I posted this in the Men's room but I am hoping someone else might have some insight as well.

"I have done 90% of my "running" on the elpitical. 325 is alot of presure on the joints. A hell of alot better than 380 but still more than i need be in order to "run" on daily. Congrats on week 3. Have you been able to hit the BPM reccomendations consistanly? I find that I am not able to get the RPM on my machine above 65-70 for any kind of sustained time. I need to keep the level tension up in order to maintain form, then I end up not being able to push the pedals fast enough to get my HR to the maintained rate for the entire interval.

Anyone have advice for this? I have tried a lower level and I end all "herky-jerky" with my legs. Any higher of a level and my knees are burning at around the 20 minute mark from the stress of pushing."

Thanks

Dan

Hmmmmm, not quite sure.

What I found when I began running though was that I was already quite fit cardiovascularly speaking. What held me back and had me staggering by 2 or 3 kms was not feeling like my heart was beating 1000 times per minute or that my lungs were going to explode, it was muscular exhaustion.

I found I had to work for quite a long time to build up the muscular endurance (and probaby my body's ability to deliver oxygen if you want to get more technical). I didnt worry about the heart rate. It was what it was. I was sweating, breathing harder, and getting tired, therefore what I was doing was effective. Too much focus on having your heart rate exactly so really can distract from what you're trying to achieve.

You dont want to be working really light but fast all the time, you need some harder work to build your muscular endurance.

What about interval training? I found that REALLY super duper effective in getting me fit and strong very quickly. Some really hard work at that higher restistance, it will shoot your heart rate up through the roof but you dont try to maintain it for an hour, then you step back to some lighter easier work for a short interval.

If you need some encouragement, I cant recommend Cardio Coach highly enough its PERFECT for the elliptical. www.cardiocoach.com. Its inexpensive and not at all cheesy, he's a really good trainer and the music is great too. It really really helped me in the early days and I still rely on it for treadmill work which I find a bit boring.

Thanks Jac.

I am using the Podrunner series which is an interval training podcast from Itunes. I am finding it very good. and I am burnign the calories. (400-475 per session) I am fairly healthy cardiowise I think, my recovery phases drop my BPM back down to target ranges, I just find it odd that I can't seem to get into the target range on my intense phase. I would have expected the opposite, Highly elevated thoughtout with a poor recovery during the low intensity part.

I am sweating and feeling "the burn" for sure so I will stay the course, just seems odd to me...

Dan

(gob shut and moving.)

I am not sure if you can actually get a really intense "running" workout on an elliptical machine

I am not sure if you can actually get a really intense "running" workout on an elliptical machine

I would not say it is Running. It is "running" :laugh:. I can not get the RPM high enough to actually RUN.