Post by Marty Queen on Sept 4, 2006 14:36:22 GMT -5
I just thought I'd tell you guys a little about my own cardio past, which is why Joey asked me to moderate this forum, so you'll know my history with this kind of stuff.
I was very much into fitness and weight training up until I got married (14 years ago), but then slacked off (imagine that!). When the YMCA opened here in 2003, I started back to the gym, lifting and trying to get into better CV shape. It was like starting all over again, of course, but slowly, it came.
I started running on the indoor track at the Y. For some reason, the length of the track (19 laps=1 mile) felt good to me, and I slowly built up to running 40, then 60 (5k), and finally, 100-plus laps at least twice a week. The 100-lappers are 5.3 miles; a 10k is 120 laps. Occasionally, I'd go 133 laps (7 miles).
Kept at it, mixing in some 1-hour-plus sessions of high intensity training on the exercise bike, and it wasn't long before I was in the absolute best cardio shape of my life. I found being in good shape helped my weight training, because I was able to get plenty of oxygen to all my muscles throughout the workout.
Then I had a major setback. Went for a run a few days after the gym floor had been polished. I had run in gyms with fresh polish on the floor before, with no ill effects. But something happened during that run that I feel really hurt my cardiovascular system. I became short of breath and dizzy, and had to stop after 39 laps, which wasn't shit for me at the time; I was just starting to get loose.
For several days after that, my heart beat was very strange -- lots of flopping and stuttering, sort of. Went to the doc, had to wear one of those 48-hour monitors, but they found nothing obviously wrong.
I tried to shake it off and started running again, and I eventually made it back to the 100-lap runs, although my times were a good 10 minutes slower (2 minutes slower per mile!) than they had been.
Then, last fall, I got a terrible case of bronchitis that kicked my ass. I was unable to do anything for a long time, because I'd just start coughing and have to quit. So right now, I'm out of shape, by my standards. I have been running some, 20-25 laps or so, and following that with 15-20 minutes on the bike a couple times a week in between lifting.
Losing all my conditioning has really pissed me off, because it was taken from me by circumstances beyond my control. So now that I'm starting to train for strength in the weight room, I'm determined to get back up to running 5-plus miles whenever I feel like it, and I won't be satisfied until that happens. It's just difficult right now, because I've got such a long way to go.
Hopefully, this forum will introduce me, and all you guys as well, to some new forms of cardio work that will help us not only lift more weight, but be healthier as well.
My mother died when I was 15 of emphysema. She was a heavy smoker, and I never knew her a day in her life when she was healthy (in and out of the hospital all the time). My dad died when I was 17 of a heart attack in his sleep; he was 50, and also a heavy smoker, overweight, and had a terrible diet. I saw firsthand what it looks and feels like to smother to death, and I'll be damned if I'm going to do it (barring any unforeseen medical problems, knock on wood). That's why cardio training is important to me.
Let's hear how some of you train for cardiovascular health; I'm anxious to get some feedback on your training methods.
Thanks,
Marty
I was very much into fitness and weight training up until I got married (14 years ago), but then slacked off (imagine that!). When the YMCA opened here in 2003, I started back to the gym, lifting and trying to get into better CV shape. It was like starting all over again, of course, but slowly, it came.
I started running on the indoor track at the Y. For some reason, the length of the track (19 laps=1 mile) felt good to me, and I slowly built up to running 40, then 60 (5k), and finally, 100-plus laps at least twice a week. The 100-lappers are 5.3 miles; a 10k is 120 laps. Occasionally, I'd go 133 laps (7 miles).
Kept at it, mixing in some 1-hour-plus sessions of high intensity training on the exercise bike, and it wasn't long before I was in the absolute best cardio shape of my life. I found being in good shape helped my weight training, because I was able to get plenty of oxygen to all my muscles throughout the workout.
Then I had a major setback. Went for a run a few days after the gym floor had been polished. I had run in gyms with fresh polish on the floor before, with no ill effects. But something happened during that run that I feel really hurt my cardiovascular system. I became short of breath and dizzy, and had to stop after 39 laps, which wasn't shit for me at the time; I was just starting to get loose.
For several days after that, my heart beat was very strange -- lots of flopping and stuttering, sort of. Went to the doc, had to wear one of those 48-hour monitors, but they found nothing obviously wrong.
I tried to shake it off and started running again, and I eventually made it back to the 100-lap runs, although my times were a good 10 minutes slower (2 minutes slower per mile!) than they had been.
Then, last fall, I got a terrible case of bronchitis that kicked my ass. I was unable to do anything for a long time, because I'd just start coughing and have to quit. So right now, I'm out of shape, by my standards. I have been running some, 20-25 laps or so, and following that with 15-20 minutes on the bike a couple times a week in between lifting.
Losing all my conditioning has really pissed me off, because it was taken from me by circumstances beyond my control. So now that I'm starting to train for strength in the weight room, I'm determined to get back up to running 5-plus miles whenever I feel like it, and I won't be satisfied until that happens. It's just difficult right now, because I've got such a long way to go.
Hopefully, this forum will introduce me, and all you guys as well, to some new forms of cardio work that will help us not only lift more weight, but be healthier as well.
My mother died when I was 15 of emphysema. She was a heavy smoker, and I never knew her a day in her life when she was healthy (in and out of the hospital all the time). My dad died when I was 17 of a heart attack in his sleep; he was 50, and also a heavy smoker, overweight, and had a terrible diet. I saw firsthand what it looks and feels like to smother to death, and I'll be damned if I'm going to do it (barring any unforeseen medical problems, knock on wood). That's why cardio training is important to me.
Let's hear how some of you train for cardiovascular health; I'm anxious to get some feedback on your training methods.
Thanks,
Marty
