Life Fitness LIFECYCLE 8500 - Manual (Page 19)

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After selecting a Hill workout, you will be asked to enter the desired workout time in
minutes. Enter a number from 10 to 60
† minutes and press ENTER.
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Select an effort level from 1 – 20. The effort level will be displayed in the Data Entry
Window (you do not need to press ENTER).
The Lifecycle exercise bike’s patented Hill program offers the ideal configuration for interval
training: periods of intense aerobic activity separated by regular intervals of lower-intensity
exercise. Interval training programs have been scientifically demonstrated to yield greater
cardiorespiratory improvement than steady-pace training.
Not only does the Hill program offer the challenge of alternating periods of high and low
intensity, but the levels of intensity become progressively more difficult during the course of
the program. Because you have the option of working out in a Hill program from 1 to 60
†
minutes, and because the Hill program is composed of four distinct phases, the 20 intervals
that make up the program must be structured differently to accommodate the entire array of
program durations. Longer workouts add more hills.
† 60 minutes is the factory setting for the Maximum Program Duration. To increase or decrease the Maximum Program
Duration see the Optional Settings for the Lifecycle Exercise Bike section.
Each Hill program session comprises the following phases:
(1) Warm-up, (2) Plateau, (3) Interval Training, and (4) Cool-down
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Warm-up: Gradually brings your heart rate into the lower portion of your target heart
rate zone, increasing respiration and blood flow to working muscles.
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Plateau: Brings your heart rate in your target zone.
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Interval Training: A series of hills and valleys. During this portion of the workout, you
will be confronted with sets of four successively steeper hills, each separated from
the next by a valley, or recovery period. Check your heart rate at the end of the
interval training period to ensure that you have stayed within your target zone.
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Cool-down: Allows the body to begin removing accumulated by-products of exercise,
such as lactic acid, which build up in muscles during a workout and contribute to
muscle soreness.
HILL PROGRAM