E
Elisa Francesca
Guest
Today I finally had my Stress Test at the hospital to determine what level of effort I should put
into my nightly hour's training on the stationary bike.
I have had the stationary since January and have been using it devoutly in front of the TV for over
5 months. I have been training at a pulse rate of 147 because that seemed to be my aerobic
threshold, the point at which it starts to feel "hard to talk or sing normally" as someone in this
forum put it. I've also been monitoring my resting pulse rate which now seems to be around 58 on a
good day, although it varies widely. I train for half an hour then take a very short break, two or
three minutes to gulp some water and mop the streaming sweat, then another similar break after 45
minutes, and in the last two minutes of the hour I usually sprint, letting the pulse rate go way up
into the anaerobic zone, because this seems to improve the recovery reading taken in the minute
after I stop.
The cardiologist measured a starting blood pressure of 15/9, which he said was high. The test
finished at 162 pulses per minute and a tension rate of 24/8. His recommendation was that I train at
around 135-140 pulses per minute, blood pressure around 21/8, rather than my current 145-147 at
22/8. The energy produced at this rate is 120 watts, but my own machine doesn't measure watts so I
cannot track that parameter.
I'm disappointed that after 6 months of steady training I should still be in a hypertension zone of
15/9, and that my resting rate doesn't seem to have improved much. The doctor told me, moreover,
that it is unlikely that the blood pressure will go on improving beyond its current level, since
there is a bottoming out effect. I don't know what it was before I started training, but on at least
two occasions it alarmed doctors with readings up in the 18s, so perhaps there has been some
improvement. On the other hand, I had hoped that improvement would be steady and that I would be
able to control the hypertension with exercize alone. There he's talking about treating it with
drugs, an idea I want to resist. I feel trapped because I know things will deteriorate if I _stop_
training, but they won't improve if I continue.
However, this doctor is a very taciturn, uncommunicative type and I couldn't get many answers out of
him, so I turn to you highly trained people for your experiences.
Is that famous resting pulse rate in the 40s that rewards trained cyclists open to everyone with
continued effort, or is it a matter of talent and individual morphology? Does an hour's daily
training get you there in the end, or do those people spend their lives pedalling? I really don't
think I could do more than an hour - it's already extremely contraining as I often don't get home
until 9pm and find myself pedalling deep into the night. Is it related to the blood pressure reading
or an independent variable?
What improves when you put effort in, and what motivates you to continue? Appearance-wise I have
experienced no change whatsoever. My legs don't look a bit more muscular than in January,
despite having the Frankenstein Walk from stiffness at the end of my sessions. I'm no slimmer,
either. In the heat, I'm still getting the oedemas at the ankles from poor circulation that I
had in the bad old days.
My recorded speed seemed to improve for a while. At the lower resistances I could eventually cover
up to 37 km in an hour. Now it's down to only about 30 km but the resistance is also higher.
Unfortunately I do not know exactly what the resistance is: my machine has settings from 1 to 10 and
the maximum is supposedly 25 kg, but does that necessarily make the setting at 6 15 kg? And how can
I relate that to the doctor's machine which measured in watts?
I hate that hour of torture and it's hard to keep up the motivation.
My performances seemed considerably better in colder weather. When the outside temperature was under
0° C I had all the windows open and exercised happily in minimal clothing. I seemd to tire much
less. Now in the summer, 26°C outside with the fan directly blowing on me I'm huffing and puffing
much sooner. I wonder if this heat-phobia that I have is normal?
My machine had a defect, a klonking noise at each turn of the pedal which caused complaints from my
neighbors and restricted my late-night sessions. This was particularly noticeable at lower
resistances, obliging me to raise the resistance to 6 before I was really finished with 5. So there
has been some discontinuity. As of Saturday the machine will be removed for servicing to correct the
klonk. They warned me this could take up to twenty days. I'm terrified of the regression that will
cause, although I have in the meantime stepped up practise on my real bicycle.
I'm rambling. Thanks for your thoughts.
Elisa Roselli Paris, France
into my nightly hour's training on the stationary bike.
I have had the stationary since January and have been using it devoutly in front of the TV for over
5 months. I have been training at a pulse rate of 147 because that seemed to be my aerobic
threshold, the point at which it starts to feel "hard to talk or sing normally" as someone in this
forum put it. I've also been monitoring my resting pulse rate which now seems to be around 58 on a
good day, although it varies widely. I train for half an hour then take a very short break, two or
three minutes to gulp some water and mop the streaming sweat, then another similar break after 45
minutes, and in the last two minutes of the hour I usually sprint, letting the pulse rate go way up
into the anaerobic zone, because this seems to improve the recovery reading taken in the minute
after I stop.
The cardiologist measured a starting blood pressure of 15/9, which he said was high. The test
finished at 162 pulses per minute and a tension rate of 24/8. His recommendation was that I train at
around 135-140 pulses per minute, blood pressure around 21/8, rather than my current 145-147 at
22/8. The energy produced at this rate is 120 watts, but my own machine doesn't measure watts so I
cannot track that parameter.
I'm disappointed that after 6 months of steady training I should still be in a hypertension zone of
15/9, and that my resting rate doesn't seem to have improved much. The doctor told me, moreover,
that it is unlikely that the blood pressure will go on improving beyond its current level, since
there is a bottoming out effect. I don't know what it was before I started training, but on at least
two occasions it alarmed doctors with readings up in the 18s, so perhaps there has been some
improvement. On the other hand, I had hoped that improvement would be steady and that I would be
able to control the hypertension with exercize alone. There he's talking about treating it with
drugs, an idea I want to resist. I feel trapped because I know things will deteriorate if I _stop_
training, but they won't improve if I continue.
However, this doctor is a very taciturn, uncommunicative type and I couldn't get many answers out of
him, so I turn to you highly trained people for your experiences.
Is that famous resting pulse rate in the 40s that rewards trained cyclists open to everyone with
continued effort, or is it a matter of talent and individual morphology? Does an hour's daily
training get you there in the end, or do those people spend their lives pedalling? I really don't
think I could do more than an hour - it's already extremely contraining as I often don't get home
until 9pm and find myself pedalling deep into the night. Is it related to the blood pressure reading
or an independent variable?
What improves when you put effort in, and what motivates you to continue? Appearance-wise I have
experienced no change whatsoever. My legs don't look a bit more muscular than in January,
despite having the Frankenstein Walk from stiffness at the end of my sessions. I'm no slimmer,
either. In the heat, I'm still getting the oedemas at the ankles from poor circulation that I
had in the bad old days.
My recorded speed seemed to improve for a while. At the lower resistances I could eventually cover
up to 37 km in an hour. Now it's down to only about 30 km but the resistance is also higher.
Unfortunately I do not know exactly what the resistance is: my machine has settings from 1 to 10 and
the maximum is supposedly 25 kg, but does that necessarily make the setting at 6 15 kg? And how can
I relate that to the doctor's machine which measured in watts?
I hate that hour of torture and it's hard to keep up the motivation.
My performances seemed considerably better in colder weather. When the outside temperature was under
0° C I had all the windows open and exercised happily in minimal clothing. I seemd to tire much
less. Now in the summer, 26°C outside with the fan directly blowing on me I'm huffing and puffing
much sooner. I wonder if this heat-phobia that I have is normal?
My machine had a defect, a klonking noise at each turn of the pedal which caused complaints from my
neighbors and restricted my late-night sessions. This was particularly noticeable at lower
resistances, obliging me to raise the resistance to 6 before I was really finished with 5. So there
has been some discontinuity. As of Saturday the machine will be removed for servicing to correct the
klonk. They warned me this could take up to twenty days. I'm terrified of the regression that will
cause, although I have in the meantime stepped up practise on my real bicycle.
I'm rambling. Thanks for your thoughts.
Elisa Roselli Paris, France