MAF Training

I hate cardio. Ok, not all cardio, but running, and any other mundane steady-state activity. Its just boring, and unless there's a good reason to do it, like competition, I see little reason to do it. It doesn't burn calories at any appreciable level for real changes in body composition (eat to lose fat, exercise for strength and performance.

I do feel that being "fit" or "in shape" means being able to exert myself aerobically and recover in a fairly short period of time, so I try to incorporate some form of aerobic exercise into my routine. As a child I loved cycling, I could just hope on my bike and take off for an hour or two at a time, speeding along, then coasting, cornering fast, zipping past people, it was fantastic. In my 20's I loved roller blading, so much so that I even got a dog-sledding harness for my dog (who loved to run so much, he's shake with anticipation every time I got out the roller blade!) And from time to time I've incorporated High Intensity Intervals Training in my programs to get cardio conditioning without having to spend more than a few (unbearably grueling) minutes at it.

As I've changed my eating habits to ketogenic, and become more educated on the Kerbs cycle (how the body converts macro-nutrients to energy), I've become interested in Optimum Fat Metabolism (OFM). I'm not an endurance athlete, and have little interest in becoming one, but the goal of further improving my bodies fat metabolism, along with it numerous benefits (I'm most interested in longevity and neurological health),means improving my aerobic base.

Aerobic energy uses fat and oxygen in the Krebs cycle, while anaerobic uses glucose and no oxygen (This is why people mistakenly believe aerobic exercise is better for losing body fat. Its a total over simplification and misunderstanding of metabolism.) Your body switches to aerobic fuel (glucose) for short, intense bursts of power, new maximum effort. Sprinting and near maximum lifts for example, which push the heart rate up above 80% of maximum. The standard rough estimate for one's maximum heart rate is 220 minus one's age (obviously, the exact number would vary depending on one's overall fitness level), for me, that number is 174 bpm. Eighty percent of that is 139 bpm.
Theoretically, once my heart rate goes over 139 bpm, I'm burning mostly glucose. Below that level, I'm burning mainly fat.

But how much work can I accomplish while staying below that level? For example, how fast can I run continuously, while staying below 139 bpm? The truth is, right now, about 8 minutes per mile, for about a minute. I can run a sub 7 minute mile in my current condition, and not feel like I'm going to die, but I would be anaerobic and not be able to sustain the level for nearly as long as if I kept in my fat burning zone.

A more highly trained endurance athlete, on the other hand, could maintain a much faster mile while still keeping their heart rate low, because they have adapted their body to more efficiently use fat. Which begs the question, what's the best method for achieving that improved adaptation?

It seems there's an upper limit to how much adaptation you can get using HIIT, and by just pushing yourself to run a little faster or a little further each time. After a point, everyone using these techniques seems to hit a limit and stop improving. That limit may be well beyond where they started, and may put them in the elite level of their sport, but not in number one place.

What I want to know is what the very top, upper echelon, number one performers are doing that other people aren't... And is it applicable to sub-elite athletes like me?

Turns out, just like nutritional ketosis, there is a little known, but growing number of athletes successfully using an alternative type of training to markedly improve their fat metabolism for endurance and it is applicable to everyone... In fact, is really pretty ease. Its called the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) training, pioneered by Phil Maffetone (neat how Maffetone invented MAF training, huh?)

MAF training is the "low and slow" of exercise. The premise is simple: Exercise for a given period of time right at your ideal aerobic heart rate, maintaining a pace that allows you stay right on target for the entire training session. Period. That's it.

As your heart gets more fit, the exact pace needed to maintain that heart rate will increase. You'll adapt so your previous pace is easy and be forced to increase speed.

I set myself the goal of doing a Spartan race next spring, which is a 10K obstacle course. I'll have to run, and I know myself, I will not want to be dead last, so this gives me motivation to train my aerobic base.

The other reason for doing this is to improve my lifting. Weight lifting is mainly anaerobic, but by improving my aerobic base, I'll spend less time in an anaerobic state, between lifts, digging into my glucose reserves less and allowing my to continue to get stronger while maintaining a ketogenic lifestyle. Those are my goals, now how to go about it.

First is using a heart rate monitor. This is non-negotiable. You cannot possible know your heart rate without one. If you think you can, try one session of MAF using one and you'll see how wrong you are. Sometimes, walking up a hill feels easy, but your heart rate shoots up. Or you'll be jogging at a nice steady pace, thinking your doing fine, and look down and BAM! you're heart rate is 15 bpm too high, even though your not even winded!

To get my target heart rate, I subtract an additional 40 from my max heart rate (or 180 minus age). In my case, its 134 bpm, a little under the 80% threshold, is my upper limit target. I subtract another 10 from that and get my lower limit threshold, 124 bpm.

After a good 10 to 15 minutes of warming up with light exercise, walking or riding my bike at an easy, sub 124 bpm pace, I begin. I jog lightly until my heart rate hits 134, then I slow to walk until it drops to 124, then I job again. Job, walk, jog, walk, rinse and repeat for up to 30 minutes. Then cool down.

Jogging through my Atlanta neighborhood hills, I get to see exactly how much various inclines at various paces affect my heart rate. It becomes a game to see if I can find the right pace to stay in my zone for an extended period of time as the terrain changes and I get further along.

Every month, Maffetone recommends doing a test. Using a set course, or time limit on a flat track, test your pace while maintaining your heart rate zone. Always use the same course or time, so you know the conditions are the same. Each month, you should see improvement as your aerobic base improves.

I did my first test this week, even though I've been using this system for a few weeks. I'll know for sure next month if I'm improving, but I can already see improvements in my performance and how I feel.

Since I hate steady state cardio, this has given me something more interesting to focus on, making it more enjoyable. Once I get my "new" bike (read as "the $45 used bike I bought and have to rebuild) working, I'll alternate between running and biking. Biking is my preferred method, but the position is hard on my back, and running is more appropriate to train for the Spartan Run.

I'll begin incorporating a couple of HIIT sessions a month, to get those benefits, plus train my body to respond to the need to sprint suddenly. But I'll wait a few months for that, to get a solid base of aerobic performance first.

I'm doing this kind of training 3-5 times a week. Either first thing in the morning, or immediately following a lifting session. Never immediately before lifting. I have also begun wearing the heart rate monitor during my lifting, to see where my heart rate is while I work out. It obviously fluctuates a lot more than while jogging, but I can see how fast my heart rate drops from its peak back to aerobic which is interesting.

I'll post again when I do my next test to see how this is all working out.