Posts by behanna

I guess both of you breezed past "rough guide."  Those numbers are indeed in kCal.  Ultimately, that's what people want to log for their activity logs.

Yes, the real way is to get your own power meter.  Absent that (ta-da) the rough guide, based upon my own observations from my own power meter.

It is, as I say, a ROUGH GUIDE.  I'm not particularly interested in nit-picking.  Rough guide, get it?

Here's perhaps a rough guide:

• going easy, but hard enough to make you breathe deeply through your mouth: 350-400 kCal/hour
• going hard enough to leave you a little wobbly when you get off the bike:  600-700 kCal/hour
• going deep into the pain, to the point you have to constantly egg yourself on to keep the cadence up and you're grunting and making other vocal noises from the effort, and you need to be peeled off the bike, and all you want to do is have a lie-down:  800-1000 kCal/hour

Original Post by zooplah:

They are, you just have to buy one that is not a gimick, shaft drive, or Wally World pile of junk.

Such as? The hybrid I got seems the same as what was in the bike shop and it was a much more comfortable experience buying it online rather than having the salesperson hover over me the whole time. I said I would think about which I wanted and come back later but of course, I didn't plan to actually go back and just did some googling so I could buy it online.

The thing you got from the big-box store, that looks like a bicycle, is a collection of the very cheapest-possible components that could be sourced, and it was assembled by a low-wage laborer rather than a knowledgeable bicycle mechanic.  It is little wonder that you had trouble with it.

The differences that a layperson does not see versus a bike shop bike are many, but here are some of the highlights:

• the bike shop bike's frame will be made of lighter, stronger material (thin-walled chrome moly steel or aluminum versus the thick-walled mild steel you find in the big-box store)
• the bike shop bike's wheels will be made with higher quality bearings, hubs, spokes, and rims, and any reputable bike shop will at least have touched them up, truing-wise.  They'll also be lighter and stronger than the big-box bike's wheels
• the bike shop bike's driveline components will be higher-end (lighter, stronger, more precisely machined, better shifting) and will be replaceable, compared to the cheap, stamped, riveted-in-place stuff you find on a big-box bike.
• the bike shop bike will have been assembled and adjusted by an actual bicycle mechanic, not by a just-hired-last-week high school kid with an adjustable wrench
• the bike shop will take the time to make sure the bike is the right size
• the bike shop will (typically) throw in a one-time tuneup due about a month after you buy the bike, to adjust for stretched cables (they always do when new), adjust the shifting (which will go off as the cables stretch), and re-true the wheels (if necessary)

Original Post by janeba:

I was totally wondering the same thing myself, since I have been so wondrous with my dieting and exercise and for three weeks have yet to see a decline in the numbers. I eat between 1200-1600 a day and exercise about four times a week, usually burning about 600 calories during a workout. About once or twice a week, I will have closer to 2000 calories. Nevertheless, I couldn't think that a few days of higher caloric intake would result in NO change in weight from the rest of the good work.

Since I really amped up the exercise, I decided to wait it out and see if the muscles start doing their fat burning thing. As such, I have resolved not to weigh myself until after (Canadian) Thanksgiving since it will just discourage me and make me believe I am not really doing the right stuff. I think finding the "sweet spot" is hard because along the journey your weight and muscle is always changing so it is a matter of constant adaptation to figure out what works.

It's an insidious thing:  it can take your body a couple of days to adapt to a steady caloric deficit before you start burning fat, as the body will attempt to temporarily weather the scarcity by lowering your metabolism.

What this means is that by cheating one day a week, you are effectively in weight-loss mode only 3 days of the week.  It's terribly easy to sabotage your diet like that (I speak from experience).  Cheat two days per week, 2-3 days apart, and BAM, you're on a plateau.  That said, deprivation is hard, and if you have a long way to go, it may do well to schedule a few breaks in the program, where you eat at maintenance for a week or two, just so that you won't binge later.

1200 kCal isn't really enough for anyone but a tiny couch potato.  Look at your burn rate, subtract 500, and that's your target intake to lose 1 pound per week.  If you're already small, that represents a significant fraction of your maintenance intake, so don't try to overdo it, or you'll just hate your program and will have trouble sticking with it.

Cycling should also be good, as should swimming.

Original Post by fitnessgirll:

Original Post by melkor:

*whose other notable accomplishments include writing a fluff piece on Ann Coulter which had about the same level of accuracy and connection to reality that this article does; namely that "Mr. Cloud has used the powerful and influential pages of Time magazine to declare Ms. Coulter’s work “mostly accurate” while admitting that neither he, nor Time’s minions, did the necessary work to defend that pronouncement." - it's also why Time doesn't put his email address out there, any response goes straight to the editorial team.

UGH.

As a FAR left liberal dem, I don't despise Ann Coulter at all. As a matter of fact, I think she's good for us democrats. She epitomizes all the nasty, negative, racist, homophobic, sexist bullsh*t that the republican party stands for. Liberals could not have painted a better picture of the republicans or selected a better spokesperson to represent them. Let's encourage her to spew her venom as much as she wants. It's like having Charlie Manson speaking for Ginzu knives or for the NRA. After watching her one time, anyone with half an ounce of sense would be so disgusted with republicans that they would race to the nearest Hillary Clinton fan club and sign up.

I wanted to let this go, but I can't.  The DEMOCRAT party is:

* the party of Jim Crow

* the party of slavery

* the party that resisted ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments

* the party of Bull Connor

* the party that opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964

* the party that claims a former Klansman as "the Dean of the Senate"

* the party that consistently runs inner cities into the ground, making life worse for minorities

Abe Lincoln was a REPUBLICAN.

There's no one more nasty or intolerant than a liberal Democrat.

How long is "long?"

After a very hard bike ride (e.g., hills or power intervals until I can barely get up the stairs into the house) or a very long ride (4 hours or more), I'll usually have a large (3 cups) glass of milk with a scoop of chocolate protein powder before hitting the shower, and most of a bbq chicken pizza a little bit later.

Yeah, that's probably not ideal, but I have protein and carbs in there, and it keeps me from eating the furniture.

I've been struggling with it for years.  There are a couple of causes:

1. 
   Overuse.  Easy one to figure out.  Reduce training volume and build back up slowly.
2. Poor biomechanics.  Arch supports, better shoes, orthotics, or (for bicyclists) varus/valgus forefoot wedges help a lot.
3. Tightness in the lateral fascia that help to secure the kneecap, pulling it towards the outside of the body so that it doesn't track properly in its groove in the end of the femur.  This irritates the back of the kneecap => pain.
4. Muscle imbalance between lateral superior quads and vastus medialis oblique (the big lump of muscle by the kneecap, towards the inside of the body).  Again, this leads to pulling the kneecap one way or the other out of its track.  Usually, the VMO is too weak, and this gangs up on you with #3 above, and ouch.

How to fix?  You have to reduce your training volume and intensity while you heal, but you do not want to cease using the knee--it will heal better if you use it gently than if you rest it completely.  You can use McConnell taping to help keep the kneecap aligned while you are healing and while you are correcting the causes of your injury, and ice it down after exercise.

Strengthening the VMO involves, usually, straight leg raises (add ankle weights when you are able), abduction and adduction leg raises, "step ups" (stepping up and down from about the height of a thick phone book, but in a controlled fashion), and stretches for the lateral fascia.  You'll want a physio to show you those--the rough description is that you want to block your kneecap in proper position with the thumb of the hand of the same leg (right hand--right leg, left hand, left leg), and then use the other hand to press down on the inside edge of the kneecap to *gently* tilt it until you feel a stretch, hold for a 10 count, relax for a five count, repeat.

Of these exercises, I find the straight-leg raises to be the most challenging.  I mean absolutely dead straight--you start with your leg on the floor, locked straight, and you raise it 6" off the floor WITHOUT LETTING YOUR KNEE BEND *AT* *ALL*, hold for a 2 count, and lower it.  Repeat 10x.  Eventually, you want to build up to 3 sets of 10 on each leg, and then add ankle weights.

Most exercises we do don't exercise that very end range of knee extension, and that's the range that very effectively strengthens the VMO, which will help your kneecap to track properly.

You'll be sweating bullets the first few times you do these exercises--it takes a lot of concentration while your VMO's are weak to accomplish the straight leg raises.  As an alternative, if you can't get your leg up without bending the knee, you can do "quad sets"; i.e., lock the leg straight and tense up your quads, hold for a five count, then relax, and do your sets that way to build up strength until you can do the leg raises.

I am not a physio--these are the exercises my physio showed me, and they work.

Try getting some bar ends?  The local bike shop will know what you mean if you ask for them. They're extensions for the ends of your handlebars that point forward (and/or slightly up), so that you can hang on to them during the easier sections, to un-twist your forearms.

Original Post by dxtreme45:

Good day to everyone. I'm curious, should a person eat before they exercise, or after. It seems, everywhere you go, you here different dieting tips, workout tips, ect. What opinion do you have?

Embrace the power of "and."  :-)

Eat something light, easily-digested, and well-tolerated (this will be a personal matter--you'll have to experiment) so that you have the energy to get through your workout.

Eat something rich in protein and carbohydrates after your workout to replenish your body.  How much depends upon how long and how hard you worked out.  Your body is most receptive to using carbohydrates for glycogen synthesis in the first 30-60 minutes after your workout, and the insulin response from the carbs can be used anabolically to help utilize the protein in the meal as well (at least, that's my understanding from listening to a nutritionist interviewed on the FredCast Cycling Podcast).

I have a standing policy of not buying exercise equipment from TV hucksters.

Original Post by seashellhunter:

Another one - I teach spin class and if I cue a 70% hill climb at a slow cadence.....at least try it. Don't turn the resistance to 30% and spin at 110 RPMs. It confuses the whole class, doesn't make you look more fit because we all know you don't have any resistance on, and you're not getting a full-rounded workout. So there.

Er, I typically climb at 70rpms or higher (90 when I can), pushing 250 Watts or more.  Low cadence + high resistance has its place, in measured doses (e.g., as "tempo" or "muscle tension" intervals), but as a long-term strategy, it'll make your knees cry.

Original Post by umneydurak:

behanna it approximates power based on bunch of data. Last time I looked in to it it wasn't all that reliable or consistent in a real world with hills, different wind conditions, etc. Plus the old engineering principal of KISS probably applies, more sensors etc more likely error gets introduced in to calculations.

IOW, FUD.  That's what I figured.  Doesn't matter that they test it on a bike that also has a Power Tap, and it comes within 2% of the Power Tap.  Ignore actual field data--it's "probably" unreliable because it's so complicated.

Sigh.

Original Post by prinzessin_naseimbuch:

Thanks UD.

Yeah I figured the google ped's estimation was too much...I went with the effort I felt I put into it and took CC's entry of "biking x mph- x mph, moderate effort"...came up with 235 cals.

I wish there was a way we could know instrinsically how many calories we burn doing an activity. It would save money and fretting. :P

A power meter is the only way (for cycling at least).  The least expensive power meter is the iBike, but it's still pricey enough that you're going to want to be pretty serious about biking to pop for it.

Original Post by mkmaj:

Your butt really will get used to it after a few weeks of regular classes. Also, try to make sure you're sitting back far enough with your butt bones on the padded back of the seat and that you're not too far back from the handle bars (causing you to sit too far forward).

This. Fit is everything. If the saddle is too far away from the bars, you'll find yourself scooching forward, and that'll get uncomfortable in a big hurry. Get yourself set up the way you like it, then take a tape measure and record your measurements. That way, whatever bike you end up on next time, you can set it up just right, just for you.

What to record:

Saddle height (top of center of saddle, where a line drawn up from the seatpost would be, to the center of the crank spindle)

Saddle fore/aft position: tip of saddle to some handy reference point where the handlebars attach.

Saddle angle: it should be dead level. If it's tilted, you'll slide one way or the other and expend energy to try to stay put.

Note that the saddle height and saddle fore/aft position should be set so that the front of your knee is at or behind the pedal spindle when you have the pedal in the 3 o'clock (farthest forward) position. If you use a clipless pedal system, the cleat position on your shoe can also affect this: generally, the center of the cleat should be at or slightly behind a line drawn from your big toe joint to your little toe joint.

Finally, a small, hard saddle is actually more comfortable for long, hard efforts than a wide, soft one. The sides of a wide, soft saddle get in the way when extending your legs, and they also tend to chafe badly. Plus, you sink down into a soft saddle and get pressure where you shouldn't--your weight should be on your sit bones (the ischial tuberosities at the bottom of your pelvis), not on your perineum.

Chris