I will never be a gym bunny
 

But could get close.

I've always hated gym - mainly because I am very competitive and always push myself too hard, generally resulting in PAIN.

However, I have now decided to just concentrate on cardio fitness rather than weight training, and have gotten myself a heart rate monitor that integrates with the cardio machines at gym, so I can set a target heart rate and the machines manage the intensity for me, so no more overtraining!
Also, the machines have their own li'l TVs built on, so the mind-numbing boredom is alleviated too.

All calculations below come from the Polar F6 monitor

Yesterday was at gym for a total of 70 minutes.
Average heart rate 137 bpm
Calories burned 788
Time spent in 130-147 bpm target zone: 39 minutes (there was significant time above 147 as well. I am going to change my target zone to be 130-166 which is 70-90% of max HR)

Duration 60
Average HR 138
Cal 672

Hope you get the results you desire. :)

Well, weight as in strength training ;)
The idea is basically to boost my fitness levels and base metabolism, and burn calories...

Once I get to a decent level of fitness then maybe I'll start pushing weights a bit, shall see.
I've lost weight nicely so far without the gym, and adding an extra hour a day of cardio should really shift it! Thanks for the encouragement...

So how accurate is the fitness test/VO2 max testing on these cardio machines?
Cos if they're accurate, I'm not in a good state ;)

Relative VO2 max 31 ml/kg/min which is "very poor". Woohoo! nothing like a nice low baseline to progress from...

Duration 01:03
Average HR 141
Cal 744
Time in zone (130-160) 59

Going to take a rest day today. It's just too hot! And got lots of preparation for new year's eve braai tonight...

(bbq for those of you who live in civilisation ;) )

Too soon after eating today (SO wanted to go NOW! ;) )
So 40 min, 456 Cal, Average HR 140, 32 min in zone

60 min, 713 Cal, HR 142, 51m in zone :)

43 min, 546 Cal, HR 146, 35m in zone

Finally some subjective improvement!
I walked up the steps at work today instead of the lift (5 floors) and I wasn't as out of breath as I used to be! :D

58 min, 735 Cal, HR 146, 50 min in zone

54 min, 721 Cal, HR 149, 50min in zone

Awesome work Sinbad!! Good idea for not over training. I am totally guilty of that at times.

Thanks for the encouragement Katie! I'm sure the fact that I'm not overtraining is really helping me keep this up. It's quite weird knowing that I'm benefitting from this even though I'm not exhausting myself!

Saturday was a "rest" day... which I spent moving a marine fishtank setup. I was absolutely knackered! That stuff is HEAVY!

Sunday: 58 min, 718Cal, ave HR 144
Yesterday: 56 min, 662 cal, HR 141