Raising heart rate... - JP Fitness Forums

Carpe Diem · 04-11-2007, 08:54 PM

I have a 47 y.o. female client that is extremely cardiovascularly fit. She swims, spins, jogs 5k, 10k, and half marathons, and now has hired me to elevate her game. Specifically she would like to improve her running and learn more on strength training. However, she has been showing signs of over training - decreased performance, fatigue, and nagging hamstring that has not resolved over the last two months. I have tried to get her to slow down. My suggestion was to take a week off and then we would start training again. Yep...not happening...she did a 5K last weekend and a Bike/Kayak race the following weekend. She did slow down a bit...only working out once a day as opposed to three times (swim, spin, lifting). During the lighter week I focused her on a lot of active stretching.

Since her nagging hamstring is related to jogging I told her we could start up with circuit training, but utilizing other cardio options besides running. I have her spinning 1/2 mile (approx 2 min) after every two sets of exercises. The problem I am having is getting her heart rate up...the best I have raise it to was 140 for a very short period. Most of the time it was in the 120s.

So here are my questions. 1) The nagging hamstring is feeling better but she says it still feels tight. Any suggestions to resolve this?

2) What are some alternative methods to getting her heart rate up? As soon as she stops for even 5 seconds her heart rate plummets. It is impressive, but frustrating when training her. She works hard during her workouts but barely breaks a sweat.

Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thank you.

knowles · 04-12-2007, 09:20 AM

Have you tried using complexes? I'm a fan of this particular one:

deadlift, romanian deadlift, bent-over row, power clean, front squat, push press, back squat, good morning

Bill Hartman · 04-16-2007, 08:37 AM

1) More often than not, you'll find poor glute function on the affected side. If you can localize where she feels the symptoms, you may also find a discrepency between the medial and lateral hamstring. Restoring strength to the weaker hamstring should help symptoms resolve.

2) Intensity needs to be higher if she recovers that fast. Complexes, combos, supersetting, and shorter rest periods should work.

Bill