Maffetone method

180-age = Maffetone MHR.

You work from %'s of that, which seems very low effort to some people who have spent their formative years running intervals on a track with a coach yelling number out reading from a stopwatch.

It would appear that some folks would have to undergo some 'unlearning' in order to embrace Maffetone; he seems to go against the 'no pain no gain' school.

I know of no elite runner---UNDER the ultra distances, or outside of triathlon--who has succeeded using and/or endorsing Maffetone's method. Yes, yes, as a method of base building it makes a lot of sense, but beyond that phase I've seen nothing published or noted.

Sounds like the deep glute muscle called the piriformis, it can give you all sorts of static and often includes tight and achey SI joint. I have been using a tennis ball, ie sitting on the thing and rolling to try and release the bum area and the foam roller to get the ITbands to settle down, deep tissue massage can also help and a good Chiro if the lower back stays locked up....

Bump....further dialogue great!!!!

To begin a base?

Still sounds like a program for those who have never exercised at all, but a good one for those coming back from injuries and who aren't in too much of a hurry to get back to the starting line.....this what it sounds like to me.....just hard to do...tired of walk/jogging that's all..this is why I'm wondering if this makes any sense?!

The two poster boys of the Maffetone method (Mike Pigg and Mark Allen) certainly put up good running times using the program. I would venture to say that a lot of people would love to run their 10k times in open races which is especially impressive given they did it in the course of a triathlon.

Bump.

I would say be patient and if you do what Maffetone suggests you will get good results.

Case in point: I had a friend who was a teammate of mine in college who had run no faster than mid 17 minutes in the 5K. Then as a thirty something he discovers Maffetone and tells me about it. I tell him try it out and let me know how it works out.

Six months later he runs 34:25 for 10K and 16:50 for 5K.

In a nutshell this is what he did:

For the first 4 months he did aerobic training the Maffetone way at 155 HR and below with the only thing remotely close to speed work was 10:00 repeats of downhills. He did all of his training by time not by counting miles. By the end of the 4 months his 4mi MAF test was 7:10/mi (he started at 8:30-9:00/mi) which according to Maffetone’s conversion equated to 5:30/mi for 5K (17:00).

For 6 more weeks he gradually added 2 track sessions of 4X 1200M @ 4:08 and 8-12X 400M @ 1:15 and ended up running his 16:50 for 5K and after a two week taper ran his PR for 10K (34:25).

This intrigued me so much that I decided to check it out for myself just for my regular runs alone (no racing). Initially my runs went from 8:00/mi to around 10:00 on the program, but after 12 wks I had gotten down to 7:45 at my HR (155).

Thanks for input.

Obviously a lot younger too.

This would be so much better for me if my HR were allowed to be 155 even a bit lower for me would be fine.

180 subtract my age gives me 122!

Barely jogging, 130 is a bit better but not much.

I agree with the idea of a base pace which is no sweat (literally). The concept of running for time instead of miles sits well. Presently, due to an injury I am running no more than 20 min. The plan is to be running up to more than an hour, comfortably and injury free, then see how with some faster running things work out.

A few years ago I got Maffetone's book but didn't really agree with a lot of it. Or was reluctant to acknowledge I may be possibly anaerobically stressed the way it's described.

Once again thanks for feedback.

Chris.

I'm new to this forum and it's the middle of the night, but, as regards this maffetone method.

I've read some stuff lately and I don't know how much is true.

Mark Allen trained this way and he had a 15 year career as one of the world's best tri-athletes.

Allegedly, Lance Armstrong uses this method as well???

I've been running for years and getting slower the past 4 or 5. After 3 years of recurring injury I decided to start training this way. I'm 35, I am using 150 as a HR. On Monday of this past week I ran 5 miles at a steady 150bpm at just below 7min/mile pace and slowing down all the way to maintain the HR. This morning after 5 consecutive days training and only 30miles, I entered a 10Km race to just stroll round at my 150bpm. I ran at an even 4:08min/km pace, It was a walk in the park, and I could've ran so much faster. I think the concept of running at your maximun aerobic threshold allows all the same benefits that HADD alludes to in other posts on this site, but I don't know the science. But I'm hooked.

Pakey

!

I am using something a like his maximal aerobic heart rate comes close to my aerobic threshold heart rate. All my easy training averages quite some below my aerobic threshold. Mine is 147 but in running i prefer 128 - 140 heart rate for my easy runs. In cycling i embrace the 120 - 130 heart rate zone.

In swimming i go a bit harder but still enjoy most of the paces. But the reason why is i am a club swimmer. When i swim with the triathlon team or on myself i also go slow and for me this helps.

On those paces you can really enjoy your surroundings, talk and think about stuff. You are building endurance while enjoying the whole thing as well.

When i get fit i add in a ton of threshold work to my easy training and one day of short to medium interval reps. Could be three 25 minute runs at 20 - 25 bpm below maximal heart rate (needs some focus to maintain this pace) and one interval training of 200 - 300's at 2000 meter pace. Or at times 8 - 12 x 1000 meters at 15 km race pace.

Add to that an anaerobic threshold session in cycling of 2 by 20 minutes at certain wattage and a long ride right at Aerobic threshold. And some intensity in swimming. Still i feel quite good on the hardest training mode because my body has learned to stay within the ranges and it is only in one run and a swim that i go in the controlled pain zone. The threshold runs feel harder but are to short to feel like painful or exhausting. Race season feels hardest as my lactate levels get trained only there to get higher and that happens only slowly.I literally race myself fit... (could be up to two races a week but no interval training then just easy stuff and short anaerobic threshold stuff)

I can say training below aerobic threshold is an unusual modus for most people but it pays off. I am in my 5th week of base after a long stop and in the beginning i really had to slow down a lot to stay in that zone. But it is easy to remain in the zone now and i am running faster to for the same heart rate. I do have to add that u best add some harder training to your schedule if you really like to succeed in anything. Even i an OD triathlon - 5 - 20 km guy

needs some days of harder but again controlled effort.But i do have a basic phase where all i do is train below this so called aerobic threshold zone. It makes me fitter in the beginning and makes me enjoy training and makes me hungry for more.

Otherwise I'd be racing of a great fat burning system but would have little gain in speed beyond my maximal aerobic speed this would mean under performing even in the 10 km of a triathlon.