Hi!
I've been an amateur cyclist since years (and a runner before that), and recently discovered the stair/uphill running as a training for LT/Vo2max.
I've got a small hill nearby to my home, which allows me to stair run about 3-4 minutes (420 stairs
, or run uphill for 10 minutes. Talking about lt/vo2max training, these times represent very high intensity, of course.
I used to do intervals on the bike, but i always felt hard to bring up the heart rate to the desired level; but on stairs, it's much easier for me to increase that. In numbers: using the "220-age" formula, my mhr is around 193 (acutally, i never reached it: my physical maximum was 189-190). On the bike, it's very hard to go over 178, but on the stairs, i can reach that in 40 seconds, and on the top of the hill, it's usually over 185.
And, i know that when one's tired one must not do any high intensity training, but there are some cases when we must do that. Did you hear about the tabata-intervals? (Look for it in a search engine if not. You'll find a lot of infos about this method.) Those intervals must be done five times a week, so it's not always possible to rest properly between them. LT-training means that one must "feel" the building up of the lactate in the muscles, this can be achieved only with pain. (no pain, no gain, eh?
So, when i have to do these tabatas on the bike and i'm not perfectly fit, then it's almost impossible to go over 175 - therefore it's pointless to do the intervals because no serious lactate will build up; but on the stairs, i can reach a 180+ hr whem i'm tired too.
So, my questions about the subject are:
1) Can the easier hr-increase be from that i was a runner? In the past few years i only did cycling, so my muscles aren't trained for stair-running; still i can do better on the stairs. Why?
2) I believe it's good for the lt/vo2max. (Is it? The researchers did the tabata protocol on a stationary bike, it was easier to measure the results i think. If someone's a bike racer, then it's no question that it's good for him. But i'm not sure that when i'm on a bike i can use the good results of this type of stair-training.
3) Cycling is relatively a "smooth" movement. Is it more demanding for the body to run up the stairs? I mean, can i seriously damage my knees, etc. when doing that?
Thank you for your answers; and, any other opinions are welcome!
I've been an amateur cyclist since years (and a runner before that), and recently discovered the stair/uphill running as a training for LT/Vo2max.
I've got a small hill nearby to my home, which allows me to stair run about 3-4 minutes (420 stairs
, or run uphill for 10 minutes. Talking about lt/vo2max training, these times represent very high intensity, of course.I used to do intervals on the bike, but i always felt hard to bring up the heart rate to the desired level; but on stairs, it's much easier for me to increase that. In numbers: using the "220-age" formula, my mhr is around 193 (acutally, i never reached it: my physical maximum was 189-190). On the bike, it's very hard to go over 178, but on the stairs, i can reach that in 40 seconds, and on the top of the hill, it's usually over 185.
And, i know that when one's tired one must not do any high intensity training, but there are some cases when we must do that. Did you hear about the tabata-intervals? (Look for it in a search engine if not. You'll find a lot of infos about this method.) Those intervals must be done five times a week, so it's not always possible to rest properly between them. LT-training means that one must "feel" the building up of the lactate in the muscles, this can be achieved only with pain. (no pain, no gain, eh?
So, when i have to do these tabatas on the bike and i'm not perfectly fit, then it's almost impossible to go over 175 - therefore it's pointless to do the intervals because no serious lactate will build up; but on the stairs, i can reach a 180+ hr whem i'm tired too.
So, my questions about the subject are:
1) Can the easier hr-increase be from that i was a runner? In the past few years i only did cycling, so my muscles aren't trained for stair-running; still i can do better on the stairs. Why?
2) I believe it's good for the lt/vo2max. (Is it?
The researchers did the tabata protocol on a stationary bike, it was easier to measure the results i think. If someone's a bike racer, then it's no question that it's good for him. But i'm not sure that when i'm on a bike i can use the good results of this type of stair-training.3) Cycling is relatively a "smooth" movement. Is it more demanding for the body to run up the stairs? I mean, can i seriously damage my knees, etc. when doing that?
Thank you for your answers; and, any other opinions are welcome!
