Picture Credit Luc B
Low heart rate training is an excellent for you to get fit and increase your aerobic fitness without overtraining.
Low heart rate training sounds weird, but at least calm, and it is defintelly caught my attention. Running is great and giving yourself bigger targets is fantastic. But in meanwhile, when you push your body too hard it can end up with injury and fatigue, many of them develop overtraining, which can lead to depression.
In my runs with my usual pace 5.5, my heart rate is gradually climbing up. After 20 minutes it goes my max, so I have to do a lot of mental work or slow down. I still can speak during the run, though. Also, I noticed if I have a physical activity for an hour or more with the heart rate in my max zone, pushing myself, I have more chances for immune system dropping down.
I decided to experiment. Well, it would be a long snail experiment 😀 Low heart training takes a lot of patince, but it is rewarding:) I do it because I am that person whose heart is going crazy high when the body capable of doing more.
- Significant benefits of low heart training:
- Improved race times
- Higher energy levels during and after a workout
- Faster recovery time
- Less stress on your body and much lower chances of injuries
MAF method or Low Heart Training explained.
I started a bit higher than MAF calculation. MAF is short of Maffetone low heart training method. Phil Maffetone is a running coach who had discovered a form of low heart rate training which can improve aerobic function without overtraining. You need to calculate your MAF maximum heart rate you will train. It is basic: 180 minus your age, also there a few modifications, according to your health and physical state.
And anything you do you have to do not reaching over your counted limit. You are adjusting your pace, taking walks if you need to when the heart rate goes high.
You first warm-up for 15 to 20 minutes, then you run 8 km (5 miles) at your MAF HR. At the end write down your mile or km split and the total time you ran the 5 miles / 8km.
You should continue the training at least three months to see the progress. Eventually, as the method promises your body will adjust to your new technique, and you will gradually increase the speed each month. That’s why you should keep the reference of your runs to see the improvement of your low heart training.
Many runners don’t even bother as this method requires patience and self-control. Honestly, I quite enjoyed it. I found it quite annoying to all the time look at the watch. I will try next time FITIV Pulse, don’t know if that is what I need. Any ideas would be appreciated! Maybe there are even low heart training APPs?
I’ve started Low Heart Training.
So, my target was run 1.9km than 100 walk, and the rest 400 run 100 walk – total 8km. In reality, though I had to adjust the pace to my HR, so, my split:
1.9km run, 100 walk, 400 run- continued until I reached 5 km then the HT went more quickly, so I had to slow down and take 300 run and 100 walk and stayed that way till I made 10.
In general, I felt great. My run was truly effortless. I could keep going another ten no problem. Honestly, it was quite interesting to experience my run at breath when I could stop, sit and meditate. That kind of run I had this morning 😀
I will continue my low heart rate training program write an update after a few weeks about low heart rate training results🙂 Thanks for reading!
Cheers
Anya
P.S. My favourite asanas for stretching the hips after run:
