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01-17-2005, 09:05 PM

frank-in-toronto <thehickOBVIOUS@OBVIOUScanada.com> wrote:
>Reposting to include the bike newsgroup. I made a boo-boo
>the first time.
>...thehick
>On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:14:26 -0500, Bernie Cosell
><bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote:
>
>>I exercise with an elliptical trainer and one thing I've never understood
>>is the tradeoff between resistance and speed. Assuming that I work out for
>>however-long with my pulse in the correct "zone", I'm never sure whether it
>>makes a difference [and what difference it makes] if I get to that zone by
>>working against a higher resistance [and so moving more slowly] or working
>>against a lower resistance [and so moving more quickly]. Is there some
>>rule of thumb or whatever for this sort of thing? thanks!
>ok. Here's something to think about. I read this is reference
>to biking, but you can figure it out for the elliptical.
>
>When biking in a big gear, your legs will get tired out quickly.

Neuromuscular fatigue.

>So you lower the gear. This moves the effort to your lungs.

Moreso to your heart.

>Now, say you're in too low a gear (spinning too fast), your
>legs will be laughing, but you'll run out of breath.

If you're trained your legs or heart will limit you in
all cases. You'll be panting in either case, but you'll
have some overhead there. (If you're not trained at all,
anything could happen.)

But this paper on resistance, cadence, and power looks interesting:

http://www.me.utexas.edu/~neptune/Papers/msse32(7).pdf

And may answer a question posed here:

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadin...n/cadence.html

about finding empirical evidence that spinning at a higher
cadence when trying to maintain higher power output
is actually more efficient from a muscular activation
standpoint.

Not sure yet how it applies to the question of increasing
resistance on a trainer, which tends to demand a decrease
in cadence, though usually an increase in power output.

--Blair
"Now I'm going to shank the next three
drives trying to figure it out."

01-17-2005, 09:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
Blair P. Houghton Guest Posts: n/a	Re: Resistance vs speed (repost) frank-in-toronto <thehickOBVIOUS@OBVIOUScanada.com> wrote: >Reposting to include the bike newsgroup. I made a boo-boo >the first time. >...thehick >On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 22:14:26 -0500, Bernie Cosell ><bernie@fantasyfarm.com> wrote: > >>I exercise with an elliptical trainer and one thing I've never understood >>is the tradeoff between resistance and speed. Assuming that I work out for >>however-long with my pulse in the correct "zone", I'm never sure whether it >>makes a difference [and what difference it makes] if I get to that zone by >>working against a higher resistance [and so moving more slowly] or working >>against a lower resistance [and so moving more quickly]. Is there some >>rule of thumb or whatever for this sort of thing? thanks! >ok. Here's something to think about. I read this is reference >to biking, but you can figure it out for the elliptical. > >When biking in a big gear, your legs will get tired out quickly. Neuromuscular fatigue. >So you lower the gear. This moves the effort to your lungs. Moreso to your heart. >Now, say you're in too low a gear (spinning too fast), your >legs will be laughing, but you'll run out of breath. If you're trained your legs or heart will limit you in all cases. You'll be panting in either case, but you'll have some overhead there. (If you're not trained at all, anything could happen.) But this paper on resistance, cadence, and power looks interesting: http://www.me.utexas.edu/~neptune/Papers/msse32(7).pdf And may answer a question posed here: http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadin...n/cadence.html about finding empirical evidence that spinning at a higher cadence when trying to maintain higher power output is actually more efficient from a muscular activation standpoint. Not sure yet how it applies to the question of increasing resistance on a trainer, which tends to demand a decrease in cadence, though usually an increase in power output. --Blair "Now I'm going to shank the next three drives trying to figure it out."