Low HR Training

1

New to the group (Read 18 times)

Usurper17


    Hey All,

     

    After much lurking, I've decided to finally join the group.    I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences and discussing the merits of low heart rate training.  I've learned a lot from this forum as a silent shadow so now it's time to come into the light (of the monitor at least).

     

    Just a little background, I tried the Maffetone method back on 2014 and had some moderate success building up my miles while preventing injury.  It work so well, I stopped doing it.   I came from a non-running background and my goal was to beat my friends at OCRs.  A long run was considered 5 miles.  I was able to pound myself into the ground for 3, but anything longer than that was a struggle.  When I started running with a low HR, my aerobic engine ran out of gas about 4 miles and I couldn't keep below my limit.  I shuffled around at 15 min pace, got whipped by friends in every race, became demoralized and gave up after 3 months.  Along the way, I learned that I probably sabotaged my progress by lifting too much and too hard since I was much more comfortable in the gym.

     

    In 2015, I read something about polarized training, decided it was for me, and began running with a heart rate below 154 calculated with some formula.  I was running 3-4 times per week and getting 10 mile runs in on the weekend, running hills once per week.   It worked. Sort of.  I was getting 15-20 miles per week and I wasn't injured.  I ran one of my best OCRs.  But come July 2016, the wheels fell off.  I was exhausted, frayed, and breaking down.  I went back to reading my training logs and what I saw was surprising, repeated over and over.  Weeks of being tired, fatigued, upset, emotionally drained.  Frankly, it explained a lot of strife that I brought into my own life (marriage, jobs, kids).  I was completely out of wack.

     

    Now it's 2016.  I've been running below my target of 136 for two months and while I'm still slow, I have to admit that I feel pretty darn good.  I know it is common to measure progress in terms of speed and minutes per mile, but I'm finding success in other areas that I hadn't really imagined.  My energy levels are way up, my personal life is back on track, and I've lost 5 pounds.  My pace dropped from 16 minutes/mile to the 14s.  I even had a crazy day where I was in 12s and 13s.  This past weekend, I ran a trail race and finished 6.3 miles in 1:10 which for me is pretty good on a hilly, technical single track course.    It's the first time I've done anything above my target HR in 2 months.

     

    In the future, I plan to continue to commit to the low heart rate and to post topics to the forum to help answer some of the questions that I struggle with.  Hopefully, someone else will learn from my posts without the 2 year learning curve.

     

    To give you a taste, here's what roles around in my head...

    - Will I always be slow? (probably, since I'm a fast twitch, sprinter type and sometimes you just have to admit what you are)

    - How do I incorporate weight lifting?  I love kettlebell training.  It keeps me tuned up, but even now I'm keeping my HR below my 136 target for all of my KB workouts

    - How many hours a week does it take to get the results with low heart rate running?  I may not be fast, but I'm feeling good with 6 hours/week of low HR running

    - How do I break my late night chocolate and potato chip craving?

     

    If you made it this far, thanks for listening Smile

    BeeRunB


      Hi U, welcome to the group. 

       

      This program is about maintaining health, and is good to stay tethered to it as you move through your journey and try different things. Running at or below your MAF will almost always take stress off the adrenals, and lower cortisol over time. The stress hormones, when out of whack, start to wreak havoc on athletes doing too much. And remember there is the stress from life (work, family, finances) that produces the same hormones. It all adds up.

       

      I've done a lot of experimenting over the years with different styles of training. I might read some studies or articles about e.g. High Intensity Interval Training, that when done 3 times a week at 90-95% of MHR for 4x4:00 will lower BP, and help this or that function, and even develop the aerobic system as well as a lot of aerobic miles. Then I try it, and I end up with insomnia and all sorts of stuff going on. Then I return to the MAF method and I get better. Looking back, I've always been my healthiest, slept my best, and ran my best when doing nearly all my miles below MAF, with just a touch of running at lactate threshold or marathon race pace during a brief period.

       

      If you continue with it, if you don't overdo volume, your speed at MAF (aerobic speed) will improve. As for weight-lifting, if your speed at MAF keeps improving while weightlifting, you should be okay. Make sure your sleeping okay and that stress hormones aren't building up from it. You shouldn't be getting anxiety, irritability, fatigued, etc. If you start to develop these things, cut out all anaerobic activity if you can (like weightlifting, speed work, racing, etc.), and stick to a healthy diet of sub-MAF miles.

       

      As for how many hours a week you need to run to see improvement, this will vary according to level of fitness, current health, etc. Find your sweet spot. I've seen improvement on 4 hours a week at certain points, and 6-8 at other times. More at other times. Depends. If you're seeing improvement in speed at the same HR at 6 hours, stick with it until you plateau. Perhaps add a little time here and there. Always keeping in touch with how you feel.

       

      As for your late night chocolate and chips cravings, try eating more earlier. Maybe your body is craving more calories. I find that eating more protein and fat helps.

      Usurper17


        Thanks, Jimmy.  I've noticed that even at MAF paces I can wear myself down a bit.  Even thought the runs aren't too taxing, life can get in the way of recovery.

         

        I've been working on kettlebell work within my target heart rate.  It's something I picked up on the StrongFirst forums.  There's several coaches like Peter Park who were backing this up.  I've been walking in between sets of kettlebell swings as part of the recovery to keep the HR low.  By the end of 25 minutes, I've got 200 swings in and walked 1 mile.    I

        Docket_Rocket


          Welcome!  What Jimmy said is very accurate so I don't have much more to add.

          Damaris

           

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