mc2hill- Hey, great to see another Stair/Matrix user posting!
Your 30 min./3x week is very similar to what I did for a long, LONG, time. FWIW, I`ve gone from those longer workouts to brief "Sprint Intervals", and yeah..I too have to put it on Manual to get what I want. Eh, I have to do that for all such machines, the Programs are never quite what I want.
Glad you`re able to get good readings on your HR Monitor! I haven`t had a reliable one yet, and finally just gave up on `em
The ones I used at least got me, uhm...informed; I know what (truly) maxing out for me feels like and I just aim for that. If I could be OK with a chest-strap that`d probably be different, but they distract me so much I can`t deal with `em.
Stationary bikes- I have an AirDyne, which is borderline torture! After warming up (first with the Stair, then a few minutes on the Air) I do Tabata-style intervals (20/10) and am utterly gassed after three, maybe four...as in, sometimes end up on the floor. I try to go as hard as I can during the Work Intervals, aiming to hit at least 100rpms, and when I can`t maintain 80rpms after that I know I`m done. I can only do those every three weeks or so (!)...incredible how demanding it is.
Treadmills- I jog/run like a spastic robot and thus only use the Tread for brisk hikes, running it up/down its incline range while progressively upping the speed to (currently) 4.2mph. Not really *demanding*, and I don`t consider it "real cardio", but very enjoyable and presumably sufficient for maintaining arterial flexibility.
I`ve always found the whole Heart Rate topic interesting! I put zero credibility in the "age minus 220" formula as it simply doesn`t apply to me (and the guy who developed it says it`s just something he came up with as a plug-in value; he doesn`t consider it legit either). IMO, different people are just *DIFFERENT* when it comes to HR, and as best I can tell from the studies it`s all about working at both near-max (briefly) and at about 2/3 that (for longer).
Your work with the plate sounds like a good way to incorporate some Resistance Training. My RT regimen has become kinda, uhm....involved, but basically revolves around only doing one set of a given movement and then doing something else. I need between 12-21 days to recover from what I`m doing (different muscle groups recover at different rates for me) even though I do so little compared to what I used to do.
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