calories/hours

[Debbie]

Hi, I just got a PM4 last week and love it!! I have been doing 15 minute workouts, tracking calories and trying to stay in the 600's for cal/hr. I am now realizing that most people do distance (2000 M) or time intervals (30 min). So I'll probably switch over to those masures but my questions are:
- is 600 cal/hr a good pace?
- can I translate cal/hr into approximate M/hr?
- what rate of M/hr should I be going during low and high intensity sprints?
- how do I know where to adjust the resistance know to? (I heard that I have to figure out what setting is best for me to be maximally efficient).

Thanks everyone!
-Debbie

[Citroen]

- is 600 cal/hr a good pace?

You get 300cals/hr for free. Most of us use PACE (time taken to cover 500m) as our unit of choice.

- can I translate cal/hr into approximate M/hr?

Look at your PM4 memory (or LogCard) - when you find an interesting workout press [CHANGE UNITS] and the workout data will be automagically converted to watts or pace/500.

- what rate of M/hr should I be going during low and high intensity sprints?

Look at something like the UK Interactive Programme or the UK Weightloss Programme
http://concept2.co.uk/training/interactive
those programmes take some of your vital statistics and generate a custom made training programme for you.

- how do I know where to adjust the resistance know to? (I heard that I have to figure out what setting is best for me to be maximally efficient).

This is the $64,000 question. It depends on a bunch of variables: weight, height, gender and personal preference. Start with the lever at 4 (on a clean machine) which should give a drag factor of around 120. See how that feels.
See http://www.c2forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38 for details and for an interpretation of the jargon used on here.