#28: Misconceptions about MAF Training, by Floris Gierman

Hello, hello, welcome to another episode of The Extra Mileage Show. My name is Floris Gierman, and on this show I interview different athletes, coaches, health and fitness experts around the topic of how to become a stronger, healthier, and happier athlete. I want to start off by saying a big thank you to you guys, the listeners, for anyone who left a review on Apple Podcast. In my last episode with Amelia Freybol, I mentioned that at this stage I only had about about 40 reviews on there. And sure enough, it was my goal to get to 100, and currently I just looked and we're at 128 ratings. It was really awesome to read the different stories from runners around the world, how they've actually found this podcast to be beneficial, and it really motivates me to continue doing these podcasts as well. Today's episode is going to be a little bit different. Normally I always have various guests on this show, and today it's actually just me. Talking about a topic that I do actually think it's quite important to talk about. So we're going to be talking about MAF training and also about several different misconceptions that I see out there. I hear quite a few different people talk about MAF training recently, and I also see quite a bit of misinformation. So that's why I wanted to create this video. What is MAF? MAF stands for maximum aerobic function. This does not have anything to do with methadone. This is pure coincidence there. And The objective is to train at a specific heart rate zone to build more endurance through better aerobic function. So you basically train your body to use more body fat for energy and less sugar as an energy source. And this is nothing new. New Zealand running coach Arthur Lydiard in the '50s and '60s, he actually developed a training method that was very much about first developing a strong endurance base with some periodization in there. So it's really a between aerobic and anaerobic workouts. Dr. Phil Maffetone first learned about the concepts of base building after reading about Arthur Lydiard. And so this is quite an unconventional type of training. There was a lot of no pain, no gain mentality at the time, so this was definitely different than that. Dr. Phil Maffetone ended up working with many different athletes over the years, and he actually started writing several different articles and books on these this topic as well. One of his big books is The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. I can actually highly recommend this book. And in this book he talks not only about the running components or the biking or the swimming components, but also quite a bit about the nutritional components and how that impacts your fat burning abilities, abilities. And also the stress component, how that impacts your aerobic development as well. We will talk more about the 180 formula that he developed and the actual accuracy of that later in this video. But overall, the concept of MAF training is the actual base building, so taking a specific time to work on that, but then still integrating some of the higher intensity workouts as well. Let's talk through some of these misconceptions out there. The first one is that MAF training is only training at low heart rate. There is absolutely a time and place for higher intensity workouts with this approach as well. There are two different phases here. The first phase is a base building phase where you run at lower intensity. However, after this phase is done, there absolutely is that time and place to do some of these higher intensity workouts to become familiar with the race pace and to really stimulate that anaerobic system as well. And so this is something that I think a lot of people misunderstand. Where they truly think it's all just running at lower intensity. So yeah, I do think that is an important one to just call out, that after that period is done— and how long that, that period takes, it's different for different athletes. Some athletes are able to progress aerobically and become faster at the same heart rate for quite a bit of time— 3 months, 6 months, 12 months— whereas other athletes might already hit a plateau of improvement rather quickly. For example, after 2 months, 3 months, that, all right, at that time it starts becoming the right time to start adding some higher intensity workouts if your stress levels are under control, your nutrition as well, and some of these platform progressions are not because of other factors in your training. Misconception number 2 here: you need speed work to race faster. I think consistency in training and listening to the body are absolutely key as an athlete., and quite a few athletes get injured every year. I've heard different statistics from 60% to 70% plus per year of athletes that get injured. So what that means is you start training, you're progressing, your fitness improves, and then you get injured and your fitness level goes back. You have to take a break in training and then you can start training again. And then you get injured and then you cannot train again versus being able to train at a lower intensity. Being able to listen to your body and gradually improving, but being able to train consistently. And this is what I hear quite frequently, even on the training coaching calls, where athletes are saying, I used to be able to train 40 miles a week, so that is 64K a week. And at that point, I started feeling really tired, fatigue, and that was the max my body was able to handle. Then I transitioned to low heart rate training and During that phase, all of a sudden I was able to run 60 miles a week consistently. So that is 96K a week. And during that, I was able to, and not get injured and still have energy left after my workouts and feel, feel good. Like that makes quite a difference right there. Even if after that base building period at 60 miles a week, there's some higher intensity training involved, at least your body is adapted and gradually built up to that training volume that your body can handle it at that point. As long as you continue to listen to your body and adjust accordingly as well. And so I've seen many athletes actually say that they have ran some of their best races by no speed work or by virtually very minimal speed work. And so I think that's an important one to call out here. And this is where I think that athletes who are aerobically unfit or who are injury-prone in particular can, um, benefit significantly from this training approach. The next misconception over here is that MAF training works for everyone. The MAF training approach is really a holistic approach to training, racing, and to life. Not just looking at that running component, but also really making sure that the stress levels are under control, the nutrition is optimized for fat burning, you have enough sleep, rest, recovery. To, for, for optimal performance over there. And as much as I think this can work for many different athletes out there, um, there are several different egos involved as well that come into play in training that might hinder some people being able to follow this through. This is really a short-term sacrifice for a longer-term reward. And like with, for example, the social media, um, pressure, people feeling pressured to post fast runs on Strava or caring about being passed on the bike path if in the initial stages of your training you have to slow down. Those things are real. And as much as I believe that that is beneficial to do that for longer-term improvement, some people simply cannot let themselves get passed by some other people because they have that need that they want to keep up. And, and this is where I think there's different personalities. Some people really like to go do CrossFit 4 times a week or 5 times a week and go train at high intensity, and then they try to combine that with a low-intensity heart rate approach. That simply doesn't mix together during a base building phase. You're going to be putting too much stress on your life and on your body for, for optimal fat burning to happen with, with this low-intensity training approach. And so this is where I don't think the MEF training approach works for everyone. As much as people can all benefit from it, if, if you don't want to— if you only want to run in fast group run settings and that's the only way that you enjoy running, then you might not enjoy this training approach because probably you're going to want to run some more individual runs for a while here, or you might want to find some other training partners who are willing to slow down with you. Um, so yeah, there are different elements involved here, but I do not think that the MAF training approach is the only approach to train and that it works well for everyone there. The other one that I hear sometimes is that MAF training only works for those with a background of a 5K, 10K, or those with very minimal fitness levels. This simply is not true. I've seen— I've come across many different athletes who have run their best races with this training approach. I've also interviewed several different elite athletes who have won races, whether it's in the ultra distance or in shorter distances, with this training approach. Here are a few of them. For example, Jonathan Walton. He is 50 years old and he ran a PR of 2:28, making him the fastest guy in the UK in his age category. Larissa Danish, who placed second at Western States, and she ran, she ran a 5:59 50 miler. And a 2:44 marathon. Josh Sambrook, who ran a 2:28. Jason Cheriman, a 2:24 marathoner. Julianne, one of the women in our Marathon PR program who just passed me in the CIM marathon and who finished at the 2:49. Mark Gugazela, who ran sub-3-hour marathons for 30+ years, and 6-time world champion Ironman Mark Allen. Just to name a few. Let's talk about the next misconception, or at least misconception to what I think is out there, and that is that the Maff 180 formula is accurate for everyone. So Dr. Phil Maffetone actually developed the 180 formula, and he did this through years of working with different athletes. So high level here, you would take 180 and you subtract your age, and then you modify it with your health or fitness profile. So for example, if you're a healthy athlete, you're 40 years old, and you've been consistently training for the past 2 years, have been progressing in your training, you've been working out at least 4 times or more a week, you have not experienced any, any major injuries, and you're not on medication, you can add +5. However, if you're an athlete, also 40 years old, and you have experienced injuries recent injuries, you actually have to take 5 beats off that. So 180 minus 40 minus 5 for that last athlete, so that would be 135, is the max heart rate of your training zone. You take 10 underneath, that is your, your variant training zone. So for the injured athlete, that would be 125 to 135. Whereas for the healthy athlete who has been training consistently for 2+ years, that would be 145 in total. 140, uh, 180 minus 40 plus 5. So this 180 minus age formula, similar to the 220 minus age formula, really doesn't keep in mind any of the max heart rate from an athlete. So although it might work well for the middle of the bell curve, if you're an outlier and if you have a high max heart rate of let's say 210, versus you have a low max heart rate of 150 or 160, then this formula still gives you the same training zone where that, that is not ideal there either. So there are a few other things that you can do as well. You can go out and run and find out what your max heart rate is and look at your low, uh, your resting heart rate as well and apply a formula to that to actually calculate your aerobic training zones. However, some people might be injury-prone and they don't, don't wanna or shouldn't be going out and running to their fullest extent, or they might get certain injuries. Or even some of those training zones are not always accurate based on max and resting heart rate either. The other thing you can do is you can go to a medical lab and you can get properly tested over there. So gradually over time, your actual intensity is going to increase during one of those tests. You get different samples taken so so that you can properly calculate what your training zone would be there for aerobic training. However, that being said, there's a few negative sides to this type of measurement as well. It is not always very natural to run this way. When you go out and you race, let's say a 10K effort, you know what the distance is going to be and you can pace yourself accordingly. During one of these tests, you're going to be running quite unnatural. Because you're going to be running until exhaustion. And so your mind, it plays quite a different role in this as well. The other thing is that a lab test can be quite expensive as well. The last one I did was, I believe, $175 or $200, and not everyone would want to spend that. What I do like a lot about the Maff 180 Formula is that your actual training intensity does change based on your actual fitness and health profiles. So for example, if you have experienced a recent cold or recent injury, you're going to be training at a lower intensity than when you have been training consistently. And I think this is actually very valid, um, and that a lot of athletes can actually quite benefit from this, purely going back to the injury part we talked about earlier, that so many athletes get injured throughout that training cycle. That even if you lower the intensity a bit purely to be able to enjoy the workouts and be able to consistently train versus getting injured and going back in your training, I think there's absolutely something over there. So is there a perfect formula that you can apply for, for your specific training? I don't think there's a one, one-size-fits-all training answer for that, or formula answer for that. I do think learning to listen to the signals of your body and adjusting some of your training zones on that as well is very important too. I think the more you train, um, at lower heart rate or lower intensity, and the more you kind of become familiar with the different signals from your body, even at higher intensity, I think you can only benefit from that. And this is where I see quite a few athletes who have been training at lower intensity actually trained quite a bit under MAF as well. And so it, it is quite, quite an interesting topic to, uh, to talk about. But yeah, I think it is very individualized to come up with the right answer there. One of the next misconceptions I hear quite frequently is MAF training doesn't work because I have to walk, or the other one, I've tried MAF training for 3 months and I'm I'm not progressing aerobically, so it doesn't work. And I think this is something that you have to take a step back and not just look at the running component, but see what are other elements in this person's life going on. For example, if you're eating poorly, this can significantly impact your overall aerobic development. If you are very stressed out of your mind, then that is going to impact actually how you are progressing as well. And so some of these things, if you're, if you're not sleeping correctly— recently I came across someone who was only sleeping 5 hours a night and was not progressing aerobically. When we changed that to 7 to 8 hours a night, all of a sudden this person started to progress quite quickly in training. Some other times I discovered that someone is actually doing cross-training several times a week at very high intensity.. And so sometimes you have to take a step back over that. And some people have been training very intensely for many, many years that when they start out with low-intensity training, they're first gonna have to de-stress and they might actually go backwards before they start progressing. In the Extra Mile Facebook group recently, someone posted a graph about that as well. They started out at, I believe, an 11-minute mile. At first they went backwards to a 12 or 13-minute mile before this pace started coming down. Then it became 11, 10, and further than that it started progressing again. So I think some of these things do take time, um, and, and there could be a lot of different blockers going on that it's not always about the, the, the running component, but look at some of these other areas as well. I do want to add here that good mindset is very important here too. If you get very frustrated of having to slow down in your training or having to take walk breaks, like, and you have all this, this frustration— I hear it, I'm so frustrated, it doesn't work for me— well, if you actually enjoy slowing down for a bit and you smell the flowers and you become more mindful in your running and you realize that this is part of the process, your stress levels will quickly come down, and that's an important one for this to work as well. And so slowing down even to a walk can be very beneficial. If you're aerobically unfit, which quite a few athletes actually are, then having to take walk breaks, whether you run on like on a flat terrain or whether you go up, up some hills, yeah, those walk breaks are part of the process, but they can absolutely play an important role if of becoming a stronger, healthier, happier athlete out there as well. The next one here is that your MAF heart rate is about the average heart rate on your workout. And I see this quite a bit actually as well, is that some athletes, let's say their MAF is 140, and so they go out for half the run, they're running at 160, and half the run they're running at 120. And yes, the average was 140, However, half the time they were probably close to the red zone, and half the time they were very much in a recovery run. And so yes, you were averaging 140, but you were not training properly according to this way of training. And this is where, if let's say your MAF training zone is 140 at the max and the 10 beats below it becomes the actual training zone, then trying to run into that zone is, is very beneficial. And then setting your alarm actually at the 140 to go off to remind you to actually have to slow down a bit can be beneficial there. The other thing to keep in mind is you don't have to always run in that 130 to 140 zone. Even training at a bit of a lower intensity, whether that's for your recovery runs or when your body is just feeling like slowing down a more, that's totally fine. Even myself, my MAF training zone is 133 to 143, and even this morning I just looked on my Strava and my morning run was definitely below that. So I felt like running at that intensity, and so I don't have to always push myself specifically to that zone. So just something else to keep in mind there. There are two more over here. The first one is MAF training has no variation. That's why I don't train this way. And this is something where I think you have to understand there's two different phases to this. There's the base building, and then there's the phase where you do actually have some higher intensity workouts. And I think you could totally mix it up over here, make it exciting. You can go on trails, you can go on different roads, you can go different terrain, you can add some hills into it. Even if you like gradually jog up a hill, you fast or run down a hill, even keeping it aerobic. Or during the, the higher intensity phase, you can do all sorts of speed play. You can start doing fartleks, you can start doing hill repeats, you can go to a track, you can do tempo runs, you can run the first X amount of miles or kilometers at MAF and then throw in some faster paces at marathon pace. Like, there's many different ways that you can mix this up. It really doesn't have to be a still run over there. So that's just something to keep in mind. Using different routes, like not always going on the same route, but definitely mixing it up as well. That's what I do every time too. It just stimulates different parts of your brain. And last but not least, Matt, the math training approach is like a cult. And this one makes me laugh every single time because it absolutely a cult. What I think is going on here is that quite a few people have actually found benefit by training with this non-traditional training approach. So many people think that the only way to train is the no pain, no gain, kill yourself on every workout mentality. And when for the first time in their life they're actually learning how to slow down on some of their runs, to be able to have a conversational pace while they run and they actually get some of that joy back into their running, that they're able to run without injuries, that they're able to finish a workout and actually have energy left in the tank, to be able to not bonk on a race. Like, those are some of the things that I hear every single day. I receive messages in our Marathon PR Training Program, in the Extra Mileless Facebook group, in the Mephitone Method group. I see I see these people like just sharing all of their positive experiences with this training approach. And so yes, it is not a cult, it is just a passionate group of people wanting to tell their experiences and actually sharing that with more other people out there. Is meth training the best training approach for every type of runner? No, I don't think so. I think it is most important to find a training approach that you enjoy doing and that you can maintain.. And I think MAF training is one good option over here. I would love to hear from you, what are your thoughts and your experiences with MAF training? Have you ever tried it? And if so, have you found any benefits with it or did it not work for you? I would absolutely love to hear from you in the comments. All of the show notes can be found at extramileist.com/28 and this also includes the links to some of the other podcast guests that were mentioned here. Also, I want to let you know that I recently started an Extramileist Instagram account, and I'm going to be posting here quite frequently, not just about the Extramileist show but also different running insights, more frequent updates from my end. Um, I've been doing that to some extent on my personal Instagram account, but I don't want to bombard all of my friends and family with only a bunch of running posts. So if you want to see more, check out Extramilest, um, so @extramilest on Instagram. Several more episodes of the Extramilest Show are in the works, and several new videos are coming soon as well. So make sure to subscribe and you'll be the first to know when a new episode comes out. And then I would just say, have fun out there on your runs. I'll see you guys on Strava. Later.