DON'T RUN ON EMPTY
If you want to get fit and would like to know some secrets about how to structure your training program in order to peak at the right time, then you’ll need to read the running article including; The 180-Formula and Heart-Rate Monitoring and a 6 week training program for no not so serious runner. My editorial featured in PNG Mining Life & Living Issue 6
Now listen!
If you want to get fit and would like to know some secrets about how to
structure your training program in order to peak at the right time, then you’ll
need to read this excerpt: From “The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing”
by Dr. Phil Maffetone
The 180-Formula and Heart-Rate
Monitoring
Instead of
220 minus the chronological age multiplied by some percentage, Phil Maffetone used 180 minus a
person’s chronological age, which is then adjusted to reflect their
physiological age as indicated by fitness and health factors.
Calculate Your Own Maximum Aerobic Training
Heart Rate (MaxATHR)
To find your
maximum aerobic training heart rate, there are two important steps. First,
subtract your age from 180. Next, find the best category for your present state
of fitness and health, and make the appropriate adjustments:
1. Subtract
your age from 180.
2. Modify
this number by selecting among the following categories the one that best
matches your fitness and health profile:
a) If
you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation
or hospital stay, etc.) or are on any regular medication, subtract an
additional 10.
b) If
you are injured, have regressed in training or competition, get more than two
colds or bouts of flu per year, have allergies or asthma, or if you have been
inconsistent or are just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
c) If
you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two
years without any of the problems just mentioned, keep the number (180–age) the
same.
d) If
you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems
listed above, and have made progress in competition without injury, add 5.
For example,
if you are thirty years old and fit into category (b), you get the following:
180–30=150. Then 150–5=145 beats per minute (bpm).
In this
example, 145 will be the highest heart rate for all training. This is highly
aerobic, allowing you to most efficiently build an aerobic base. Training above
this heart rate rapidly incorporates anaerobic function, exemplified by a shift
to burning more sugar and less fat for fuel.
Once a
maximum aerobic heart rate is found, a training
range from this heart rate to 10 beats below could be used as a training
range. For example, if an athlete’s maximum aerobic heart rate is determined to
be 145, that person’s aerobic training zone would be 135 to 145 bpm. However,
the more training at 145, the quicker an optimal aerobic base will be
developed.
Initially,
training at this relatively low rate may yield comments like “I just can’t
train that slowly!” But after a short time, you will feel better and your pace
will quicken at that same heart rate. The take home message is to train at an
intensity that is equal to your calculated Maximal Aerobic Training Heart Rate
(MaxATHR).
Mix it up
It is
important not only to enhance your fitness through regulation of your heart
rate but avoid boredom with your training as well. There are several types of
training programs, each with varying frequency, duration, and intensity
parameters that will help you get to your peak.
Types of Aerobic Endurance
Training
Type
|
Time/Remarks
|
Intensity
|
|
|
|
|
|
Long
slow distance (LSD)
|
race
distance or longer
( > 30 - 120 min)
|
> 80%
MaxATHR
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pace /
tempo
|
> 20
- 30 min
|
at or
slightly above race pace
|
|
|
|
|
|
Interval
|
3 - 5
min
(work: rest ratio of 1 : 1)
|
close
to 100% MaxATHR
|
|
|
|
|
|
Repetition
|
30 - 90
sec with
work: rest ratio of 1 : 5
|
>100%
MaxATHR
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fartlek
|
> 20
- 60 min
|
varies
between LSD and pace/tempo training intensities
|
