How do I elevate heart rate?

[Jack]

62-year-old geezer who can no longer run/jog due to knee
problem. Resting heart rate in 40s and 50s.

Ski machine was great, heart rate up to 120, but the machine
has uncorrectable maintenance problems. It's nine months old
and has been out of service for at least half of that time. No
more Nordic Track machines for me. They just don't make 'em
like they used to.

Air glider has been absolutely worthless. Unstable and heart
rate never exceeded 72.

Walking while wearing 20 lbs. in a back pack: heart rate
80 at best.

Can't afford an aquatic set up that allows you to walk against
water pressure.

No health clubs nearby.

QUESTIONS:

1) Are steppers good for elevating HR and how do they compare
with regular walking for knee friendliness?

2) Are ellipticals reliable from a maintenance standpoint?
Don't want the maintenance issues I had with the skier.

Incidentally, walking up the steep driveway elevates the HR
into the target zone but it takes only 1.5 minutes. Then the
HR drops when walking down hill. Would like to maintain target
HR for at least 30 minutes. Thanks, Jack

[Steve Frei]

"Jack" <windswept@home.net> wrote in message
news:45252de0.18997875@news-60.giganews.com...
> 62-year-old geezer who can no longer run/jog due to knee
> problem. Resting heart rate in 40s and 50s.

Please consult your doctor. Are you taking beta blockers or
any other medication known to limit heart rate? I know of
several people who thought their medications made no
difference and therefore thought themselves fitter than they
were as evidenced by their resting pulse and/or maximum pulse
under exertion.

Apologies if this isn't you, but it comes up often enough that
we have to ask.

-S- http://www.kbnj.com

> Ski machine was great, heart rate up to 120, but the machine
> has uncorrectable maintenance problems. It's nine months old
> and has been out of service for at least half of that time.
> No more Nordic Track machines for me. They just don't make
> 'em like they used to.
>
> Air glider has been absolutely worthless. Unstable and heart
> rate never exceeded 72.
>
> Walking while wearing 20 lbs. in a back pack: heart rate 80
> at best.
>
> Can't afford an aquatic set up that allows you to walk
> against water pressure.
>
> No health clubs nearby.
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> 1) Are steppers good for elevating HR and how do they
> compare with regular walking for knee friendliness?
>
> 2) Are ellipticals reliable from a maintenance standpoint?
> Don't want the maintenance issues I had with the skier.
>
> Incidentally, walking up the steep driveway elevates the HR
> into the target zone but it takes only 1.5 minutes. Then the
> HR drops when walking down hill. Would like to maintain
> target HR for at least 30 minutes. Thanks, Jack

[Del Cecchi]

Jack wrote:
> 62-year-old geezer who can no longer run/jog due to knee
> problem. Resting heart rate in 40s and 50s.
>
> Ski machine was great, heart rate up to 120, but the machine
> has uncorrectable maintenance problems. It's nine months old
> and has been out of service for at least half of that time.
> No more Nordic Track machines for me. They just don't make
> 'em like they used to.
>
> Air glider has been absolutely worthless. Unstable and heart
> rate never exceeded 72.
>
> Walking while wearing 20 lbs. in a back pack: heart rate 80
> at best.
>
> Can't afford an aquatic set up that allows you to walk
> against water pressure.
>
> No health clubs nearby.
>
> QUESTIONS:
>
> 1) Are steppers good for elevating HR and how do they
> compare with regular walking for knee friendliness?
>
> 2) Are ellipticals reliable from a maintenance standpoint?
> Don't want the maintenance issues I had with the skier.
>
> Incidentally, walking up the steep driveway elevates the HR
> into the target zone but it takes only 1.5 minutes. Then the
> HR drops when walking down hill. Would like to maintain
> target HR for at least 30 minutes. Thanks, Jack
>
>
>
Options
1. Elliptical. Good ones are reliable.
2. Treadmill with incline. Mine goes steep enough to
kick my butt.
3. find an "older" Nordic Track on ebay, want ads,
craigslist etc
4. concept2 rowing machine.

As for stepper, try one and see if it hurts your knees. There
a health club or YMCA or Cardiac Rahab place you can try the
various pieces of equipment?

--
Del Cecchi "This post is my own and doesn’t necessarily
represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.”

[joeu2004]

Jack wrote:
> 62-year-old geezer who can no longer run/jog due to knee
> problem. Resting heart rate in 40s and 50s. [....]
> 1) Are steppers good for elevating HR and how do they
> compare with regular walking for knee friendliness?

I know someone about your age who has had running-induced knee
problems for many years (she struggles to walk uphill on
uneven terrain), and she uses a Stairmaster on a daily basis
to augment her daily hill-climbing cycling. I am a bit
surprised that she can use the Stairmaster, but I suppose it
depends on what "level" you choose.

My brief encounter with a Stairmaster suggests to me that
it should be
very easy to get into a high HR range. In fact, I had the
opposite
problem: I could not get keep my HR down to the level I
was targeting.
Part of the problem is certainly due to beginner's
learning curve.

[rick]

On Thu, 5 Oct 2006 13:54:30 -0400, "Steve Freides"
<steve@fridayscomputer.com> wrote:

>"Jack" <windswept@home.net> wrote in message
>news:45252de0.18997875@news-60.giganews.com...
>> 62-year-old geezer who can no longer run/jog due to knee
>> problem. Resting heart rate in 40s and 50s.
>
>Please consult your doctor. Are you taking beta blockers or
>any other medication known to limit heart rate? I know of
>several people who thought their medications made no
>difference and therefore thought themselves fitter than they
>were as evidenced by their resting pulse and/or maximum pulse
>under exertion.

I'm not who you're directing this to, but it's a good point. I
take Ziac, which is a beta blocker and, yes, it lowers the
heart rate. At 52, I also use the elliptical trainer like a
madman, and what I do is this: Since I work during the week, I
take the Ziac. It's about 8:15 at night when I get to the gym.
By then, about 13 hours of the day's gone by, so my heart rate
can be elevated to about 120 fairly quickly, yet not as quick
as I'd like sometimes.

However, the weekend (or any day I'm off work and know I'm
going to go workout), I wait until after I workout. Even if it
means I take the Ziac at 7 p.m. or so, it's worth it. My pulse
elevates quicker, so I get in the target zone quicker. I would
think I would burn more calories faster if that's true, but
I'm not sure.

In any case, the one thing I've learned that's helped me the
most is that the cliche of working out smarter, not harder,
applies. I shoot for the middle of my target range. Once I
get there, which can be in 15 minutes or 20 minutes, I find
if I keep about the same intensity, (which means not
straining to go faster/harder), and keep that up for 20
minutes at that point, I'm doing well. If after, the 20
minutes, I'm feeling ok and not fatigued, I go another 10.
I've read that at some point the length of time one's in the
target heart range, benefits diminish. I have a bad right
ankle, so about that time it's starting to get annoyed with
me, so I have to back off.

It's a good thing, too, because I like to use some of the
weights at the gym, then stretch. The gym I go to is
relatively new, so the equipment is state-of-the-art. I just
wish the awful stuff they have blaring that passes for music
was as well. ;-)