With the marathon, long-distance trail running, triathlon and other sports are becoming more and more familiar to ordinary fans, some of them are beginning to understand and practice the MAF training method. The best guide for this training method is The Big Book. Of Endurance Training and Racing (abbreviation: Big Book). We will share a few articles about this book and training methods.
Original title: "Endurance training of the big picture" Author: ryanflower
The training and improvement of the endurance project is a systematic project. When it comes to endurance training such as long-distance running, we can find a variety of training programs and plans on the Internet. Many people also ask me which training plan I am using, but I don't want to talk about specific training methods here. I want to combine my reading experience and personal experience to talk about the macro theory of Dr. Phil Maffeton. By interpreting endurance training from a more systematic and high-level perspective, we are able to achieve a life and training that is more suitable for ourselves, more scientific and healthy.
1. Health and fitness
Health and fitness are two different concepts. We usually run or exercise, but we are doing fitness, but health does not necessarily follow. Improper training and competition can lead to psychological and physical stress and injuries, and in recent years marathon competitions have also occurred. Many people exercise through running, although the results have improved, but the price paid is the constant injury and the decline in health. Through scientific training, we hope to be healthy while exercising.
2. Aerobic function and fat burning
Aerobic function is the basis of endurance projects. We can divide muscle fibers into aerobic and anaerobic types. The two muscle fibers coexist in the muscles. The former is mobilized during aerobic exercise, while the latter is responsible for anaerobic exercise. The former mainly uses fat as energy, while the latter mainly uses fat as the energy source. Use sugar as an energy source. Although sugar is the most direct energy source of the human body, the sugar stored in the human body can only maintain anaerobic exercise for about 5 minutes. On the contrary, even a very thin person, the body's fat reserves are enough for a dozen hours of aerobic exercise. This is also why long-term exercise is aerobic exercise, and aerobic exercise can lose weight. Aerobic and anaerobic exercise is often carried out simultaneously in different proportions (eg 80% aerobic 20% anaerobic, 70% aerobic 30% anaerobic). If the proportion of anaerobic exercise is too high, the limited sugar in the body will be consumed too quickly. When the sugar is exhausted, the body will not be able to maintain exercise (even aerobic exercise requires a small amount of sugar to participate). In order to continue the exercise for a longer period of time, we need to increase the proportion of aerobic (or burning fat) during exercise; in order to improve the performance of aerobic exercise, we need to improve the efficiency of burning fat. Therefore, the training of endurance programs is mainly aerobic capacity, or the ability to use fat.
Heart rate is the most direct indicator of the proportion of constant aerobic exercise. This is indicated on treadmills in many key rooms. For example, more than 80% of heart rate represents anaerobic, while 60%-80% represents Aerobic. Simply put, the higher the heart rate during exercise, the closer to the maximum heart rate, the higher the proportion of anaerobic exercise, and the higher the proportion of aerobic exercise. Therefore, heart rate is an important indicator to guide our training, which will be detailed below. At the same time, excessively high heart rate exercise is harmful to health, which needs to be avoided in competition and training, which can be achieved through long-term aerobic training.
3. Brain and hormonal endurance movements are clearly more than just muscles and activities involved in the cardiopulmonary circulatory system, but a complex process in which various systems work together. Like other human activities, the brain plays a central role in the movement. The brain directly controls the movement of the muscles through the nervous system. Balanced and natural movements play a vital role in the prevention of injuries, which is essentially determined by the brain. Long-term correct training will strengthen the brain to remember the correct mode of exercise, thereby improving performance and preventing injuries.
At the same time, through the feedback of the nerve, the brain controls the endocrine system to secrete various hormones. Adrenal hormones (cortisol) and insulin are two hormones most directly related to aerobic exercise. Cortisol acts as an excitement, boosts blood sugar, speeds up heartbeat, and promotes fat burning. In contrast, insulin acts to break down blood sugar and calm, and inhibits fat burning. In aerobic exercise, we need the right amount of cortisol, and insulin secretion needs to be inhibited.
4. Diet Our daily diet is full of all kinds of fine carbohydrates such as rice, noodles and sugar. In the history of tens of thousands of years of human evolution, and even thousands of years of civilization, these fine carbohydrates have never been the main body of our diet. It is only in the context of the development of agriculture and industry in the last hundred or two years that the human diet has undergone tremendous changes. However, excessive intake of fine carbohydrates, whether for health or aerobic exercise, is counterproductive.
We generally think that carbohydrates can provide us with energy and can play an exciting role. Indeed, in the short-term intake of fine carbohydrates, blood sugar in the human body will rise rapidly. But this phenomenon stimulates the secretion of insulin, so that the sugar in the blood is quickly decomposed and the nervous system is calmed. This is also why (high-carbon water) people often feel tired, sleepy, and depressed after a short excitement. In addition to calming, high insulin inhibits fat burning. Therefore, a fine carbohydrate diet can inhibit aerobic exercise and fat burning and produce a series of negative physical reactions. In fact, many people will have bad symptoms if they eat a small amount of fine carbohydrate food. This phenomenon is called "carbon water intolerance."
Excessive intake of fine carbohydrate foods, in addition to affecting fat burning, can also cause addiction to the human body. Studies have shown that the brain has an addictive response to carbohydrates similar to various drugs. This creates a vicious circle. The finer the carbohydrate food, the more tired it is, the more tired it wants to eat.
In order to avoid the above-mentioned harms, the daily diet should reduce the proportion of fine carbohydrates in food, and increase the intake of fat, protein and various vitamins that are more needed for aerobic exercise. Usually, you can eat more meat and vegetables, and all kinds of nuts and boiled eggs are very healthy and beneficial snacks.
In fact, carbohydrates are widely found in a variety of foods, and we can get enough carbohydrates from other foods without eating fine carbon water. When carbohydrates are ingested with a large amount of other nutrients (such as coarse grains), the blood sugar does not rise rapidly during the digestion process, so the insulin level is not too high. The Glycemic Index (GI) of food is the effect of constant food on blood sugar. Fine carbon water foods have a high GI that we should avoid. Low GI foods should be the main body of our diet. It is easy to find the GI of the food on the Internet. You may wish to check the GI first when making healthy recipes. In order to maintain a stable blood sugar level, it is a good strategy to eat small meals. On the contrary, it is harmful to supplement the fine carbon water in the dinner.
All in all, high-fat, high-protein, rich in all types of vitamins, and a diet that does not contain fine carbon water, is very beneficial for both aerobic exercise and physical health.
5. The level of training hormones is also closely related to training. Excessive training, especially excessive anaerobic training, can result in overtraining. Excessive intensity training is easy to cause injuries, but the more critical issue is the effect of training on hormone levels.
In simple terms, excessive anaerobic training and stress caused by overtraining can cause excessive excitement of the adrenal gland and disordered cortisol secretion. Cortisol will remain at a high level during the initial training period, giving an illusion of excitement and "good state." High cortisol can reduce the body's immunity and affect the metabolism of bones, thus making people more vulnerable to injuries. At the same time, as cortisol raises blood sugar, insulin secretion will be stimulated. High insulin can make people more prone to fatigue and cause people to develop symptoms of carbon intolerance and fall into a vicious circle of carbon-water addiction. After the long-term adrenal gland is too active, the secretion of cortisol will eventually decrease, thus allowing the training to enter a more difficult stage of reversal. Many people think that this is a "state decline", but in fact this is a manifestation of training hormone disorders in the middle and late stages.
Hormone disorders caused by training can lead to a decline in the level of competition, an increase in injuries, as well as mental stress and depression. Obviously, at this time we have entered the "fitness but not healthy" situation, this situation must be avoided. In order to prevent and correct training, it is very important to reduce or completely remove anaerobic training, supplemented by the correct diet.
6. Equipment and injuries As mentioned earlier, the brain is the core of exercise. In addition to controlling the secretion of hormones, the brain also directly controls the muscles to drive bone movement. In addition to the disorder of hormone levels, improper muscle movement is the main cause of sports injuries.
The weakness of the muscles is the root cause of most injuries. Muscle imbalance can cause some muscles to weaken. For example, when running, because of problems with shoes or equipment, the left and right movements are unbalanced, the muscles on one side are over-stressed, and the muscles on the other side are weak, so the muscles on the weak side will have less protection for bones and joints. Correct and balanced movements require long-term aerobic exercise to strengthen the brain and nerves and memory (in contrast to excessively strong anaerobic exercise, which can easily cause muscle imbalance), and on the other hand, appropriate equipment is required.
In addition to the right size of the shoes, contrary to our usual beliefs, shoes with excessive protection and cushioning can also cause injuries by causing weak muscles. Muscle is a natural buffer for the joints and bones of the human body. Any external buffer is not as effective as the body's own buffer. Why does the "extra" cushioning of shoes cause injuries? This is a series of complex processes done through neural feedback. Excessive cushioning of the shoes will reduce the external impact of the muscles, and through the feedback of the nerves, the brain will reduce the strength of the muscle contraction to adapt to this "lowering" impact. In the long run, the muscles will be weak. Obviously, when the body's own buffer mechanism is weakened, the external buffer is stronger and the probability of injury increases. On the other hand, when the shoes are worn too thick, the actual force area of ​​the soles of the feet will actually decrease (by comparing the footprints of the bare feet with the footprints or worn parts in the insole), so that the soles are stressed. Part of the pressure will be greater, and people will be more vulnerable to injuries if the muscles are weak.
This is why many independent studies in recent years have reached a similar conclusion: barefoot or wearing a relatively flat, less cushioned shoes is the most beneficial to prevent injuries. For us to buy shoes everyday, lightweight shoes are more worth buying. Another related parameter is the heal-to-toe drop of the heel to the toe. At present, many shoes have a high heel in order to increase the cushioning. In addition to excessive cushioning, this actually causes an imbalance of motion and a small area of ​​the force of the sole (the extreme of which is the high heels worn by women). Therefore, an excessive front and rear height difference will increase the probability of injury. Lightweight shoes and match shoes usually have small front and rear height differences (less than 8mm, also known as flats), although it seems to be "buffered" small, but actually it will prevent injuries. By wearing more natural lightweight running shoes, the correct neural feedback will train the brain and muscles to exercise the correct movements, and increase the strength of the muscles, so the injury will be reduced and prevented.
Of course, running barefoot or wearing five-toed shoes is theoretically the healthiest, but because of the long-term wear of shoes, most people need to take time to gradually adapt to barefoot. Plus the price of the five-toed shoes is high, the lightweight flat-bottom running shoes are the equipment I recommend. Many injuries, in fact, do not need to wear high-priced high-end running shoes, you can get correction and prevention.
7. The correct training philosophy is finally going back to life. Let's talk about training. In fact, compared with the above points, the specific training method is not so important. Phil Maffeton's theory focuses on a healthy lifestyle, where both fitness and health coexist. There is only one method for directly associating training in the whole theory, the so-called "180 formula".
As mentioned earlier, the heart rate reflects whether the exercise is in the aerobic or anaerobic zone. A common algorithm is to determine this interval as a percentage of the maximum heart rate, and the empirical formula for the maximum heart rate is "220-age." And this "220 formula" is very inaccurate, and experiments have shown that only one-third of people's maximum heart rate is in accordance with the 220 formula. In order to determine the heart rate of aerobic training, we don't actually need to know the maximum heart rate. Through many years of experience, Phil Maffeton has proposed a more generalized "180 Formula" to determine the maximum aerobic exercise heart rate, which can be used to guide our training in endurance programs. The specific calculation method for this heart rate is:
180-age; if you have a disease, or are recovering from a disease, reduce it by 10; if you have a wound that causes your grade to drop, or if you have more than two colds each year, or if you don't have continuous training, then subtract 5; if you Continued training for more than 2 years, no major injuries, and the results have been improved, plus 5.
The heart rate thus calculated is called the max arobic function heart rate (MAF heart rate), which is an important guide for training. The heart rate of the MAF is the heart rate of the aerobic function to maximize the exercise and exercise. If the heart rate exceeds the MAF heart rate, the proportion of the aerobic function decreases, while the proportion of the anaerobic function rises and prevails. Therefore, the MAF heart rate should be the upper limit of the heart rate of our daily aerobic training, and the speed in the MAF heart rate represents the ability of aerobic exercise. If you train longer than the MAF heart rate, you are at risk of training. An hour of aerobic exercise no higher than the MAF heart rate is very effective for improving aerobic function, which can be tested by MAF test at intervals.
The MAF test is actually very simple, that is, running a distance (usually 8km) on the MAF heart rate, and recording the (segmentation) time. A MAF test is performed every other month, and it is easy to see the improvement in aerobic capacity. For example, I conducted three MAF tests from September to November, and each time I ran 8km on the track and field at the MAF heart rate of 155. The results are as follows:
Mile1 mile2 mile3 mile4 mile5
September 13 7:02 7:18 7:23 7:32 7:34
October 11 6:49 7:05 7:00 7:06 7:10
November 21st 6:28 6:41 6:48 6:52 6:57
This is obviously related to the improvement of my score.
Even for short-range projects, such as 5km, the results of the MAF test are related to the results. Phil gave a comparison of the mile pace of the MAF test and the 5km match score:
MAF mile 5km race time
10:00 23:18
9:00 21:45
8:30 20:58
8:00 20:12
7:30 18:38
7:00 17:05
6:30 16:19
6:00 15:32
5:45 14:45
5:30 13:59
5:15 13:28
5:00 13:12
Why use only aerobic heart rate training, no anaerobic training, and increase the speed of short-distance projects while increasing the MAF pace? First of all, naturally, the speed of the heart rate of the MAF is increased. At a higher heart rate, the water rises and the speed increases. In principle, the aerobic capacity is improved and the efficiency of burning fat is increased, so that the overall speed endurance will be improved. After all, in addition to projects such as 100 meters and 400 meters, we are not doing 100% anaerobic exercise, and aerobic functions always occupy a large proportion.
Of course, anaerobic function can also be exercised occasionally, but it is not appropriate to run high heart rate every time, at most once or twice a week, especially to prevent training. In fact, even if you don't do any anaerobic training, it's enough to stimulate the anaerobic function only once or twice a month.
In addition, Phil's philosophy is "training = exercise + rest." Enough rest is also part of the training. If the stress of work and study is too great, you need to reduce your exercise to ensure adequate rest. Excessive anaerobic training, competition, and work stress can lead to insufficient recovery and training. The correct training philosophy is not a short-term high stimulus of “No pain, no gainâ€, but a long-term strategy of sustainable development.
This is the macro picture of endurance training. I don't recognize others as "aerobic training" or "low heart rate training". Obviously this is a healthy lifestyle without any specific training plan. In this way, in a few months, my running scores have been greatly improved, and I feel healthier and more spiritual. I hope that you can also get a healthier body by developing a good diet and training.
About the Author
Ryanflower Sina Weibo: @zhangy-02 Shuimu Community running version of senior running friends, practicing MAF training for many years, endurance sports enthusiasts, the full marathon best score of 2 hours and 50 minutes.
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