Airdyne Intensity how to improve..

Little history on myself. 47 years old, 5'7" 165lbs lean and muscular for my age. Exercised daily since I was 21 doing weights and running. Got to doing 5kms in 22mins from a cold start. Running partner died (my dog) and I quit running cold turkey and joined Brazilian Jiu-jitsu the day after he died. Trained BJJ everyday for 10yrs until my first daughter was born, then I took up running again a couple nights a week on a treadmill I bought and trained Jiu-jitsu the other days/nights. Second daughter born and I found I needed to start taking a day off here or there to be more involved with family in general. I obviously shifted gears and was simply busy at times with dishes, laundry, late nights. I still managed to run/train 4/5 days a week.

Fast forward a few years and I'm still exercising 4/5 days a week with jiu-jitsu and now an Airdyne bike. I switched to an Airdyne as the running was taking its toll on my knees, ankles and hips. I have a tendency to give it everything every time. I was also diagnosed with a nerve condition. I'm always in some type of discomfort and some days are worse than others. Sometimes I will take a week off the Airdyne and only teach my Brazilian jiu-jitsu class and not roll in it (not grapple). I switch up the amount I train and the days off based on how my nerve condition feels.

I've always done my Treadmill and Airdyne at home when the kids went to bed or they played. They watch and understand how committed I am to exercise and they now are high level Cheerleaders for their age groups. Last year they were on the same team and they won plenty of competitions and worlds.

Here's my question after my "too much information explanation".

I've been giving it everything I got on my Airdyne but my improvements are painstakingly slow. Its been 3 years and I want the gains in calories burned to improve quicker. I use the calories burned simply as a marking tool for gauging my output.

Here's a few of my rides:

3min warm up, 20sec work, 10 secs rest, 8 sets, 5min cool down at a decent pace once I kind of recover from the Tabata

3min warm up, 10min as hard as I can ride

3min warm up 5mins all out, 2 min rest 5min all out, 2min rest 5min all out (doing this as it simulates World Brazilian jiu-jitsu masters divisions match length)

Any ideas to help me increase my output? More carbs, more protein, more rest, any input would be great.

Should I just except that I'm not 25/30 any more and the gains will be slower or start to even drop as I'm aging?

submitted by /u/JayJitsBJJ
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