(Tabata) timers and note taking apps to enhance resistance training

 

Strength/resistance training is essential for good health and longevity. A loss of skeletal muscle mass leads to immobility and loss of independence and is linked to a decline in our immuno-resiliance, increased susceptibility to infections and chronic inflammatory diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers.

Two key concepts in strength training are intensity and recovery. One consequence of an intense workout is delirium. Delirium is a disturbance in our mental abilities. 

Intensity

Intensity is a measure of how hard we work during an exercise. Intensity is a function of the load, the number of repetitions and the length of the workout. As we age, we may have difficulty increasing the load, but we can still continue to maintain and develop strength by increasing the number of repetitions and the length of the workout.

Recovery

Recovery is the period that our muscles are give to rest in between each set or in between each workout. For this discussion, we focus on only the recovery between sets.

If the recovery time between sets is too short, then we will have difficulty in performing a sufficient number of repetitions or sets to enable us to efficiently stimulate our muscles and our neuromuscular systems for muscular development/

If the recovery time is too long, then, we will need to spend much longer to achieve our desired number of repetitions during a workout. Unfortunately, not all of us can spend hours working out.

Delirium

Delirium means that you lose track of time and your activities. Don't panic about mild delirium. A mild state of delirium is common and is a good indicator that you are working out intensity. Of course if you become delirious, whereby you completely lose track of time or cannot recognize your surroundings, then you may have a serious problem. 

Because of mild delirium, we may find it difficult determine if we have been exercising to our desired level of intensity and if we have had an optimum recovery period.    

Tools

Two types of tools which are useful in ensuring that we optimize our intensity during resistance training are (1) an interval/Tabata timer (2) a note taking device/app.

Timer

An interval timer or Tabata timer is an mobile phone app which helps you keep track of your workout time and your rest time.

For example, you can use the timer to help you to

• exercise or rest for a given number of seconds (e.g. 15 seconds of exercise/30 seconds of rest)
• control your workout frequency  (e.g. 5 repetitions in 1 minute or 10 repetitions on the minute every minute)

A good timer should have

• a large display so that you can track your workout
• a facility to sound an alarm when the time is up
• the number of rounds shown on the screen

A timer will help you keep track of time (ha ha), so that you can focus on your workout. If you perform a set number of repetitions every cycle, then you can easily calculate the number of repetitions that you have performed. For example 5 repetitions per cycle every 1 minute cycle over 10 cycles = 50 repetitions. 

A timer can also be set so that you have sufficient recovery. This way, you know if your recovery is too short or too long. 

A timer overcomes issues with delirium. The timer can help us record and register our sets (and hence repetitions) and our recovery periods. 

Tabata Timer App

Note taking app/device

We can keep track of our progress by recording the number of repetitions and the load.

As we develop mild delirium during a workout, we can easily forget how many repetitions we have performed and how close we are to our target. For example, if you trying to complete a 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge and if your target is 500 kettlebell swings in a session, you can very quickly forget how many swings you have performed. 

Tracking your progress is essential for continuous improvement. Knowing how many repetitions that we have performed at a particular load can help motivate us to improve and to know when we need to progressively overload.

We can keep track of our progress with pen and notebook or with a mobile phone app. Personally I prefer using Google Keep on my mobile phone. With an app, I need to only bring a mobile phone to my workout for use as a timer and a recording device. Google keep is easy to use and a copy is kept on my Google drive.

Google Keep