Not just the Tens, but the effort scale used in BFL. I've done trials of both and UB and LB WO. I felt the UB wasn't heavy enough, I guess I didn't hit any Tens.

LB was great. I was shaking. Would I consider this "hitting ten?". After the LB WO, I had trouble doing stairs, and today, I am sore. I guess I wonder if you can REALLY feel what is a six or a seven or an eight? Will this become clearer with time?

For the cardio part, I'm going out for a walk/jog/run. Does everyone here go minute by minute on their cardio? I feel an uneasiness about the cardio. Does it really have to be so timed? Do you have any favorite tips that work for you?

I'm so looking forward to tomorrow. I'm glad I'm not starting with my lower body.. ..(it's a good sore, though)

Thanks,

Joy

concerning the tens:

You hit a high point, if it is absolutely impossible for you to do one more rep in your last set, i. e. a thirteenth rep is impossible (11th or 12th would be okay either).
Intensity of "9" means for me that I am able to do 12 reps in the 5th set, but is is hard and I am breathing heavily. On the other hand the first set is very light and I keep the other sets between it. IMHO the last two sets are most important. I use the first sets to control my form and to warm up the concerned muscles. I have the feeling that this kind of pyramid training is much better for my tendons and joints than three heavy sets which are advised often.
If you did not hit a high point just increase the weight next time and so on. If you do it slowly you will be able to increase the weights almost constantly without the fear of injury or over training, since your body will adapt to the new load, especially in the beginning. Actually the happens to my legs, but unfortunatly not to my arms and shoulders in the same way since my arms and shoulders are very weak. But of course every physique is different.

Concerning HIIT. I do it in the gym using Ellipse machine and I do it by the book. At the end I count speed, level and burned calories to control my progress.
You could do the same using a polar watch with a heart monitor. If you want to train longer or on a lower intensity it is not HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) anymore, but Interval Training or usual endurance training. This isn't bad either, but I prefer it short and tough.

Just to add my 2 cents.... complete newbie here, hadn't heard of BFL till about a week ago, now I've got the book thanks to advice here, joined a gym and done a sample HIIT (I'm going over weights with the PT at the gym tonight to get pointers on form etc, then will start BFL properly on Sunday) - I did it on a stationary bike, and made only one mistake in that I only did level 5 for 1 minute rather than 2 (I was working from memory ) so I made that minute up a little later in. Apart from that, I did it to the letter, just going up one machine resistance level for each effort level and wow, I was wiped at the end!

I was also over 1kg down on the scale this morning, but I won't update my stats till it's stuck for a couple of days (and the weights tonight will probably muck that up anyways since my muscles will be holding water... oh well! )

Well done doogie,

Good to see you have sorted out a gym and stuff.

Don't get too hung up on the scales measurements, remember you can be losing fat but gaining muscle which is more dense than fat. So the scales can in effect stay the same or go up.

Better to get a body fat measurement done.

Mike

Yeah, thanks Mike. I have bf measuring scales, but they're not playing for some reason..... I'll try and find the manual to see what the error code they're reporting is. I tried changing the batteries but that didn't help.

What I have done though (and I should've done before I started Atkins, but I didn't!) is measure everything (well, not quite everything )

I'll probably keep on with the scales on a daily basis, just because it's a habit, but once a week I'll be on the scales and out with the tape measure

Cheers

Just a little sidenote about the scale--since starting on maintenance and beginning the intensive exercise I do, I've GAINED 10 pounds! I wear clothes comfortably that I once fit in only when I was about 15 pounds lighter than I am. So do NOT regard the scale as your confidante, LOL.

I was a bit confused as well when starting BFL... what was a 10? I've found that if I'm hitting my last rep and can't do another that I count that as my "10". When it becomes to easy and I feel like I can do more reps I take up the weights.

As for the cardio.... I've found it's easier for me when I break down my cardio into sections. I first started by breaking them down into four minute increments. At every four minutes (4-8-12-16) I'd take up my speed and run for a minute. At 18 and 19 minutes I'll do a faster sprint. As I've become more fit I've started to do my runs every two minutes, still running harder at my four minutes. It's helped me to focus more on the smaller goals (hitting that run at my X-minute mark) rather than looking towards the entire 20-minutes. And I've found that it's easier to push myself.

I've taken up my speed, incline and length of each run at my pre-set increments. It's really worked for me - by the time I hit 14 minutes I think to myself "gee, I'm almost done, only two more sprints to go!"

Good luck hitting those 10's.... If you're making the effort it'll start to show!

Kiki

I did my first trial UBWO yesterday to try and work out what weights to use for different exercises when I start properly on Sunday and although I did really well on the chest exercises, I ended up trying things too heavy to be 5s on almost all the others..... they all felt fine for the first 5 or 6 reps, but towards 12 reps they were anything but 5s! But that's why I'm doing a little experimenting Ended up running out of time as well so skipped biceps completely - It's free parking outside the gym till 8am but I arrived later than I wanted to and it took longer cause I was experimenting with weights etc, and didn't want to have to run out half way through workout in my gym gear to put money in the parking meter! I'll make sure I get in earlier tomorrow for my LBWO!

Did the treadmill today for HIIT CV - my first time on a proper treadmill, I've only ever used manual ones before where the belt goes the speed you're running rather than you going the speed the belt goes I need to mess around a bit more with that to work out where my range is - I was calling 7 kph a 6, 10kph for a 9 and ended up bumping to 15 kph for a 10, but I think I could've gone further for a 10 and should've done a wider range for the others.

Anyone any suggestions on how to do treadmill since it has 2 variables - speed and gradient (whereas bike only has resistance) - should I just stick with one gradient and increase speeds, stick with a higher speed and change gradient or a combination of both?

Cheers

Oh and I've decided this morning it's a good idea to order L-Glutamine ! Should've done that before!

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

I just did day 4 (second cardio) and think I have it figured out. My ten for running, was an extended nine I just couldn't speed it up one more time, and my legs were ready to stop, so I just forced them to keep going and at the last 30 seconds, I managed to speed it up a "touch" and that was it. I believe I was maxed out at ten...

My trial LBWO last week was killer. My legs hurt for three days. Yesterday I had the same LBWO, worked just as hard and didn't find the exercises any easier, but today, my legs aren't sore? No pain, no gain? My DH tells me my legs shouldn't be as sore the second time. I don't know, I just felt kinda worried I didn't work hard enough. (but I did, ya know?)

So, four days in and I've made some personal strides. I woke up late this morning and was doing the bargaining that can become so self destructive. "I'll sleep a bit more and try run later" But in my mind I saw Bill's word about keeping promises that we make to ourselves, and up I got. DH was having coffee and I was out the door and home before he even got out of the shower. Felt great to accomplish it!

Well, on with my day. Hope you are all having a great week!

Joy

Just a thought, that as well as your body getting used to the LBWO, the running this morning might have helped (active recovery) - I've certainly seen that mentioned on a forum (can't remember if it was this one or not!) about doing treadmill after LBWO or day after and it making legs less sore. Active recovery is used in the HIIT going 9 - > 6

I only adjust the speed on the treadmill. Have a bash at different combinations to see what you feel more comfortable with.