Fitness/Diet Accountability Thread

[FireDragon76]

I tried some slow jogging at the gym. My cadence only got up to 145 steps per minute, and my heart rate was 117. I felt like I was using too much energy, and I couldn't sustain jogging without having my heart rate rise to about 122. So I used a mixture of jogging and walking for a few minutes, but I didn't want to push it because I was trying to avoid fatigue.

I suspect I'm just not light enough, and my legs just aren't fast or powerful enough to jog efficiently. Maybe when I get down to about 15-16 percent body fat, jogging will be easier.

I did some elliptical work with my heart rate at 114 bpm. The elliptical machines they have at the fitness club are very comfortable and have a shorter stride length of about 18 inches. It feels more like upright peddling a bicycle.

I'm going to take a day off to rest tomorrow and hopefully I can get my Body Battery up and my resting heart rate comes back down to around 57.

 

[BPPLEE]

More giant sets and high intensity work followed by 50 KB Swings and 50 Club Swings
I really need to get back on my diet though

 

[BPPLEE]

Yesterday I had quite a struggle with a patient that is under a hold and cannot leave. He decided to leave anyway and it was a battle to stop him, get control and get him back in his room.
Once there and in restraints he managed to get out of them and it was a struggle again until the shots they gave him kicked in.
Today my left leg has been hurting with nerve pain and my right foot with arthritis.
Hopefully I won’t have to fight anyone

 

[FireDragon76]

You seem to be hooked up to a lot of things.

I've always been a bit of a biohacker even before that was a thing.

My wife thinks I'm weird for just wearing a heart rate monitor.

Heart rate zone training makes good sense, since it's a simple metric to gauge cardiovascular stress.

I decided to invest in an inexpensive ECG chest strap, just because there are times that I want a completely reliable signal, and since you can replace the battery with a cheap lithium disposable, they last a long time.

 

[FireDragon76]

I did low intensity cardio at the gym today in the morning:

Warmup:

10 minutes of hand cycling, 3 METS (about 28 watts).
10 minutes of recumbent stepper, 3 METS.
(Heart rate was 84-92 bpm for both.)

10 minutes of recumbent bike, 92 bpm heart rate target

Then I raised the intensity a little:

10 minutes of walking and slow jogging intervals at 2.2 - 2.7 mph, 105-117 bpm (an arm band sensor was useful here as I could pair it with the treadmill)
10 minutes of elliptical, 114 bpm target

Then I did about ten minutes of cooldown on an upright bike set on level zero. Heart rate was about 90-94 bpm.

Jogging was difficult to sustain. The heart rate kept trying to drift into the 120's after a while. I think I need more power and spring in my legs. So that's why I did intervals of jogging and walking.

My Body Battery only gradually went down after the workout, which is good. It wasn't too draining. Tomorrow I plan on doing some low intensity air walker for about a half hour or so, and maybe some light resistance band work if my Body Battery score is high enough.

 

[FireDragon76]

I've been experimenting with the EliteHRV app the past few days. I have been taking HRV readings in the morning with my arm band , then it establishes a heart rate and heart rate variability baseline over a few days and gives you a score every morning after you wake up. This morning, readiness score was 9, which was near optimal. Yesterday morning the score was 6, and it said I wasn't balanced, basically somewhat strung out and sympathetic nervous system dominant, and should be cautious. So yesterday's workout wasn't apparently overdoing it, and was in line with a recovery.

Garmin Body Battery, on the other hand, gave me a score of 65%, which is just fair. According to popular opinions on Reddit's Garmin forum, I should do light to medium intensity exercise today only. So there's a bit of a discrepency in scoring that is interesting. Conservatively, I should probably go with the Garmin recommendation.

Resting heart rate according to Garmin is 52. I am guessing my watch calculated it based on sleep data. The 7 day rolling average is around 55. I suspect this is my actual resting heart rate, and 52 might be more like a bit of parasympathetic overdrive due to recovery from illness.

I'm going to experiment with cutting back on caffeine a little bit. Only one cup of coffee today (I only keep half-caff at home), the rest of the day I will drink green or red tea and water/sports drinks as needed- I'll try to keep total caffeine intake around 100mg. In the past, I haven't see much difference, but I'm curious if I see a difference in stress/HRV scores now that I am in an actual recovery period.

 

[FireDragon76]

I did a six minute fitness test on an exercise bike today. 75 watts for six minutes, steady heart rate of 118 bpm. I also used a recumbent stepper, with the same 75 watts, and the results were more or less the same in terms of final heart rate. I used an online calculator, adjusted the results for age, and the results came out to 36 ml/kg/min. Which is exactly what my Garmin watch reads using the walking test and GPS. 36 is a decent VO2Max for a physically active person of my age who isn't an athlete.

 

[timewerx]

I did a six minute fitness test on an exercise bike today. 75 watts for six minutes, steady heart rate of 118 bpm. I also used a recumbent stepper, with the same 75 watts, and the results were more or less the same in terms of final heart rate. I used an online calculator, adjusted the results for age, and the results came out to 36 ml/kg/min. Which is exactly what my Garmin watch reads using the walking test and GPS. 36 is a decent VO2Max for a physically active person of my age who isn't an athlete.

For us born male, a vo2max of 36 would still be regarded as poor according to most health and fitness sites and it applies to everyone, not just athletes.

But to those born female, 36 would be good.

 

[FireDragon76]

For us born male, a vo2max of 36 would still be regarded as poor according to most health and fitness sites and it applies to everyone, not just athletes.

But to those born female, 36 would be good.

For somebody that's 48 years old, it's considered around the 50th percentile. Having a VO2Max below 28-30 would be poor.

Alot of sites are biased towards athletic performance, or they include 40 year olds and 49 year olds in the same category. A VO2Max of 36 wouldn't be particularly good for an endurance athlete (though there have been endurance athletes with around that VO2Max before), but many people have far worse at my age.

I suspect I am having a mixture of post-COVID fatigue and over-reaching, and that might be lowering my VO2Max as well, since I've seen it higher on my watch than the current score. Using Garmin Body Battery and Elite HRV morning readings have been helpful to learn to pace myself. For instance, this morning EliteHRV recommends a rest day today.

 

[timewerx]

I suspect I am having a mixture of post-COVID fatigue and over-reaching, and that might be lowering my VO2Max as well, since I've seen it higher on my watch than the current score. Using Garmin Body Battery and Elite HRV morning readings have been helpful to learn to pace myself. For instance, this morning EliteHRV recommends a rest day today.

I forgot about your Covid. You can expect your V02max to improve over time. Do try to raise it to above 40.

When I got infected from Covid last 2021, Delta variant. I got sick for a few days with fever then went back to training a week later. My power output is much lower but still did lots of moderate intensity (Zone 2) training and avoided any medium and high intensity.

A few months later, I was able to add some higher intensity intervals. Today, the majority of my training is still in Zone 2. Easy enough to avoid over training but hard enough to induce adaptations.

 

[FireDragon76]

I forgot about your Covid. You can expect your V02max to improve over time. Do try to raise it to above 40.

When I got infected from Covid last 2021, Delta variant. I got sick for a few days with fever then went back to training a week later. My power output is much lower but still did lots of moderate intensity (Zone 2) training and avoided any medium and high intensity.

It could be different genetics, or a difference in age. Some people of northern European ancestry seem uniquely vulnerable to COVID.

A few months later, I was able to add some higher intensity intervals. Today, the majority of my training is still in Zone 2. Easy enough to avoid over training but hard enough to induce adaptations.

The general advice for COVID is to spend at least 1-2 weeks doing light activity only with alot of rest, and no resistance training or high intensity activity for at least 3 weeks. I didn't follow that to the T but I'm still trying to be mindful of having rest and recovery as the priority. Some days, even moderate intensity activity has been too much.

My doctor said up to two months isn't unusual for a COVID infection to leave a person fatigued. Beyond that, you are looking at a Long COVID diagnosis.

 

[timewerx]

It could be different genetics, or a difference in age. Some people of northern European ancestry seem uniquely vulnerable to COVID.

The general advice for COVID is to spend at least 1-2 weeks doing light activity only with alot of rest, and no resistance training or high intensity activity for at least 3 weeks. I didn't follow that to the T but I'm still trying to be mindful of having rest and recovery as the priority. Some days, even moderate intensity activity has been too much.

My doctor said up to two months isn't unusual for a COVID infection to leave a person fatigued. Beyond that, you are looking at a Long COVID diagnosis.

I didn't follow the exercise guideline for Covid either (wasn't aware of it at all) but I couldn't do any high intensity for few months, I can feel more strain in my lungs and heart and didn't want to push it. But I did allow my HR to get around 140 bpm which is Zone 2 for me and held it for at least 30 minutes.

Power output, considerably less. It won't be until 2 years after Covid, my pre-Covid power output is restored and exceeded.

I definitely got hit pretty hard without any vaccines back then by the infamous Delta Variant. Considerable impact in my exercise performance for 2 years.

 

[FireDragon76]

I didn't follow the exercise guideline for Covid either (wasn't aware of it at all) but I couldn't do any high intensity for few months, I can feel more strain in my lungs and heart and didn't want to push it. But I did allow my HR to get around 140 bpm which is Zone 2 for me and held it for at least 30 minutes.

Power output, considerably less. It won't be until 2 years after Covid, my pre-Covid power output is restored and exceeded.

I definitely got hit pretty hard without any vaccines back then by the infamous Delta Variant. Considerable impact in my exercise performance for 2 years.

I didn't have alot of coughing . A loss of appetite followed by a fever that was hard to shake and a really stuffy nose. I had a bit of coughing after that, but not much. I didn't feel anything in my lungs so much, unlike with early Omicron. In fact I'd say the latest iteration of Omicron is sneakier than in the past. I didn't even know I was sick for a day and a half. I thought I was just fatigued.

What is really disturbing is that it feels like my "battery" has been drained, despite the mild symptoms. That's the closest metaphor I can think of.

 

[trophy33]

What is really disturbing is that it feels like my "battery" has been drained, despite the mild symptoms. That's the closest metaphor I can think of.

Probably damaged mitochondria. Mitochondria are our powerhouses.

 

[timewerx]

I didn't have alot of coughing . A loss of appetite followed by a fever that was hard to shake and a really stuffy nose. I had a bit of coughing after that, but not much. I didn't feel anything in my lungs so much, unlike with early Omicron. In fact I'd say the latest iteration of Omicron is sneakier than in the past. I didn't even know I was sick for a day and a half. I thought I was just fatigued.

What is really disturbing is that it feels like my "battery" has been drained, despite the mild symptoms. That's the closest metaphor I can think of.

It's the air, like breathing thin air and getting less oxygen because of damaged cardio system. You won't notice until you to try to do the same hard physical activity as you did before, except you can't do it anymore or struggle to do so.

I'm not sure I got hit by Omicron yet. I only took vaccine and boosters last 2021 for Delta and no more after that but I don't remember having flu-like symptoms since 2021. Exercise performance remained consistence except for times I ate contaminated food and got food poisoning. Gives the same feeling of hiking all day on the mountains without eating anything. High levels of fatigue even if I didn't exercise probably from low glucose/glycogen levels.

Fortunately, you can build that lost strength and endurance back but will take some time. Exercising in Zone 2. Start short like really short, 5 mins or 10 mins each day and progressively add a little more time to the session each week or two 1 minute more each week and you'll end up with almost 1 hour by the end of the year

 

[FireDragon76]

It's the air, like breathing thin air and getting less oxygen because of damaged cardio system. You won't notice until you to try to do the same hard physical activity as you did before, except you can't do it anymore or struggle to do so.

I'm not sure I got hit by Omicron yet. I only took vaccine and boosters last 2021 for Delta and no more after that but I don't remember having flu-like symptoms since 2021. Exercise performance remained consistence except for times I ate contaminated food and got food poisoning. Gives the same feeling of hiking all day on the mountains without eating anything. High levels of fatigue even if I didn't exercise probably from low glucose/glycogen levels.

Fortunately, you can build that lost strength and endurance back but will take some time. Exercising in Zone 2. Start short like really short, 5 mins or 10 mins each day and progressively add a little more time to the session each week or two 1 minute more each week and you'll end up with almost 1 hour by the end of the year

I was doing what I thought of as Zone 2 before, but IMO it was overtraining and not sustainable (128-134 bpm).

I try to stick to around 113-117 bpm, which is about 60-70 percent of my (predicted/calculated) maximum heart rate. A few days a week, I will go lighter intensity, 90-102, for 30 minutes to an hour. That's about 50-60 percent of max heart rate.

Since I switched to this lower intensity, my waistline and visceral fat has started to go back down. Alot of walking at a moderate pace (not "power walking", just walking) or using an air walker is probably the best way to lose weight I have found. I think part of what helps is my diet, since it's probably somewhat lower in calories and high in fiber. Somebody that ate a more calorie dense diet might have to do more intense exercise or more volume. When I do over 10,000 steps a day, I get fatigued and sore. It stops feeling good.

 

[FireDragon76]

Probably damaged mitochondria. Mitochondria are our powerhouses.

That's what I thought of, too. It might not just be due to COVID, but I think I was probably overdoing exercise intensity for a few months. Overtraining can lower VO2Max, sometimes chronically in deeper stages (I probably was in the early stages).

With the help of my watch and a few apps on my tablet (EliteHRV in particular), I'm getting better at managing physical activity, at a range of intensities, and making it a part of my life, instead of reaching a certain abstract metric of physical fitness based on intensity or volume, which can sometimes drive very focused people to overdo things.

 

[FireDragon76]

I wonder if lower reported VO2Max isn't partly due to having shorter legs, and the way many submaximal VO2Max tests work (considering distance, time, and power or wattage, rather than directly measuring O2). Longer legs might give more mechanical advantage in walking, running, and cycling, potentially allowing for more distance travelled at a lower heart rate within a given length of time.

I always have a little trouble buying pants that are short enough, and my arms are longer than my legs (it runs in the family, I guess). I wear a 29" inseam. My normal walking speed is about 2.5 - 2.75 mph (4 kph).

I've been using an inexpensive ECG chest strap with Elite HRV (signal quality is good according to the app, whereas it judges most optical sensors to be poor), and my HRV score is good for my age (around 55-70 most days), whereas the average for my age is around 44), my resting heart rate has averaged below 60 ever since I started tracking in months ago, so the low VO2Max score doesn't fit in with the rest of the data.

 

[BPPLEE]

I’m still having nerve pain but I’m going to workout. Today will be chest, biceps and the 400 rep mace routine. Tomorrow will be shoulders,triceps, kettlebell and battle rope. Saturday will be back and 400 again.

 

[timewerx]

I think part of what helps is my diet, since it's probably somewhat lower in calories and high in fiber. Somebody that ate a more calorie dense diet might have to do more intense exercise or more volume. When I do over 10,000 steps a day, I get fatigued and sore. It stops feeling good.

You may need more calories/carbs for longer/more intense workouts.

Although I do intermittent fasting and exercise during the fasting window. I would eat more the night before a long and grueling workout session. Sometimes for two days.

You probably heard of "carbo loading". I do it without suspending intermittent fasting. I simply eat two huge meals the day before or for two days before the long workout.

The only thing I don't do is eat shortly before and during workout. The habit works against adaptations that improve endurance. I don't do it anymore for losing weight since I've already reached the lowest possible weight I could safely achieve. Simply for improving endurance.

Although professional athletes do eat before and during exercise, they have such incredibly high weekly training load they may still end up with a large calorie deficit after their workouts despite eating during the workout. Such conditions would still drive adaptations that improve endurance.