If you have a heart rate monitor, then MAF is what you need,
https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/
The MAF 180 Formula for determining your MAF HR
Subtract your age from 180, then modify from one of the categories below:
- If you have or are recovering from a major illness (heart disease, any operation or hospital stay, etc.), are in rehabilitation, are on any regular medication, or are in Stage 3 (chronic) overtraining (burnout), subtract an additional 10.
- If you are injured, have regressed or not improved in training (such as poor MAF Tests) or competition, get more than two colds, flu or other infections per year, have seasonal allergies or asthma, are overfat, are in Stage 1 or 2 of overtraining, or if you have been inconsistent, just starting, or just getting back into training, subtract an additional 5.
- If you have been training consistently (at least four times weekly) for up to two years without any of the problems mentioned in a) or b), no modification is necessary (use 180 minus age as your MAF HR).
- If you have been training for more than two years without any of the problems listed above, have made progress in your MAF Tests, improved competitively and are without injury, add 5.
Exceptions:
The MAF 180 Formula may need to be further individualized for athletes over the age of 65. For some, up to 10 beats may have to be added for those only in [the last] category of the Formula. This does not mean 10 should automatically be added, but that an honest self-assessment be made.
For athletes 16 years of age and under, the formula is not applicable; rather, an MAF HR of 165 has been used.
30-60' of MAF every day. For most people who've just been doing barbell stuff and who (the novice stall thread told us) are in the BMI25-30 category, that's going to be a brisk walk. If you get a (say) 50yo lifter who's a bit chubby but has a good squat and get him to walk at 6km/hr, his heart rate will get to 130bpm easily. If he keeps that up for 3 months then his resting heart rate is going to drop 5-10bpm.
If you are under BMI 30 - ie, not obese - and want to do something more aggressive, I can heartily recommend Andrew Read's
Run Strong programme.
https://www.wholelifechallenge.com/the- ... -13-weeks/
The BMI guideline I add in because in my experience, if an obese person starts running even a little bit, within a month or two at most they'll get some injury of ankle, knee, or lower back. It happens without fail. Just think of it as like if you had a 6ft 160lb guy and he decided to start running regularly for the first time in his life - but to wear a 60lb pack while he was doing it. We'd expect him to get injured, yeah? That the "pack" is his blubber and not a rucksack with rocks in it is irrelevant to his ankles, knees and lower back, a load is a load.
So the bigger people just need to do MAF. It'll usually help them drop weight anyway.
. Just finished the first session of a "beginner's HIIT progression" training program. Wasn't particularly challenging. I'm sure that'll change as the program catches up to my current level of cardio fitness.
