Hmmm
Well, here's what i have tried. First, i used to row at the old "fat burning" pace for about an hour. If i worked the pace up into my aerobic phase, then i would burn out faster. Fat burning pace I can go for over an hour,....increase the pace to the aerobic pace and i konk out after 45 to 50 minutes. Oddly enough...the calories burned in total are roughly the same...one just takes longer.....
Then i tried this interval pattern suggested to me by one of those fitness freaks we all know (raw diet, exercises twice a day, competes in marathons..like ironman..you all know the type) Anyways, say I was going to row 12000 metres. I would row the first 1000 metres to warm up at the fat burning pace (for me thats around 135 bpm for the heart rate monitor) and then, when i reach the 11000 metres left mark, I pump up the pace and row for one minute at a rate that gets my heart going about 155 bpm....near the top of my aerobic zone...then slow back down to the fat burning pace again and stay there until I get to the 10000 metres left point, then row at the accelerated pace again for one minute..and so on. My interval starts at the even 1000's mark and lasts for one minute each time. I use the heart rate monitor to figure out how hard to row and then how easy to row.
I have found, doing that for a month..that the number of calories I burn is slightly more than i used to, but the rest in between the intervals allows me to row longer than I would if i kept up a faster pace through the entire thing.....a good compromise for me...
I feel like I am getting an increased aerobic capacity..I seem to see my heart rate "recovering " faster after the intervals now..and the length of time I can row like this is roughly the same as if I were just sitting in the fat burning zone.
My muscles feel better than if I keep a higher rate throughout...recovery from the row is shorter and I think I am losing weight at a slightly increased rate..though after one month..it's too early to tell for real.
Works for me..... without working the muscles too terribly hard. I am not one of those people that cares what my split times are...just how much lower my blood pressure is and how much less my weight is from year to year.....down 20 lbs from 12 months ago..
Darren
age 42, weight 243 lbs....too heavy
8/12 sec. intervals triple fat burning?
tabata? in sheep's clothing
This sounds very Tabata-like in nature so I am not sure the researchers down under get the prize for this one....on the other hand, it is nice to know that Tabata, Crossfit, and Body for Life type of workouts are getting more validation. Row on friends, row on.