What are your favorite ways to step up the intensity?
Does any of you use ankle or wrist weights? I know some people frown on them because of where they put pressure. I feel like I get a lot more out of my time on a treadmill with the wrist weights on, doing big arm swings and getting them above my heart. I am sure I look strange to anyone who doesn’t know how much that can raise the heart rate. I sometimes do crosswise jabs and uppercuts while I walk briskly. I get bored, so changing my arm swing direction and style (sometimes to different songs on the iPod) helps break up the time.
I hadn’t used the weights (which are like beanbags, soft weights that secure with velcro) in my aerobics class, but dug them out when I went back to the treadmill recently for some extra time in the target heart zone. I’m going to try class with them tonight and see how it goes.
I was in a Starbucks a few months ago and I overheard what must have been part of the initial consult between a female personal trainer and new female client. I heard her say, “If you’re not using an incline on the treadmill you’re wasting your time.” Ever since, I have used at least a modest incline to start, then add slope as I go, varying between faster-flatter and slower-steeper, but I only go flat on my final minute of cooldown walking.
