I’ve talked to my wife occasionally about the science between your heart rate when exercising and different levels of fitness.  But this has always been an abstract discussion.  No more.

This past Christmas, my wife got me a Garmin Forerunner 50.  Mine came with a heart rate monitor, but you can also get them with a shoe fob and bike accessory to measure distance (by GPS) and cadence.  Over the last month, I’ve started putting this to work.

Why Worry About Your Heart Rate When Exercising?

I suspect most of the readers know the basic idea behind heart rate and exercise intensity level.  The theory goes that as exercise intensity increases, your body will respond with an increased heart rate.  This happens in due to increasing oxygen demand.  By knowing your maximum heart rate, you can vary your exercise intensity based on your workout goals.

I’ll start by admitting that I’ve always been lukewarm on the subject of monitoring my heart rate when exercising.  After all, why bother?  My attitude has always been that if I’m not exercising hard enough, I’ll know it and push the intensity up.  If I’m exercising too hard, I’ll know it and back off.  Simple, right?

Typical Run

But now that I’ve put this new toy to use, I’ve become a convert.  I’ve been using it for about a month now, and I’ve learned a few things about my workouts.  In particular, I’ve gotten an idea of how different activities can impact my heart rate, and how I can make more efficient use of my time during the limited workouts I have available.

The following is an example of a typical 30-minute run for me.  You can see how my heart rate ramps up rather quickly and holds steady at around 173 beats per minute (bpm) for the duration of the run.  At the end of the run, there’s a rapid taper back to130 bpm during the recovery period.  My average heart rate for the workout was 163 bpm.

Typical Strength Training Workout

By contrast, take a look at a typical graph for a strength training session.  My max heart rate for the workout was 158 bpm, with an average of 122 bpm.  One interesting thing is how my heart rate varied more over the course of the activity.  But, I definitely never achieved the same overall intensity that the run provided.

I suspect that most of us would say that’s not a surprise.  Myself included.  It’s rather intuitive that a sustained run would provide a harder aerobic workout than that same amount of time in the gym.

Since one of my mantras is to be as efficient as possible with my workouts, I’m hoping to use this to improve in that area.  Over the next several weeks, I’m going to put together a series to show how I’ve started using this new tool to improve my workout sessions.

Post from: Live Fit Blog

Get Stronger, Better, Faster – Know Your Heart Rate When Exercising

My wife and I have been on the hunt to understand the cause of our youngest son’s so-called “first seizure.”  This eventually led us to meet with a pediatric neurologist to discuss the problem.  This experience helped remind me of the importance of knowing when to trust your doctor.  And perhaps more importantly, knowing when not to trust your doctor.

Knowing When To Trust Your Doctor

After our son experienced a seizure, my wife and I went on a rampant information gathering session.  Our goal was to understand the possible causes of a seizure, and trace them back to eliminate them from our household.  Seems pretty natural to me.  We want to protect our son.

Eventually, this exercise led us to schedule a visit with an “expert.”  We went to one of the most well-regarded medical centers for children in the area, and eventually ended up seeing one of the “best” doctors for treatment of neurological disorders in children.  So much for that.

We gave the doctor a synopsis of the events leading up to our son’s seizure.  The fact that he had been playing their new Wii for a longer period of time than was normal, the change in his sleep pattern.  To say that I was left feeling “dismissed” is an understatement.  And when I started to ask about the possibility of seizures as a side effect of Singulair, he went so far as to interrupt me in mid-sentence – citing the virtues and safety of the drug.

Needless to say, I was not impressed.

Now.  I am not a doctor, and I have never had any medical training.  But that doesn’t make me stupid.  When I go to sit down with a medical expert to discuss my health (or my child’s health), I want to have a discussion.  You can just about bet that before I sit down with a doctor, I’ve spent some time at least trying to educate myself.  And I want a doctor to sit down with me and hold an intelligent conversation with me.  I do not want to be dismissed, nor do I want to feel marginalized.

And it doesn’t matter just how “good” that doctor may be.

Why?  Because I have little faith in a supposed “expert” who doesn’t have the patience to explain his logic to me.  And, I’ve done enough research to know that modern medicine doesn’t fully understand all the possible causes of a seizure.  Not even close.  And any doctor that pretends they do immediately loses all credibility.  After all, how can you trust your doctor, when they’re unwilling to educate you, or admit to their failings?

By contrast, when we took our son to his pediatric pulmonologist to discuss our questions about possible side effects of Singulair, he came right out and said that Singulair is generally considered safe.  But, we have a common link between a relative with seizures that also takes Singulair.  In his words, “Anything is possible.  Since its a concern, if he doesn’t need the drug, we should eliminate it.”  After some tests, we took him off the Singulair, and go for a follow up later this Spring.

This is the type of relationship one should have with their doctor.  This was a very positive discussion, where the doctor sat down with us and addressed our questions and concerns, treating us as the intelligent people we are.

To be completely fair, what I expected from our visit to the neurologist was to be put in a “watch and wait” mode.  A single seizure does not usually lead to anti-convulsant medication.  The purpose was to open a dialogue and build relationship with a specialist, should this situation progress further.  Unfortunately, what I learned, was that however wonderful this doctor may be, he is not a doctor in whom I would place my trust.

So, how do you know when you can’t trust your doctor?

If a doctor can’t address the needs of their patient, it may be time to look elsewhere.  To me, a doctor that is unwilling to sit down and have a dialogue to answer my questions is either a) too busy to take on another patient, or b) lacks confidence in their own ability to properly diagnose a condition.  Neither of those possibilities give me faith in their ability to provide proper treatment.

Post from: Live Fit Blog

When To Trust Your Doctor – And When You Shouldn’t

The question of how to eat after exercise is a morass, with a tangle of opinions and conflicting research.  But its pertinent to how to structure your eating habits for maintaining your desired body weight.  There are a variety of opinions on this subject out  – wait an hour, eat within 30-minutes, drink juice immediately, eat protein, eat carbs, etc.  The list goes on.  I tend to be of the “keep it simple” mindset.  One should eat in a way that supports their goals, as they relate to health and fitness.

How To Eat After Exercise

Many of the health benefits of exercise are transient.  That is – the greatest benefits are reaped in the first hours immediately after your workout.  Those benefits begin to fade rather quickly.  This is a truism for all workouts, and it doesn’t matter if you’re into aerobic exercise, strength training, or some combination of the two.  The majority of the health benefits occur in the immediate hours following your workout session.  Hence, the recommendation from experts that regular daily exercise provides the greatest benefits.

Researchers have found that one of the greatest overall benefits of daily exercise is enhanced insulin sensitivity.  This has implications for the management and avoidance of diabetes.  Greater insulin resistance means the body can more efficiently manage blood sugar.  To reap the maximum insulin sensitivity from your workout, the amount of food you eat after exercise appears to exert little influence, busting the myth of calorie restriction immediately after a workout.  But – the composition of your post-workout meal can impact the result.

Researchers have found that, in the case of aerobic exercise, choosing to eat a low carb meal after your workout will yield maximum insulin resistance, as long as the calorie content does not exceed the calories expended during your workout session.

The recommendation for what to eat after strength training matches up well with those for aerobic exercise.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, most research suggests an average-sized guy can efficiently utilize up to about 20-grams of protein in the hours following a workout to build muscle.  The rest essentially goes to waste.

Experts seem to be divided on the role of carbohydrates in post-workout protein synthesis.  However, the consumption of small amounts of high quality carbohydrates (vegetables and fruits) can certainly help replenish glycogen stores used during your workout.

So, the ideal post-workout meal, should include 20-grams of high quality protein.  At 4-calories per gram, that makes up 80-calories.  The remaining calories should be derived from a blend of fats and carbohydrates, to a level that is commensurate with your weight goals (i.e. weight loss, weight gain, or weight maintenance).  Your meal should be weighted away from carbohydrates for ideal insulin resistance.

Resources

• Protein And Workouts
• Carbs And Insulin
• Photo credit

Post from: Live Fit Blog

How To Eat After Exercise