Concept 2 Rower Model D (Exercise For Fat Loss)

[robblok]

I am making a thread here about the concept 2 rower model D. I have heard reports that it costs 80.000 upwards here to buy in Thailand.

But because there is no importer in Thailand you can buy it straight from concept. Its all quite easy and straightforward. Terry the guy over there is a great help.

I have imported one myself it just arrived today, I will give as much information for others as possible and later in the post give some of the advantages of the rower over other forms of cardio that you can buy.

The concept rower costs 1050$ with ipv4 monitor. shipping is 310$ if you pick it up yourself or 420$ if they bring it at your door. If i did not already had asked a lot to the shipper and agreed to use him i would have gone for the door to door option. But that option only became available after that fact. Also its quite possible that fed ex will charge extra clearance costs as i have seen them do that with other shipments too (on top of the import duty and vat)

1050 + 310 = 1360 $ however the customs office said the rowers price was 1250$ not 1050 (invoice does not matter for them its a set price. Dont ask my why but my shipper (who is a mod here at the forum and who i trust) told me so. I paid 8642 bt for vat and import duties

it goes something like this

(1250 + 310) x 10% = 156

(1250 + 310 + 156 ) x 0,07 = 120

156 +120 = 276

276 * 31 (that is the rate they used) 8556 (so pretty close to what i paid)

I just put this here to give people information about cost, I also have to pay my shipper for clearing 4000-5000 bt.

so in total i got the rower for 54556 baht.

That is a great price for such a professional machine. It will help me a lot working out because its intensive and not as boring as riding my exercise spinning bike. For that amount of money you wont find a professional machine (eleptical or anything with gymroom quality)

I will have to learn how to row as there is some technique to it and i want the correct movement. The rower has as advantage that you can race against yourself and you will see boat that is you in a previous session. There are also millions of other things for the rower out on the concept forum. There you can learn how to get the most out of the rower.

One great thing about it is how easy it is stored. once your done you can put it away in 2 halved and store it vertical. That is great for my home gym or else i cant fit it all. I already have a well filled room with gym equipment. (power rack with olympic barbel, spinning bike, triceps dips / ab construct, adjustable bench, 3 sets of of dumbbells witch changeable weight, 250 kg of weight plates, and a triceps pull down / lat pull / pec deck machine that you see for sale with extra weights. I have been using all this stuff for years already and it kept me in shape. I inmagine the rower will help me a lot with keeping in general shape and loose the last bits of fat. (i might have gone to a gym if they were closer. But the closest pinkloa is at least half an hour or more away) its just too much for me as i train 4-5 days a week.

Maybe a little bit too much info but its mainly about the rower. I hope others benefit from this and start working out too. Its not only for fat loss its good for your health.

Edited May 23, 2012 by robblok

[robblok]

I started working out on it slowly but i have noticed it will really work my back a lot. I can handle it just have to build it up and hope it wont interfere to much with my normal workouts.

I must say im impressed with the rower, but you really need a little bit of time to study it and watch instructional video's and read about it to work out on good intensity. Soon ill be making full use of it and using the heartrate monitor and memory card.

So far im not recording anything because im still trying out how it works. I had my first morning session today. It was only 20 minutes but quite intense, i was drenched. I like it and hope my will to do this in the morning will stay. Then at night i can do my normal workouts.

I am still loosing weight and think im getting closer. But like so many every time i loose some weight i see my goal is still far away.

[tropo]

I started out on the model B in the 80's and then moved to model C. Both of them had short straight handles and it was easy to get blisters if you rowed hard and long enough. The B model had a fixed angle foot board with no plastic slide to adjust and allow for foot movement. The D model is certainly a big improvement.

Did you have a good look at model E? It looks really slick.

[robblok]

Hi,

Yes i had a look at it they said it was more made for heavy people and people who have problems getting on rowers. But honestly i just did not want to spend the extra money.

I really love the rower, did an early morning session on it. Out of bed no food first, music on then on the rower for 5000 meter. Took me something like 24.09. Sweating like crazy.. and true to my word i cleaned it right after.

Yesterday i trained back and i rowed.. today i feel my back.. but it was not so bad that i could not row. I really hope i can keep this going. Motivation for cardio has always been my problem. But i do like the rower and breaking training up in 2 seperate workouts is good. But who knows i might row after my workout too. But on the other hand if i overdo it right from the start i might start to hate it.

[tropo]

5000 meter. Took me something like 24.09.

That's pretty good.

It works out to 207m per minute or average of 2:25 per 500m, or 1035m per 5 minutes, or 6210m per 30 minutes.

What was your average stroke rate?

Did you monitor your hear rate?

It would seem you rowed for a distance. I wouldn't recommend this because you'll go crazy always trying to beat your previous times. I only row for a time. Sure, you can still match your meters and try to beat them, but rowing for a distance could turn every session into a time trial - that could be brutal.

Edited May 27, 2012 by tropo

[domomc]

Thanks alot, that is excellent info there you provided cheers. am very tempted to give it a go again. I rowed at national level a few moons ago and the technique we used was to keep the back slightly leant back but very rigid, strong and locked on the leg drive. Then once the legs are fully down lean back slightly more as you pull through with your arms.

Then at the end of the completed stroke reach forwards trying to keep you arms on a horizontal plane, lean forward ever so slightly but still keeping your back upright and strong before pulling up the legs, then when you get to the front of the stroke lift your hands slightly while driving down with the legs and again with the strong rigid back. Try to do it all as fluidly as possible and in continuos motion without jerking.

Maybe someone out there has a better or newer technique?

For anyone interested who may have a bad back and unable to do intensive rowing anymore (such as me...blew out my LV4-5 disc twice in 4 years which was work related but now unfortunately the rowing aggravates my lower back these days)...I bought one of those striding machines last year for 43,000B from my local SuperSports store to get in the cardio.

It's not as challenging or physical as the concept 2 rower but not a bad alternative for people with back probs. the strider model i have is a LiveStrong LS7.9E and 30 mins/ day gives an excellent cardio if you go to level 12 and try to keep above 80rpm's and go in reverse once in a while...works for me anyhows!

btw my old record for 2000m on the old concept2 was 7.03mins. i was trying like heck to break 7mins. can't imagine how folk can get below 6! think the world record is 5.30 odd.

[robblok]

5000 meter. Took me something like 24.09.

That's pretty good.

It works out to 207m per minute or average of 2:25 per 500m, or 1035m per 5 minutes, or 6210m per 30 minutes.

What was your average stroke rate?

Did you monitor your hear rate?

It would seem you rowed for a distance. I wouldn't recommend this because you'll go crazy always trying to beat your previous times. I only row for a time. Sure, you can still match your meters and try to beat them, but rowing for a distance could turn every session into a time trial - that could be brutal.

I workout in the morning.. before breakfast. So i wont be that strong. But yes i have to be careful that i wont end up trying to beat my time always. Same like with weightlifting. Its hard if your competitive.

[robblok]

Thanks alot, that is excellent info there you provided cheers. am very tempted to give it a go again. I rowed at national level a few moons ago and the technique we used was to keep the back slightly leant back but very rigid, strong and locked on the leg drive. Then once the legs are fully down lean back slightly more as you pull through with your arms.

Then at the end of the completed stroke reach forwards trying to keep you arms on a horizontal plane, lean forward ever so slightly but still keeping your back upright and strong before pulling up the legs, then when you get to the front of the stroke lift your hands slightly while driving down with the legs and again with the strong rigid back. Try to do it all as fluidly as possible and in continuos motion without jerking.

Maybe someone out there has a better or newer technique?

For anyone interested who may have a bad back and unable to do intensive rowing anymore (such as me...blew out my LV4-5 disc twice in 4 years which was work related but now unfortunately the rowing aggravates my lower back these days)...I bought one of those striding machines last year for 43,000B from my local SuperSports store to get in the cardio.

It's not as challenging or physical as the concept 2 rower but not a bad alternative for people with back probs. the strider model i have is a LiveStrong LS7.9E and 30 mins/ day gives an excellent cardio if you go to level 12 and try to keep above 80rpm's and go in reverse once in a while...works for me anyhows!

btw my old record for 2000m on the old concept2 was 7.03mins. i was trying like heck to break 7mins. can't imagine how folk can get below 6! think the world record is 5.30 odd.

Thanks, i was trying to help people with those about importing because the concept was real expensive here. Now people have a ball park figure, and an idea how to go about it.

Those are impressive times indeed, for me its for cardio next to my bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is the thing that has priority. But i do love the concept rower a lot and i am sure that i will improve on my times.

But its not the priority at this moment, i use it to get in shape and burn some calories. Its nice to try to get some cardiovascular exercise next to the lifting.

[tropo]

btw my old record for 2000m on the old concept2 was 7.03mins. i was trying like heck to break 7mins. can't imagine how folk can get below 6! think the world record is 5.30 odd.

In relation to what I pull that's a very impressive figure. It relates to 1:45 per 500m average or 283m per minute or 1418m per 5 minutes. Pulling 1:45/500m is very intense.

I have never pulled flat out in a time trial. I use it either as a warmup for my weight session when I'll row for 10 - 20 minutes or for a 30 minute cardio session. As with Roblok, I use it in conjunction with my weight routine to promote the burning of fat. Any cardiovascular benefit is secondary and I don't have any interest in competing in a time trial as you were.

In relation to your figures above, I average between 1100m and 1183m per 5 minutes. That would relate to only 1656m in 7 minutes at my most intense, however I always row slowly for 5 minutes before I pull hard so that brings my averages down.

I am curious, when you went for your best 2000m times, what stroke rate did you maintain?...also, what dampener setting did you normally used.

[domomc]

my stroke rate when i was doing just over the 7min mark was 31-33 for the main then upped to high 30's/ low 40's for the last 90sec's or as fast as i could go. I try to get as much power in each stroke as possible and it's the same when doing weights I try to control the speed-explode up and control down. I was pretty spent by the end of 2000m and probably not the cleverest way to get maximum benefit. I usually just went for it at the end of a training session but over the last few years i have just maintained a stroke rate around the 30 mark and try to maintain 2000m every 10mins for 30 mins. i just don't seem able to row without setting some goal that pushes me to my limit. i always have the setting at the upper maximum position...why i'm not sure but probably not the cleverest. Now i'm taking it pretty easy on the strider for 30 mins with a warm up and down then doing stretchers and light weights with plenty reps.

[tropo]

my stroke rate when i was doing just over the 7min mark was 31-33 for the main then upped to high 30's/ low 40's for the last 90sec's or as fast as i could go. I try to get as much power in each stroke as possible and it's the same when doing weights I try to control the speed-explode up and control down. I was pretty spent by the end of 2000m and probably not the cleverest way to get maximum benefit. I usually just went for it at the end of a training session but over the last few years i have just maintained a stroke rate around the 30 mark and try to maintain 2000m every 10mins for 30 mins. i just don't seem able to row without setting some goal that pushes me to my limit. i always have the setting at the upper maximum position...why i'm not sure but probably not the cleverest. Now i'm taking it pretty easy on the strider for 30 mins with a warm up and down then doing stretchers and light weights with plenty reps.

When you row for competition it gets very technical, but everything I've read about it suggests that a stroke rate of under 22 - 26 is optimal... and dampener settings in the mid range. My average cruising speed is about 2250 per 10 mins and I aim not to go below 2200m per 10 mins. I do this at a stroke rate of about 25 - 26 and seldom go over 27.

Sometimes I do HIIT on it to break the boredom. Go hard for 1 minute and then slow for a minute or some other pattern depending on how I feel.

[cdnvic]

Off topic post removed

[robblok]

my stroke rate when i was doing just over the 7min mark was 31-33 for the main then upped to high 30's/ low 40's for the last 90sec's or as fast as i could go. I try to get as much power in each stroke as possible and it's the same when doing weights I try to control the speed-explode up and control down. I was pretty spent by the end of 2000m and probably not the cleverest way to get maximum benefit. I usually just went for it at the end of a training session but over the last few years i have just maintained a stroke rate around the 30 mark and try to maintain 2000m every 10mins for 30 mins. i just don't seem able to row without setting some goal that pushes me to my limit. i always have the setting at the upper maximum position...why i'm not sure but probably not the cleverest. Now i'm taking it pretty easy on the strider for 30 mins with a warm up and down then doing stretchers and light weights with plenty reps.

When you row for competition it gets very technical, but everything I've read about it suggests that a stroke rate of under 22 - 26 is optimal... and dampener settings in the mid range. My average cruising speed is about 2250 per 10 mins and I aim not to go below 2200m per 10 mins. I do this at a stroke rate of about 25 - 26 and seldom go over 27.

Sometimes I do HIIT on it to break the boredom. Go hard for 1 minute and then slow for a minute or some other pattern depending on how I feel.

What you got about stroke rate's was also what i read. But domomc is obviously more pro then me or you. There might be other reasons for it.

I have been thinking what you said tropo about distance rowing and time rowing.. but no matter what i do i will always be looking at the numbers. But i'm going to try to listen to my body more.

Did you know when it records your workouts you can use those workouts as an example. Then an other rowing boat will appear on the screen and you are rowing against yourself. Or you can make a program and row it.

In the end i might want to do 10k in the morning. At least that is what im working up too. I would love to do up to 45 minutes of cardio in the morning. But im slowly increasing it. I had to resist temptation today to row after my weightlifting because i already rowed in the morning. Too much can be bad too.

[estefaniw]

I used to love rowing on the concept 2. I was starting to learn to row on the water before I left California. You will really get a lot out of it if you modify your stroke rate. Try doing 1000 m at 20 strokes per minute and you will feel it in your legs. I don't have the budget to import one right now but it sounds doable. I also wonder if anyone knows of a gym near Asok that has them?

As you discovered there is a lot of good stuff on the concept 2 site, and for some great training podcasts you can try this site: http://www.pmaxstore.com/

[tropo]

Did you know when it records your workouts you can use those workouts as an example. Then an other rowing boat will appear on the screen and you are rowing against yourself. Or you can make a program and row it.

No, I didn't know that. When I get mine I'll program in a decent cardio workout and use it as my template. It could be useful to keep me from overdoing it.

[tropo]

Try doing 1000 m at 20 strokes per minute and you will feel it in your legs.

I never feel rowing in my legs no matter what stroke rate I use. Of course they are working, but not hard enough to "feel".

[robblok]

I havent felt my legs enough either. But im still a beginner. Its like the first part of the push there is no resistance. Its like the resistance starts too late. But it could be me so i will find out later.

[tropo]

I havent felt my legs enough either. But im still a beginner. Its like the first part of the push there is no resistance. Its like the resistance starts too late. But it could be me so i will find out later.

I believe it has nothing to do with technique. The legs are powerful and aren't overloaded significantly in rowing to feel a training effort. I doubt you ever will "feel" them much. Bear in mind you are using them bilaterally as in a leg press/squatting movement whereas on the bike and other cardio machines they are used unilaterally.

This is the reason why I find it much more difficult to raise my heart rate on the rower than on leg dominant exercises such as the Cybex and stationary bike. On the Cybex you can balance the effort between upper and lower body and bring in a huge effort from the hips and glutes thereby getting the heart rate up very quickly. You can also use pushing upper body strength combined with pulling on the Cybex whereas on the rower you only use pulling muscles.

Having said that, what estefaniw said above makes sense. If you row slower the flywheel gets a chance to slow down more and you will have more inertial forces at the start of the stroke when the legs are more active - which will be accentuated if you use the maximum dampener setting.

This is not a negative, but one of the great benefits of rowing for me. Having tibiofemoral knee arthritis it allows me to get a lot of movement in the knee without too much load. It helps to keep my knees flexible and agile without causing any knee pain. Rowing often is therapeutic for my knees. For this reason I row for 15 minutes before a squat workout with the added advantage of warming up the lower back.

One further advantage --- Rowing forces totally rhythmic breathing in a way that other exercises don't (with the exception of swimming). You forcefully exhale and inhale in a rhythmic pattern. This really helps to oxygenate the system quickly when used as a warmup and prepares the body for a weight workout in a way no other warmup can.

Hopefully this won't become too well known down at my gym because I hardly ever have to wait for a rower.

Edited May 27, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

I am not complaining, about not feeling the legs that much. It's ok with me its about caloric burn and cardiovascular health. Plus i do like how it works my back.

Tonight i will do it after a session of weightlifting, just had some problems getting out of bed this morning. If i don't do it firs thing in the morning it won't really fit in my day and messes up my planning. So then ill have to do it at night.

[robblok]

I had a great workout on the rower after a chest triceps workout. I told them to use my 5000 meter from yesterday morning as a training shedule.

It cuts the 5000 meter in 5 laps of 1000 with each its own average speed. (just like you rowed it before but then averaged out so not a second by second rerow).

You will have a pacer boat going net to you boat and they will tell the average watts you had on that 5th of the distance. So its kinda nice. I really blew my own time away by one minute faster. It really shows that im stronger in the evening even after a long hard workout. It actually felt kinda good to release the last bit of energy after my workout.

I am more then pleased also more then pleased that my workouts go better now that i take a pre workout drink. After my bad experience with an other brand (never noticed a thing) i feel a lot different with this brand. Nice clean energy and more important focus. Doing more sets more reps. Not necessarily more weight. Actually see my bench press going down but that is probably because of my weight loss. Annoying.. but no problems because i see myself getting leaner.

all in all real happy with the rower. Also got a body media and it shows me how much i sleep, how many calories i burn ect. It shows that on training days i burn around 3000 calories. That is more then i thought and i eat only about 1800, so im going to up my calories a bit to at least 2200 maybe more later. But 2200 on training days.

[tropo]

Are you monitoring your heart rate? If you are, how high are you going?

Regarding the "body media" device. Are you so sure it's giving you correct information that you'll adjust your diet by it?

Just to give you an idea how inaccurate calorie/heart rate readings can be...

Today I did 90 minutes of cardio.

1. 30 minutes on rower: Average heart rate 119 max 128. Calories burned 390

2. 30 minutes on Startec bike: Average heart rate 125, max 132. Calories burned 350

3. 30 minutes on Cybex Arc Trainer: Average heart rate 128, Max 133. Calories burned 500

My goal was to maintain my heart rate at 130 for the full 90 mins. The max rates over 30 were brief as I adjusted my workload down. There was a 5 minute warmup period on the first two sessions therefore my average came out lower.

How could a device that tracks heart rate predict my calories burned? I don't buy it.

[robblok]

Tropo,

It is not tracking the heart rate. Its tracking the skins themprature and how moist it is. I must say its pretty accurate. Also it tracks your movements (build in pedo meter). No heartrate is tracked and the calories burned are lower then most gym equipment.

But the total burn is higher then i expected. I feel confident enough to add calories to my diet. I think i have been under eating for a while. I want a deficit from around 500 now im over 1000.

The worst that can happen is that i gain a bit of weight. I am tracking my weight so that is not a major problem. Also given the training im doing extra weight is more likely to be muscle then fat. (as long as it isn't a too big increase in weight)

I am also still not monitoring my heart rate, i will do that next time. for some reason now that i have a heart rate monitor on the device i don't use it while before i really wanted one. Must be because im still not totally used to the machine and i don't want too many variables.

[tropo]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up. I really thought it was calculating calories burned the same way some heart rate monitors do.

I wonder how that would work on me as I'm an extremely heavy sweater. My clothes are drenched after the gym, even training in cool (aircon) temps. Could that skew results?

Being able to monitor my heart rate on the Concept rower is one of the features I'm most looking forward to. Having it up on the screen - it's bothersome to try to check it on my wrist watch while I'm rowing.

I am very curious about your heart rate because I find it takes a lot of effort to get mine up on the rower. My cruising speeds once I'm warmed up are low 120's (my max is low 170's - that's tested - not using the '220 minus age forumla' which puts it at 168. I actually got it up to 176 not too long ago).

What stroke rate are you maintaining?

Edited May 29, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

I think the last faster row was around 24-27. I will monitor my hearthrate later on don't worry.

I think the bodymedia gets its result from movement combined with skin temperature (i believe for heavy sweaters and non sweaters its the same) and sweat. I am like you a heavy sweater. For now i go for the results as they really vary when i walk a bit or when i sit behind my desk (working) Also the workout on the rower hands in more burn (not that much) as the weight workout. Figures are not that high, but high enough for me to eat more.

Will start with more protein from powders. Because its a bit hard to eat more. I might just put in an extra meal at night like i did last night.

Mind you tropo i don't claim its a 100% accurate reading. But its a lot better then nothing at all. I also like how it logs my sleep. When im awake in bed it does not log that.

Edited May 29, 2012 by robblok

[robblok]

Tropo,

I had an evening row that i aborted at 4000 meters instead of 5000 felt weak.. no mood but i was doing ok not as good as my last row but better as the first. But just felt tired. Anyway heart rate got up to 162 or so and it could have been higher if i wanted. Not a high stroke rate.

Mind you i never been much of a cardio man so it will take some time to build it up.

Edited May 29, 2012 by robblok

[tropo]

Tropo,

I had an evening row that i aborted at 4000 meters instead of 5000 felt weak.. no mood but i was doing ok not as good as my last row but better as the first. But just felt tired. Anyway heart rate got up to 162 or so and it could have been higher if i wanted. Not a high stroke rate.

Mind you i never been much of a cardio man so it will take some time to build it up.

That's very high - about 90% of your theoretical maximum using the old 220 minus age formula. That's high intensity cardio! Maybe I've been doing it so long I've adapted, but getting over 130's for me is extremely difficult - bear in mind that I have a lower theoretical maximum - 168 using the old formula. 162 for you equates to 150 for me. To get my heart rate that high at a moderate stroke rate I'd end up with a bad back because the intensity would need to be so high.

You've been pushing it very hard because it's a new toy. The next step - learning to stay off it to give yourself a break. Cover it up - hide it....

Edited May 29, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

Tropo,

I had an evening row that i aborted at 4000 meters instead of 5000 felt weak.. no mood but i was doing ok not as good as my last row but better as the first. But just felt tired. Anyway heart rate got up to 162 or so and it could have been higher if i wanted. Not a high stroke rate.

Mind you i never been much of a cardio man so it will take some time to build it up.

That's very high - about 90% of your theoretical maximum using the old 220 minus age formula. That's high intensity cardio! Maybe I've been doing it so long I've adapted, but getting over 130's for me is extremely difficult - bear in mind that I have a lower theoretical maximum - 168 using the old formula. 162 for you equates to 150 for me. To get my heart rate that high at a moderate stroke rate I'd end up with a bad back because the intensity would need to be so high.

You've been pushing it very hard because it's a new toy. The next step - learning to stay off it to give yourself a break. Cover it up - hide it....

Tropo i think we can also say im just not in good cardio shape. But in general in all things that i do i push myself hard. But i think i was overdoing it a bit given the amount of training in the last days and increases in volume.

Anyway my weight increased too but i don't look fatter just more muscle. Part of me hates it but an other part says good.. now you can be sure if you reach 88 from this weight that your ripped. It must be the extra food i have been taken and maybe some creatine in the pre workout drink.

Im going over what i have eaten in the last couple of days. But there is a good possibility because i have been so low for a while that my muscle energy depots were depleted and stayed depleted for a long period that now they are filling back up.

Today no rowing, im going to do some night fishing with my friends. But the fish are 20-30 kg with some over 50kg up to 100 (biggest for me 60kg) and they give a great fight.. its like real intense cardio. When catch a lot of them you feel it the next day.

[tropo]

I came across an article in T-Nation a few days ago. Have a close look at it:

http://www.t-nation...._makes_no_sense

There's a lot of stuff in that article which applies to you and I. It was written for us.

It talks about training in a zone called MAF (maximum aerobic function). You work it out by subtracting your age from 18.

I put this into practice on my cardio day. Every 3rd day or so I have a cardio-only day when I don't do weights. As you know, I've been pushing the envelope and doing some ridiculous sessions averaging 1200 - 1300 calories in an hour. I've even gone as high as 1900 in 90 minutes.

As shown in a post above, 2 days ago I did a 90 minute session at MAF which is 130 for me (actually 128 but I rounded it up). The goal was never to go above 130 and keeping it at 130 for the full 90 minutes. As a result I burned 1250 calories, the same as I usually burn in an hour where I push my heart rate up into the 150's.

What happened next was amazing. I felt extremely energetic after leaving the gym and all day long. I can't remember feeling this good. Normally I'm feeling wiped out after the gym. I felt like the energizer bunny all day long - it was incredible.

I did this session on just a coffee after waking up and then straight down to the gym.

... so I ended burning roughly the same number of calories in 90 minutes that I burn in a typical 60 minute session but a larger percentage of calories would have come from fat. I used the 3 machines to break the boredom and I really enjoyed the session much more than I usually do.

I shall try this again tomorrow and see if I get the same post workout rush.

P.S. What are those 20 - 50kg fish you catch? What do you do with them - sell them? Eat them?

Edited May 30, 2012 by tropo

[robblok]

I came across an article in T-Nation a few days ago. Have a close look at it:

http://www.t-nation...._makes_no_sense

There's a lot of stuff in that article which applies to you and I. It was written for us.

It talks about training in a zone called MAF (maximum aerobic function). You work it out by subtracting your age from 18.

I put this into practice on my cardio day. Every 3rd day or so I have a cardio-only day when I don't do weights. As you know, I've been pushing the envelope and doing some ridiculous sessions averaging 1200 - 1300 calories in an hour. I've even gone as high as 1900 in 90 minutes.

As shown in a post above, 2 days ago I did a 90 minute session at MAF which is 130 for me (actually 128 but I rounded it up). The goal was never to go above 130 and keeping it at 130 for the full 90 minutes. As a result I burned 1250 calories, the same as I usually burn in an hour where I push my heart rate up into the 150's.

What happened next was amazing. I felt extremely energetic after leaving the gym and all day long. I can't remember feeling this good. Normally I'm feeling wiped out after the gym. I felt like the energizer bunny all day long - it was incredible.

I did this session on just a coffee after waking up and then straight down to the gym.

... so I ended burning roughly the same number of calories in 90 minutes that I burn in a typical 60 minute session but a larger percentage of calories would have come from fat. I used the 3 machines to break the boredom and I really enjoyed the session much more than I usually do.

I shall try this again tomorrow and see if I get the same post workout rush.

P.S. What are those 20 - 50kg fish you catch? What do you do with them - sell them? Eat them?

Tropo, ill read up on your article, but the heartrate and what percentage of calories you burn come from fat was already known to me. But i always thought if i work out harder i burn more thus a larger total will always be fat.

But the idea of doing slower cardio and getting energy is great. I mean that is part of why we do it. To get energy, and feel good.

The fish are giant mekongs, and its a pay for fishing venue so you cant take them home. Its a bit of fun i like to do once in a while. I used to do wild fishing back home but always returned the fish (except for eel those we smoked)

[robblok]

After reading it it does make some sense, will be hard for me to go slower. But i can do it on the bike easily just need a new heartrate monitor. I used to read the ipad while i was on the bike. I still did a decent pace. But i think i will give this a try, longer sessions less intensity.

I am always a bit worried about overloading my system. So i might do it a bit slower on some days to see how it goes. Thanks Tropo, i like these new insights.

I will tell you what i always thought, if you go slower you burn more fat (i knew that). But i also thought that if you go faster you will burn more calories but still a part of that is fat. So even though you burn less fat as a percentage you might burn more in total.

But the guy here is saying you won't burn any fat at all. But if you create a caloric deficit aren't you always burning fat ?. You might not be burning fat at that moment but your short on calories and during the day they will come from fat (or so i hope)

Not arguing with you here just wanting to see how my thinking is wrong.