Tue, May-08-18, 10:13
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Say NO to Diabetes!
Posts: 8,671
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Plan: My own - < 30 net carbs
Stats: 440/228/210
BF:Energy Unleashed
Progress: 92%
Location: Central Virginia - USA
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While trying to figure out if upper body weight lifting will be counter productive with my MAF training I ran across a good, written in layman's terms, article about building a strong cardio base. Here is the link and a snippet from the article.
Quote:
From the article on T-nation.com Your Cardio Makes No Sense .
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Cardio Redux
Many use aerobic conditioning for body recomposition purposes. This makes sense, because when trained properly, the body burns fat for fuel, which helps improve aesthetics.
Steady state, low-intensity aerobic activity also acts as a powerful recovery tool. Aerobic efforts help the body process inflammation and leads to the release of restorative hormones (cortisone) that aid in connective tissue repair.
Unfortunately, there's a misunderstanding of what aerobic activity is and how we should train it. This confusion can be attributed to mainstream misinformation relating to how the body produces energy aerobically.
I see this type of confusion often with athletes who've been training their cardio with hard efforts. In this scenario, there's often a large deficiency in the athlete's ability to produce energy aerobically.
This deficiency lies in direct opposition to their goal of developing overall badassery. You can't be a well-rounded athlete if your aerobic energy system is garbage.
How do I know it's garbage? I test it!
Nowhere to Hide
The test requires you to run one mile. The tricky part is that you must keep your heart rate below your Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) for the entire mile.
To determine your MAF score, simply subtract your age from 180 (example:180-37=143 BPM). If you're a highly trained athlete, you can add 3 BPM. If you're a de-conditioned athlete, subtract 3 BPM. This metric provides a baseline to continually monitor progress and physiological change.
Now that you've determined your MAF, strap on a heart rate monitor and go for a run. Remember, you can't allow your heart rate to exceed your MAF score. For many this will be a problem. Some of you may have to walk, some may crawl.
Regardless of your outcome, heart rate must be kept below your MAF score or the test is useless. If heart rate spikes, walk and let it drop below your MAF before starting the run.
Upon completion of your one-mile run or walk, review your time. If you can run the mile in seven minutes you've got a well-trained aerobic system. If your mile time was 13 minutes, your aerobic energy-system is poor.
So, what do you do if your aerobic energy pathway is junk? You train it! ...
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By this standard I've got a lot of work to do on my aerobic function. The time for my best mile on last Saturday's MAF workout was just under 15 minutes. I've read several articles now that talk about the benefits of building your purely aerobic base -- the true 'fat burning" zone. It appears to be a thing; and I think I'm on the right track by adopting this training method. Like any of my N=1 experiments, I'll be curious to know how effective it FOR ME. I am nearly 55 years old and not built like a runner. 7 minute miles might be out of the question. But surely I can improve upon my 15 minute mile and stay in the MAF zone. That's the plan.
Last edited by khrussva : Wed, May-09-18 at 13:37.
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