had worn out, I finally succumbed to technology and bought an electronic scale that measured weight, body fat percentage, and hydration level. How exactly that happens is hard to explain but has something to do with electrical impedance in which a very small amount of electrical current passes through your body while standing on the scale and your fat percentage and hydration levels are measured. Sounds like a good concept but which I find inaccurate. Case in point: pre-run, it indicates that my hydration level is 63.5%, then post-run when I’ve lost three pounds of fluids, the hydration level goes up about 1%. How can you lose fluids and gain hydration level? Another example: before running, my body fat percentage is show as 12.5%, and after running, 11.5%. Certainly I only lost fluid weight and not fat. I hope at least the weight measurement is accurate.

      So there you go, I have equipment for cardiovascular fitness and endurance, plus free weights for muscular strength and endurance. Flexibility is the only missing link to attain overall fitness. Two out of three ain’t bad.

      I know, I know… ain’t is not proper English.

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Trying Out The New Elliptical Machine

     I tested the new elliptical machine on Friday morning and for the first few minutes I could hardly believe how whisper quiet it was. My recumbent bike made more noise than the elliptical. However after about 15 minutes of continuous use, it started groaning, squeaking, and creaking but the noises would mysteriously disappear before another strange sound came up. The good thing is that the noise disappears eventually but replaced with another kind of noise. I hope it’s just the machine settling and redistributing its lubricants.

     I’ve only used an elliptical machine once before a few years ago when I walked past a gym and asked the owner if I can try it. He had me sign a waiver in case I got injured while using the machine. Now that I have one, I’m finding out how unnatural it is to move your arms and legs at the same time with the handlebars and the pedals. It was easier to just use the fixed handlebar. Another thing I found out is that it is difficult to read a newspaper while using the machine because of the up and down motion. Due to my poor balance I’m afraid to let go of the handlebar for fear of falling off. If I have to work out harder I’d have give up reading while on the machine. However, since the machine is quiet, it’s more feasible to watch TV or a movie without having to raise the volume too much.

     At the time of my first use, I still hadn’t figured out how to increase the tension of the pedals and it wasn’t until hours later when I read the instructions did I learn how to do that and the programmed workouts. The instructions itself wasn’t a very easy read because it was printed in China and you had to interpret in proper English what it was really saying. I’m sure some of your electronic items have instructions like that too. The machine has a manual setting, 12 pre-programmed workouts, and I think 2 user programmable workouts. It has the usual heart rate monitor, speed, distance, time, calories burned, plus two things I didn’t expect: a body mass index (BMI) calculator and body fat percentage calculator.

     Other than the squeaks, creaks, and groans of the machine which I hope is a part of the break-in process, I like all the functions that it has which appear to be similar to high end machines. And it mimics the running motion better than the stairmaster or stationary bike. If it gives me the same endorphin high that running does, so much the better. I tried out the new elliptical machine and lived to tell about it, so for now, two thumbs up!

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Running Road Intervals on a Saturday Morning

I don’t know if our already small numbers are dwindling or some have branched off to other distances which are more suited for their racing goals. Since I don’t have any goals anything will do as long as I get to run with somebody. Today, I suggested road intervals starting with 10 minutes of warm up, then 2 minute pickups and 2 minutes recovery jogs until the finish. The leaders would run back to the last runners during the recovery jogs, then start the 2 minute hard intervals over again. That way, everyone can finish at the same time more or less, except the faster ones cover more distance. It didn’t quite work out that way because there were only two people doing the pickups and recoveries.

Considering that this time last year I was not even running due to tearing my right posterior tibialis tendon, being able to run today and even doing intervals is something I can appreciate very much. Interval training is tough but good for improving your aerobic capacity. I hope we were covering at least a quarter mile on the hard part. I’ve never done it before during the AREC summer workouts, so I’m just trying it out with other people who might want to do it. Remember last weekend we did a Fartlek workout the last half of the run. Today we were able to do 16 repeats of 2 minute pickups and 2 minute recovery jogs to finish 7.55 miles in 1 hour and 12 minutes.The total time seems slow but we did the hard part hard and the easy part really easy. If not for the others I would have done maybe 10 repeats by myself and not more than 12. It always helps to have a partner to do it with. Today, that partner was Cindy C. While we were doing the intervals, Linda and Tam were busy running their pace and catching up on the latest AREC happenings. How sweet it was to finish a hard workout without aggravating my ankles. We even almost caught up with a group who started 20 minutes before us. It was a good running day J

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The Rowing Workout

On Monday afternoon, after waking up from my daytime sleep due to working nights over the weekend, I did a rowing workout on my imitation Concept II rowing machine. I don’t use that machine very often anymore and I was even considering giving it to my co-worker. I’m glad I didn’t because it gives me a good workout which doesn’t involve using my ankles, just the back, arms and thighs. I was able to do 40 minutes of rowing which is the longest amount of time I’ve ever done. To help pass the time, I watched a documentary called “Food, Inc.” By the time I finished rowing, I was almost halfway through the movie. The pace of my rowing was pretty steady except for the last 10 minutes when I did a few short pickups. That, and the length of time I rowed probably contributed to what I discovered the next day. There was a blister on my left ring finger. When I ran Tuesday morning, my legs felt a little heavy because they weren’t used to the unfamiliar stress I subjected them to the previous day. In the past, when I used the machine, it was as an adjunct to a short and easy run, back when I still ran every day. Or I used it as part of a cardio circuit training workout where I do a three or four repeats of five minutes each on the recumbent stationary bike, upright stationary bike, stairmaster, and rowing machine. That way, it breaks the monotony of doing just one type of exercise. It also helps if I’m watching a good action movie for distraction. On some past rowing workouts, I would do one minute pickups with one minute recoveries, somewhat like interval training. That way, the pulse rate increases during the pickups when I row a little bit faster. I was only aiming for 30 minutes of rowing on Monday but ended up with 40, so it was a good enough workout on a recovery day after having worked two 12 hour shifts over the weekend. The thing I like about rowing is that it’s a total body workout involving the lower and upper body. What I don’t like about it is that I can’t read while rowing.

What to do? Run, Walk, or Bike?

Today was supposed to be a run day but the past few days some aches and pains would crop up, like for example yesterday my left ankle started to hurt in a different way for no apparent reason. When I woke up I still hadn’t decided whether to try to run, walk, or ride the stationary bike. This morning the ankle felt ok but I still wasn’t sure so I thought I would just go with a one and a half hour walk. Then my neighbor asked me if I wasn’t running today so that gave me the impetus to at least try a run/walk workout and if that aggravated my left ankle than I’d just continue walking. I could feel discomfort at times but it didn’t get worse so I just kept on going until I finished six miles at a 10 minute pace for the combined run/walk. Hooray! I finally did a six mile run/walk! This is my longest since the marathon two weeks ago. The thing I like about this kind of workout is that I can still sometimes run with a full stride for four minutes and I could even attack some short hills which I like because it really challenges my aerobic capacity. At the same time the one minute breaks help my ankles recover which in turn enables me to run longer. It’s not quite as fast as the 12 mile run with Linda when we averaged 9:55 minutes per mile but then I started slowly today so I can get a better feel for my left ankle. Besides, it’s only been a couple of weeks after finishing the Long Beach Marathon. I don’t want the left ankle to become as bad as the right because if that happens then I wouldn’t be able to run anymore. There is still some room for improvement as far as the pace goes with the run/walk technique and that’s something to test in the near future. In the meantime, it’s still a recovery period for both the body and the mind.

A Little Bit of This and That Equals an Hour of Cardio

Thank goodness for foldable exercise equipment, otherwise I would be tripping all over them in the living room. I shouldn’t even call it a living room anymore because it looks more like an exercise torture chamber. I wonder where I can get second hand waterboarding equipment? Is that considered cardio? And does it fold?

Today, I couldn’t get started working out because I could not decide what to do. My left knee is hurting a bit and too much cycling makes it worse. Maybe a little bit of everything might help, so I unfolded the stairstepper and the rowing machine. Maybe ten minutes each on the stairstepper, recumbent bike, upright bike, and rowing machine, plus a twenty minute hill walk on the treadmill to round off an hour would do the trick. I ended up doing fifteen minutes on each of the machines except the treadmill so I still ended up finishing an hour. The hardest was the rowing machine because I haven’t used it since last year and ever since I was able to put the chain back on track, the tension has gotten tighter.

Today starts the last week of tapering before the marathon so I’m trying to save my legs as much as possible so I can make it to the starting line. The price of having overeaten at the baby shower yesterday is having to work out today on four different machines, but at least it didn’t make my knee pain any worse. That’s enough exercise for today.