I spent 30 minutes above 60% MHR on the stepper yesterday. 25 of those minutes were at around 80%, largely spent stepping, although some pressups, squats and calf raises went into it at the end. After that I did some weights and crunches, and consequently got cardio and a full body workout in one session. Every part of me today has that sort of dull ache. My calves are complaining to me today, "150? Why did you do that for?"

One exercise I have trouble with are crunches. I find them hard to do without straining my neck. I do them slowly, and as properly as I can, but usually the day after, I get neckache, and on occasions that has even led to headaches. Headaches after crunches ... come on! I'd like to substitute them with some other exercise, but situps aren't any better ... for now I'll have to be content with doing reverse crunches instead. Head on the floor, and bottom off!

I've also been thinking about getting an exercise bike. This was on Saturday after I went online looking for a pair of trainers. My current pair of ACGs have, through proper care (actually it's more lack of use) lasted nearly four years. They were also dirt cheap, at US$30 - where else can you get such durable shoes! - but they're getting on a bit and the cushioning isn't what it used to be. Anyway, the shoes I looked at were almost the cost of a simple exercise bike. If the bike's any good, it might be worthwhile going for it instead of the shoes, because it means lower impact exercise. I just don't want to get anything where I have to pedal a little flywheel like crazy just to get my heart rate above 120bpm, and then consign it to the junk cupboard.

I'd also thought about rowing machines before, but I wouldn't trust myself to maintain proper form when I'm pulling one for twenty minutes. In any case, the ones that I might consider are too expensive, and I hate spending too much money on equipment.

On another note, I read in my book about a runner in the late 1880s called Walter George who ran a 4:12 mile on just 3km of training every day. 3km! At one stage his training consisted of doing 100 knee-ups (jogging on the spot and getting the knee above horizontal). It definitely reminded me about how training should be about quality rather than quantity. My cardio "training" is once every two days for about twenty to thirty minutes each time - it's all the time I can afford and want to devote to it, and it's got me results that I'm satisfied with.

Can you achieve any more in your training by spending less time?