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Hoping this is the right thread for this question, Cat or Mere.  I would say I started at ground zero right after the first of the year with a primary goal of losing weight. I got a stationary bike for Christmas and immediately joined SSOD.  It has been an awesome journey so far.  It had been a number of years since I had a consistent workout plan in my life. I have always liked training with a heart rate monitor and am doing so now while spinning.  It has been great to feel and see the improvements I’ve made in a few short weeks… improved stamina, ability to complete classes that I couldn’t when I first tried, weight loss, toning to name a few. But here is my question: would I be better to back off my resistance in order to lower my heart rate since my primary goal is weight loss?  I find that I am training largely in the 70 to 90% max rate;  my heart rate is running 150-180 bpm for upwards of 75% of the length of my workout. I feel it’s sustainable and hope that I will see my heart rate drop if I continue.  In other words I attribute the higher heart rate to my not being in good condition. I’m trying to work my way back to a higher level of cardio fitness.  I am concerned that reducing the resistance will not give me what I need for the hill work or parts of class where we need to be out of saddle.  I feel good after workouts. The weight is coming off. I’m hoping that in time  if I continue at this pace, as my cardio level of fitness improves that my heart rate will naturally drop for the same type of work out.  I hope that makes sense and for the record I am 48 years old, started at 146.8 pounds have dropped to 140 pounds, I am working my way to 130 and am a former college athlete  (too many years ago).
Not sure this will post as a reply where I expect but…thanks Cat and Mere for your replies. Â Can tell I’m dialing it in w/each class. Love trying new instructors. Â I really started at ground zero so muscle strength not there yet–but getting better. Feeling great. Sleeping well. Overall health and energy is way up.
So happy to have found SSOD. For several years, I incorporated stationary biking as the regular cardio piece of my workout at a local gym. I always loved it. Wore a monitor. Often did interval programs. Have been slack for the last few years and without a regular fitness routine in my life. As the pounds added and years passed, I lamented my shape of years gone by and knew I needed to find that “thing” again that I really enjoyed. My workouts just hadn’t been regular/often enough to get to any consistently good shape.
My husband gave me a stationary bike for Christmas (lifecycle gx). I started with the intro Youtube class and I joined SSOD shortly after. I figured joining this group would help me stay on task in these early weeks and give me the chance to figure out which instructors and classes I like best. Mere is an early favorite!
I’m trying to get used to the lingo different instructors use–and what it means for me. My bike has levels (1-19)…does that equate to gears? I’m thinking– not really. If they say “you should be at 70%,” does that mean of what I think my max effort is–or 70% resistance. When they say this is a jog vs a walk vs a run, do I just use their cadence as a guide or what I think equates to my walking , jogging, running pace…. I know it will all come in time as I spend more time spinning. Or maybe there’s an “instructor lingo conversion for dummies” report somewhere. 😉 It’s been a great start.
I did screw up my first two check-in comments as “FFP” rather than “FFS.” Please count them. I’ll get it right from here.
Thanks Cat and Mere.
Jackie~Richmond, VA
