activity points and flex plan???

[tall cool one]

Are there any differences in earning activity points with the new plan other than using them all on the day they are earned?

[Aphreal]

I dont think so no. I think the only change is you have to consume them the day you earn them.

Tiff

[imported_Kelly_S]

There is still a debate on many message boards about the amount you can use. The on-line stuff lets you use as many as you earn before dipping into your FP. People are saying there are still a 4 point cap. I read the booklet they give out for the Activity Phase (it is the week 3 booklet) and it states you should 'average' 4 points a day. To me I interpret that as you could earn like this:

DAY 1 - 2
DAY 2 - 2
DAY 3 - 6
DAY 4 - 2
DAY 5 - 6
DAY 6 - 5
DAY 7 - 5

Also W/W states clearly if you want to earn more than 4 a day you should be under guidance of a fitness professional and/or doctor. They do that for legality purposes and to cover their butt!

[Aphreal]

Ive seen as much debate also on the fact that there has never been a 4pt cap. That it reared its head and caught fire and now many believe that but its not nor was it a fact. *shrug* I dont know. I earn 4 or 5 and I eat all of them.

The reason for the 'seek dr care' for more than 4 i believe is when someone who is new to the program go out on day one and try to earn 10ap and darn near kill themselves (exageration smile.gif )

My confusion is when leaders tell ppl that "xyz exercise only earns XYZ pts" when I know my own HR is 85%-90% and higher for the same amt of time and I earn 2x what the leader said I should. This bothers me. Not everyone of the same weight is of the same fitness level. I make sure my HR stays over 160 when im jogging/powerwalking so I can earn those high intensity AP's. it says on the card running 6mph is high intensity but 4mph is moderate. Well what if 4mph raises your HR over 75%? Its not moderate anymore, its high for that individual.

Tiff

[imported_Kelly_S]

Tiff, I agree 100% with the xzy activity earns xyz points. Because the 2-Mile WATP tape I earn 3 points based on intensity/HR and the 2-Mile WATP for Abs I earn 4 points.

I got this 'generalized' chart from a fitness instructor and it is pretty accurate to help figure out the intensity level:

LOW - you can talk and sing
MOD - you can talk but not sing
HIGH - you need deep breaths to talk

[Alliruetwo]

Okay, bear with me here. How do I figure out my activity points?? Is it based on type of activity, duration, heart rate?? Thanks.

[imported_Kelly_S]

It is based on current weight/intensity/duration. If you don't have an activity points finder it is hard but.....

Not sure how accurate this is but it may be of help to those who are doing W/W on their own:

Ok - having said all that - I also found a formula to figure activity points on a website of a man that lost a lot of weight on WW. I don't have the link, but here's the formula if you don't have the slide rule...

Light Activity:
Weight X Minutes X .000232 = Activity Points

Moderate Activity:
Weight X Minutes X .000327 = Activity Points

High Activity:
Weight X Minutes X .0008077 = Activity Points

This was posted by skinnybaby on 7/26/02 at 8:14:02 am

[Alliruetwo]

Thank you sooo much Kelly. That means actually earned 2 aps today, maybe, my weigh in on Monday won't be as bad as I thought :eek:

[Avani]

Hi, BCBers -
After a while, exercise intensity became intuitively obvious to me. I generally use the "break out in sweat" rule and, when engaging in activity that is inherently non-sweaty, I compare the energy I've expended to what I'd be expending working at a desk or watching TV (and not eating).

As a massage therapist, I generally equate 30 minutes of doing massage work as "light" work, = 1 point; an all-out 45-minute spin class where my clothes come out soggy, 5 points. When doing a longer activity, such as the 53-mile bike 5-boro bike ride in NYC, I broke the activity down into logical groups. ALL of it was more energetic than sitting on the sofa, so at base it was at least "light" activity. There was break-out sweat activity going over five bridges that lasted for a total of, say, 30 minutes for all bridges, and some long extended parts of the ride that demanded energy to keep up the pace and speed, and those were moderate. So in five hours of riding, I had about three easy hours, 90 minutes of medium pace, and 30 minutes of "high". Using the slider, it was fairly easy to compute the points; and yes, I ate most of them along the way--fuel for the engine.

[Aphreal]

I use my heart rate and sweat as my guide. For each person its different and as time goes on, I relized (and it was obvious to me) that the better shape Im in the more I have to fartlek my jogging and speed walking to get in the same intensity. This way I know Im doing it right. Before I could jog for a min or two for every 15min im walking to keep/raise my HR past 75%

Now I have to actually run or jog for 10mi the speed walk for about 10 the run again. When I am at high intensity in anything it produces ALOT of sweat for me. when Its moderate or light, My body doesnt produce much sweat. So I use those 2 things to determine my intensity.

If its a low day.. say 140 HR which is the brink of mod and high for me I will split it off and count my running as high and my walking as mod.

sounds confusing but its a system that is becoming easier for me to work with and I think thats key. finding what works for the individual.

I forsee a day where I have to run the whole time. I hope its not soon! I might have overdid it today. I was at 100% my MHR for the last leg of my run.

Tiff

[judyo53]

I just have to chime in here with a different side of the coin. I reached goal without eating my AP's & even when I figured them out I probably undercalculated them.

My light weight routine is counted as light intensity & all my aerobic tapes (including step & Tae Bo & The Firm) are calculated as moderate. I don't believe I do anything that should be considered high intensity as I'm not a runner or competing for anything.

I have chosen Flex Plan for maintenance & figuring AP's is more important to me now since I'm eating all of my FP's plus any AP's earned. The most I've ever earned at my weight doing an hour of aerobics figured at moderate intensity is 2.

It boggles my mind when I see people listing 8-10 AP's earned daily. However, Tiff makes a great point that everyone's heart rate is different. I'm getting a HR monitor for my birthday this year to see if maybe I should be counting my step aerobics & some others as high intensity. I want to be able to eat as much as possible & still maintain!

So I figure if someone is earning a lot of AP's daily & eating them & still losing, then everything is working out correctly. However, I've seen some on this board doing that & not losing. That's when I think it's time to reassess how you're figuring AP's out intensity wise to see if that could be the culprit. There's a big difference when I change moderate intensity to high for the same amount of time worked out.

[youngfrankenstein]

Originally posted by Avani:

After a while, exercise intensity became intuitively obvious to me. I generally use the "break out in sweat" rule and, when engaging in activity that is inherently non-sweaty, I compare the energy I've expended to what I'd be expending working at a desk or watching TV (and not eating).

I see the same for myself. I do The Firm videos and at some point at the end of the warm-up, I feel the sweat "break out". That's when I check my pulse and see if it's high intensity. I wait a few minutes and start the clock. When I start floor-work or abs the clock "stops" and I count the high intensity as high and skip the rest.

tallcoolone-you are right, the only difference in APs is using them the same day you earn them, or losing them.