Cardio Pains

[ninjapiratecapn]

I've recently begun conditioning training again, and I'm having some problems with cardio training. It's something I haven't done much research into, and don't have much experience with, as my previous training efforts involved an excessive amount of weightlifting and practically no cardio. Anyway, I have two major problems:

First, when I run, I tend to get a pain in my neck near the end of my jog. It's located in the right side of the neck, near the artery/vein there. Can't remember what it's called; it's the one you use when you choke someone out with a blood choke. Is this normal for someone in bad shape, like the whole pain in the sides thing, or something abnormal? Like I said, I have little experience with cardio, so I don't know for sure.

Secondly, when I run, I tend to simply warm up, start running, then continue running until I'm out of breath. Unfortunately, this only takes six minutes of jogging for me. Is this the best way to do this, or should I alternate multiple short jogs with walking to lengthen my time on the road? I was thinking of trying that, but I'm worried I might overexert myself.

Any advice?

[TheCount]

Point 1: See your doctor. It is possible your body needs to readapt but either way it is safer to see a qualified medic.

Point 2: Use light stretching and a gentle 30s jog as your warmup(pumping arms) and then start off your job slowly before building up the pace. Works for me.

You should be training between 65 and 85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum is 210 - Age roughly speaking. So ( 210 - Age )*0.8 is roughly what you should aim for in terms of heart rate. If you maintain this rate then you will be getting benefits and you can push further. If you try to jog too fast you will exceed this and shuld slow down. If you start to get too tired you may want to focus yourself more to try and get further. It is about litening to your body. A heartrate monitor is only about £30

[ninjapiratecapn]

Point 1: See your doctor. It is possible your body needs to readapt but either way it is safer to see a qualified medic.

Point 2: Use light stretching and a gentle 30s jog as your warmup(pumping arms) and then start off your job slowly before building up the pace. Works for me.

You should be training between 65 and 85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum is 210 - Age roughly speaking. So ( 210 - Age )*0.8 is roughly what you should aim for in terms of heart rate. If you maintain this rate then you will be getting benefits and you can push further. If you try to jog too fast you will exceed this and shuld slow down. If you start to get too tired you may want to focus yourself more to try and get further. It is about litening to your body. A heartrate monitor is only about £30

Thanks for the help. I'm going to see if I can get ahold of one of those heart rate monitors; until then I'll just take my pulse the old-fashioned way.

As for the pain, I thought it might be something I'd need to see my doctor about; I just wanted to make sure it wasn't just a normal exercise thing (like the pains in the side) before I went. I will make an appointment, though, and get it checked out.

[Suhosthe]

Secondly, when I run, I tend to simply warm up, start running, then continue running until I'm out of breath. Unfortunately, this only takes six minutes of jogging for me. Is this the best way to do this, or should I alternate multiple short jogs with walking to lengthen my time on the road? I was thinking of trying that, but I'm worried I might overexert myself.
Depends on what you prefer. You could try interval training, and run for 30 secs, then jog/walk for 30, for example. Or you could slow your pace fractionally and jog continuously, for which the ideal would be to manage about 20 minutes at roughly the same speed (plus warming up and cooling down for about 5 minutes each side). (If you can go for longer than 20 minutes this way, you're not working hard enough. If you can't manage as long as that, you're working too hard.)

If you're planning on becoming an ultrarunner in your spare time, however, the above probably won't cut it. ;)

[Mitch]

Point 1: See your doctor. It is possible your body needs to readapt but either way it is safer to see a qualified medic.

Point 2: Use light stretching and a gentle 30s jog as your warmup(pumping arms) and then start off your job slowly before building up the pace. Works for me.

You should be training between 65 and 85% of your maximum heart rate. Your maximum is 210 - Age roughly speaking. So ( 210 - Age )*0.8 is roughly what you should aim for in terms of heart rate. If you maintain this rate then you will be getting benefits and you can push further. If you try to jog too fast you will exceed this and shuld slow down. If you start to get too tired you may want to focus yourself more to try and get further. It is about litening to your body. A heartrate monitor is only about £30

Definitely get checked out by Doc first.

There are several calculations available for Heart Rate Maximum, but the most commonly accepted is 220-age not 210-age.

A heart rate monitor can be a good step. It will likely make you jog sloooowly but for much longer than you think you can.

As with all things, think about what you want to gain and train appropriately. HIIT running can be great, but boxers know a lot about roadwork and they still choose to rack up the miles.

Mitch

[TheCount]

I usually thought it was 210... probably a typo :p

[ninjapiratecapn]

If you're planning on becoming an ultrarunner in your spare time, however, the above probably won't cut it. ;)

That's somewhat the idea; I'm training both because I need better wind in training, and because running is a crucial part of my self-defense plan. I'm working on interval running right now, and found that I'm out much longer, which means I'm getting more training.

Once again, I want to thank everyone for their help. :)

[BigRed389]

You know, the heart rate aspect of cardio seems to be something rather underrated except by knowledgable people.

I was always instructed in a HIIT style...but have recently come to appreciate the value of aerobic(moderate/low intensity) training on physical health...

It's really boring to do that 30+ minutes of aerobic exercise, but the benefits seem to be pretty unique.

[Zandorv1037]

First, when I run, I tend to get a pain in my neck near the end of my jog. It's located in the right side of the neck, near the artery/vein there. Can't remember what it's called; it's the one you use when you choke someone out with a blood choke. Is this normal for someone in bad shape, like the whole pain in the sides thing, or something abnormal? Like I said, I have little experience with cardio, so I don't know for sure.?

Yes, this is perfectly normal. If this is a burning pain in the muscles and veins/arteries, it is simply a buildup of lactic acid. I used to run on a cross country team, and I would get them all the time when I first started out. After a while they will go away. The buildup (I think) means that you've burned up most of the recources you use running and you're low on oxygen. The body starts self-oxygenating (I don't remember what this is called) and it burns in the neck.

Secondly, when I run, I tend to simply warm up, start running, then continue running until I'm out of breath. Unfortunately, this only takes six minutes of jogging for me. Is this the best way to do this, or should I alternate multiple short jogs with walking to lengthen my time on the road? I was thinking of trying that, but I'm worried I might overexert myself.

No, this is a bad way to go (in my opinion) especially if you are trying to build muscle. When starting out, for about two weeks run one minute then walk one minute for two miles. then run two minutes walk one minute for two miles for about two weeks. Build up from there until you are running the whole two miles, then start running three miles every day. After that becomes easy, you could do one of two things: start a schedule or keep pushing yourself, running faster and faster in the 3 miles you run. If you start a schedule, you should run at least 5 days a week, preferably six, and then rest one or two days to help your muscles. on two days out of the week, run intervals... 800 m, 400 m, or 200 m, with sometimes mile intervals on a track or around a football field (400 meters is one time around a football field or track... 4 times around is a mile) and alternate those 4 excercises. On two of the remaining three days, do a long run, starting with a 4 mile run then continuing upwards up to seven miles, or longer if you feel like you can. On the last day do a special excercise, like a fartleck or playing soccer. A fartlek is one of the best excercises to do. This is the excercise:
Warm up – easy running for 5 to 10 minutes.
Steady, hard speed for three quarters of a mile to a mile and a half – like a long repetition.
Rapid walking for about 5 minutes – recovery.
Easy running interspersed with sprints of about 50 – 60 yards, repeated until a little tired. – Start of speed work.
Easy running with three or four "quick steps" now and then (simulating suddenly speeding up to avoid being overtaken by another runner).
Full speed up hill for 175 – 200 yards.
Immediately, fast pace for 1 minute.
The whole routine is then repeated until the total time prescribed on the training schedule has elapsed.

It's good to change it up, though, don't always do fartleks! that last day (I always use Saturday) is kind of a 'fun day.' If you don't want to do a schedule, I would suggest jusr continuing to run 3 miles every day, pushing yourself harder and harder.
Just a warning: this IS an exhausting workout MEANT for someone on a running team (it's what we did when I was on the XC and track team) and it's not easy. You'll ache for days and it'll be hard to walk up and down stairs for a little while until your body gets used to the excercise, but after it does, it feels really good to do the running and your body actually stats aching if you DON'T run.
I would also suggest runnig with a friend, especially on long run days, it always helps keep me motivated, at least. If you don't want to run with a friend, bring some music or something to keep yourself going: it's hard by yourself!


Sorry for talking so long on this, I like tp run XD