We live in Bangladesh and my mother is 56, and she has severe arthritis, ACL tear and a bunch of other problems which leaves her disabled of the leg for practical purposes.
This lack of exercise in old age is troubling since it leads to additional complications. So I am looking for equipment and exercises she can do without using her legs. I am thinking, something similar to a stationary cycle that you drive by cranking the wheel using your hands only.
Can anyone suggest an exercise apparatus that can be run using hands only for cardiovascular and fitness exercise?
Non-native English speaker here.
Fitness parameters only measure cardiovascular parameters and musculoskeletal functioning. Such as how fast you can run, how much weight you can lift, how much you can stretch etc. They do not measure the functioning of any other organ system, such as how your liver or kidneys or pancreas is doing, or how your blood vessels are doing etc.
There also does not seem to be any widely available tests that anyone can do to figure out how well their organs are working. I mean sure there are tests, but those are only prescribed by doctors after you develop a problem or symptom and then only if its necessary to make a diagnosis.
Can someone tell me why there aren't any fitness type tests for all the organ systems of the body?
I don't want to lose the precious gainzz I've made over the past few months, is it useful to run instead so that I can improve my endurance (or atleast maintain it?). Also, is it useful to do intervals while running? Any ideas for running programs if I want to improve my FTP?
Thanks!
I’m wondering on peoples thoughts/opinions/links/resources on running purely as a means to improve heart, lung and vascular health.
What would be the mileage? Pace? Training? Events?
As well as if you have thoughts on diet, rest and anything else related to running being purely a health endeavour.
Hello all,
I'm currently in a sort of plateau in my fitness, and I think you guys can help. Currently my workouts revolve around the USMC PFT, so focus on the 3 mile run, pull ups, and plank. I can do a ~21 minute 3 mile, max the pull ups with 23, and max the plank at 4:20.
I want to get better at all of these things, but I've never been able to balance running and lifting.
What can I do so that I can crush the strength standards (far past the 'max') while also getting faster on the run?
Thanks in advance.
P.S. I have already done the Armstrong pull up program, it was nice, and really helped, although 100+ reps M-F gave me tendonitis in my elbow area.
My usual RHR is around 45-46bpm and weirdly this hasn’t changed since I started taking propanalol (just 20mg daily). The propanalol massively helped reduce my pre-syncapal episodes and migraines (wooooo!) and recently I’ve been feeling pretty pretty darn healthy, so decided to try getting back into exercise.
I started a Couch to 10k programme and have since managed to up my VO2 max by about 0.5 points, back to what apple says is above average. The HUGE annoyance is, this has been accompanied by a drop in RHR down to 40-42bpm and headaches/pre-syncopal episodes. I’m literally only doing 30 minutes of walk/run 3x a week but it’s messed me up!
Does anyone else react like this?! Are we allowed to be physically fit AND feel well?!?!
I’m 29f with normal weight but I have shitty cardiovascular fitness. I spent the past 1.5 years literally sitting at home due to achilles and hand injuries.
My VO2max is 21.8 my heart rate variability is 18ms on the average. My resting hearth rate is normally 85 bpm but because of a medication that I use daily, it’s currently 95 bpm. These values are terrible for my age group.
I want to start training for olympic triathlon, or marathon swim (10km) if triathlon doesn’t work out because of my Achilles tendon.
I am currently swimming 35min-45min (800-1000m) 2-3x per week and using generic all purpose bicycle daily to get around in the city. I can ride my bicycle for 5km without getting too tired. I have zero running experience.
Do you think if it is doable in 1-1.5years? Do you have any advice? When I check training programs for absolute beginners, they are all way above my current fitness levels. :(
Edit: I don’t have any cardiovascular disease but I have genetic hypercholesterol.
Update: thanks everyone. I guess completing a sprint triathlon is more realistic goal for me for 1 year training
so for one of my courses we were asked to determine our cardiovascular fitness to see if we improve throughout the semester. here are the two tests i ran on myself
1 Mile Walk Test VO2max=132.853-(0.0769xweight(lbs))-(0.3877xage)+(6.315xgender)-(3.2649xtime)-(0.1565xHR)=43.94 That had me at a good/excellent cardiovascular fitness level
1.5 Mile Run-Walk Test VO2max=(483/time)+3.5= 32.22 This had me at a poor cardiovascular fitness level
I’m just wondering if anyone could give me any insight as to why these scores vary so much even though they are basically the same procedure. I know the formulas are different but that’s just what I’m going by on this form.
I’m not sure if my respiration has become more efficient already or if my body is adapting to more extreme conditions of hyperventilation and hypocapnia or what exactly but I can seem to be able to run almost twice as far as I could a month ago and recover much more quickly afterwards whilst before I would be puffing and feeling dizzy and sick.
It’s not just a placebo effect either, and it’s not because I’m exercising more often and literally getting more fit because I’ve tried that in the past and the improvements were never this rapid or this significant.
Has anyone else noticed similar benefits?
I was looking at my stats when I first started OTF six months ago vs my stats today and…. Wow. I can obviously tell that my heart rate response is getting better. My very first class I had 44 (yes, 44) minutes in the red zone. Today, I had 4. I feel as if I’m working just as hard, but that it’s actually easier for me to run and keep up with the workouts. I had no idea I was that out of shape. Thanks, orange theory, for making me want to improve!
I'm (27m) an athletic fellow, who for years has had good cardiovascular fitness. This was not always the case, but I figured it was just something I had gotten better at over time.
Recently, in the setting of increased abdominal gas and bloating, I decided to discontinue to the probiotic (l. plantarum 299v) I take for IBS-C, which I have been taking for ~three years. In the ensuing three weeks, my bloating decreased, but so did my cardiovascular fitness. In fact, I went from running half-marathons (21km) to really struggling to punch out 5km. Moreover, my anaerobic performance decreased such that I could neither compete at BJJ training nor even be bothered to go the gym.
As a result, I decided to restart the probiotic. And lo and behold, my fitness in all forms has returned!
*It's worth mentioning that no other changes had been made to my diet, supplements, or lifestyle prior to discontinuing the probiotic.
I’ve been using minoxidil 1ml every day for the past 2/3 months and have found some really good progress in hair growth, however I’ve found that after 2/3 weeks of use I’ve had a massive constant decline in my times in rowing and running. At first I thought I might have been overtraining, but even after 2/3 weeks of rest my times continued to decline. I also found that my resting Heart rate had increased, and found that I was flushed and dizzy every now and then. I just wanted to know if anybody else has found that they had similar effects from using minoxidil and If minoxidil could be the cause to the decline in performance? And if so how long it would take for the side effects to fade if I stopped using it.
Just wondering if anyone else has lost this functionality. Previously the app showed me this metric, now it is completely gone. Using a charge 3.
I just finished ride 30 and thank you very much to all who helped me get out of the saddle. I am doing better. I have had a chance to explore some more of the rides and I think I am settling on the following schedule and would love your input
Background I am early forties 6’3 and 290. I lifted for many years so I have a bit of muscle but also a gut. I have heart disease in the family. So the goal is lower my weight (I am on a lower carb diet with eating only 3 meals) and a healthier heart. I have an extremely sedentary job.
So here my thoughts Sunday 45 min power zone Monday 45 min low impact Tuesday 30 min HIIT Wednesday 45 min power zone Thursday 45 min low impact Friday. 30 min HIIT Saturday something new and fun. Like a hip hop ride
I do a 5 min cool down and 5 min stretch afterwards. Sadly because of covid my weight lifting is on hold for the foreseeable future.
About 2-3 months ago I got into running, and I no longer have anxiety when I consume cannabis. Before getting into running, I couldn't run a mile in 10 minutes. I think most can attest that if you never do any cardiovascular exercise, going up 1-2 flights of stairs might wind you just a little. If the heart of someone with low cardiovascular fitness is sensitive to small perturbations of activity and environment, it's possible that it may be more sensitive to weed, and if a fast heartbeat or pounding heart is associated with the stress/fight-or-flight response, weed could precede feelings of anxiety.
Of course, it could just be the mental improvements of doing exercise, being healthier, and feeling better in general, but I'm wondering if there's a particular connection between heart fitness, the sensitivity of the heartbeat to the effects of weed in relation to low cardiovascular fitness, and whether this represents a biological connection between cannabis and anxiety via the heart.
Serious post. I'm fit. I've been active for about the last ten years of my life, but I've always worked on perceived exertion and fatigue. Back in 2019, I bought a Garmin watch and HRM chest strap to monitor my performance, and it's baffled me. I was expecting as I increased my cardio fitness, my active heart rate would lower for the exercises that I would perform. Whereas let's say I ran an 8 minute mile with a heart rate of 160 for a mile last year, I should run it at the same time with say a heart rate of 150 this year (just an example). But instead of a lower heart rate, I can just sustain the speed for much longer periods.
So which is it? Does my threshold increase as my cardio get better, or is my heart supposed to work less hard?
Its always good to self reflect and ask your self if what you are doing is correct or if it is something that needs adjustments. So I am asking this because I want to see what alternative approaches does a person have pursuing athleticism (outside of doing the sport itself).
As of now I am doing H.I.I.Ts on the elliptical... followed by full body dynamic stretches... After which I am doing weight training(compound)/plyo... Ending on full body static stretches.
What is your personal regiment that you are doing if it is to reach similar goals?
Edit: By Strength I mean explosive strength(fast twitch) more so than maximising how much I can lift.
Edit2: By the way, the sport that I am engaging in is MMA.
So for a while I have been lifting for low reps and completely avoiding cardio, but now I realize it’s in my best interest to raise it, right now im playing basketball for about 1.5 hrs a day 4 days a week (sometimes low sometimes high pace) I wanted to know whats the best way to measure my cardio fitness throughout the coming months (I feel like going off of my bball performance isn’t going to be accurate as i’d like),
Should I incorporate a specific cardio workout day?
And at what rate can I expect progress, like if whatever measure of progress (lets say RHR), doesn’t improve in a week should I increase the the difficulty of the workouts?
Until recently, I’ve always done lots of cardio in my workouts because I thought it was necessary for overall fitness and because I enjoy running (love a good 4+ mile run). The past 3 months I’ve moved into traditional weight training 3-4 times per week. When I run, I’m trying to focus on high speed at shorter distances (1.5 miles) but just a few times a month. To my surprise, I’m still pretty fast!
If I eliminate running/traditional cardio altogether for a few months (or longer), would my cardiovascular fitness plummet? And if so, why do people act like cardio is unnecessary?
