How to Become a Faster Runner (MAF Method)

 In this episode of the Garage Gym Athlete Podcast, Jerred Moon explains how to improve running performance without increasing heart rate by utilizing the MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function) method. Jerred shares his personal experience with running and highlights the importance of training in the aerobic zone, also known as Zone 2, to enhance fitness over time.

The MAF method, developed by Dr. Phil Maffetone, involves maintaining a specific heart rate during aerobic workouts based on the 180-minus-age formula. By consistently training in this zone, athletes can gradually run faster at the same heart rate, which is a true indicator of improved fitness. Jerred emphasizes the importance of patience and consistency, recommending weekly runs that focus on maintaining the heart rate target without obsessing over pace.

Over time, this method leads to better performance, improved fat-burning capacity, and less risk of overtraining or injury.

Garage Gym Athlete Workout of the Week

 Podcast Transcript

Jerred: All right. Let's talk about how to run faster mile times without a higher heart rate. So how do you get fitter? That's basically. What I'm saying? Ladies and gentlemen, this is the garage. podcast. I'm Jared moon and getting better at running is really hard. And don't want to see it is most people think that you just go out, you run, you lace up some shoes and you're good to go. I've had my journey with running. My relationship with running has been all over the place. When I was in ROTC in college, because I was going to be going into the air force. And even before that in high school, I was a sprinter. So I didn't like running long duration. I was able to run a mile really fast, but that was like my top end. And it took a lot out of me just like straight power-based mile. It wasn't like an aerobic mile. And then I had to run a mile and a half throughout ROTC and throughout the air force, because that was the test. So I really just optimized again for being fast at that distance. Because at the time in the military, I think I had to run a mile and a half. If I wanted to max it, it was like a 9 0 8 or nine 12, something like that. And I typically max it, which is about a six minute per mile pace which is pretty difficult for somebody who. He is not truly a runner. Who's just trying to run that one distance in all honesty. It was pretty awful. Every single time. So I never really tried to optimize getting good at running. And then I remembered I wanted to get good at running. So I was like, you know what, I'm just going to start running and I would just run five miles. You know, I just picked a distance. I was like, that seems good. You know, like I bet I bet runners run five miles, but I never had an easy five miles. Like it was, I ran the five miles, how I did my mile, how I ran my mile and a half, I would just go hard. Crushed my body feel like crap. See no progress and even lose a little muscle mass in, in the process. It was just a horrible strategy. Now I think most everyone knows or has heard about zone two at some point. And in all honesty, that is the solution. And we've talked about it quite a bit throughout the years on this podcast, but with this new format of the shorter episodes, I do want to have more targeted episodes with just a quick here's how you do the thing. Get in, get out, get on your way. So, yes, zone two is an efficient way to build up your aerobic base. So if you can build up your aerobic base let's just say, if you're maintaining a heart rate of 140 beats per minute and at 140 beats per minute, you can maintain a 10 minute mile pace. If you do that long enough, and you're also doing some top end work. Then eventually you can hold 140 beats per minute, but run a nine minute mile pace an eight minute mile pace. You see that's actual fitness, not just giving a little bit more effort. That's not a true increase in fitness unless you're in a race. It's, that's a great race performance. That's a great, that's great grit. That's great utilization of maybe what you have trained, but it isn't a true increase in your fitness the best way. In my opinion, from an endurance standpoint, to gauge your fitness. Is to see if you can do the same work output. Or better with a lower or the same heart rate. So that is a great, and probably the greatest fitness test now. Yes, zone two is great. Zone two is 60 to 70% of your one rep max. And we've had episodes where we talk about. The pros and cons of that and how to measure your blood and all that stuff. But I'm not going to talk about that today. I'm just going to pivot straight to math heart rate. So math is M a F maximum aerobic function, and it was developed by Phil Maffetone. And it's a heart race. Heart raced heart rate based training approach, designed to improve endurance and aerobic capacity. While minimizing injury and over-training ladies and gentlemen, this is the method you should utilize if we don't want to. Over-complicate it. I've done everything from trying to personalize zone two, to doing max heart rate test, to testing my blood for blood lactate levels at different intensities, I've done it all. And I really think the easiest way to calculate this because it all comes back to the kind of the same thing is to just do the math method. So let's talk about the math, math method, the math method centers on finding your ideal. Ideal aerobic heart rate. Known as the math 180 formula. So to calculate this, you start with 180 and then you subtract your age. So if you were 40 years old, you take 180, you subtract 40 and one 40 is your NAF heart rate. Now there are some adjustments based on fitness, fitness level, and health. And this is a lot of times people skip it. So listen to these questions to make sure that it is dialed in for you. So subtract 10, if you're recovering from a major illness or injury, or if you're on regular medication. So if I took 180, I subtracted my age. Let's just say a 40 year old male and it comes down to one 40. Well, if I've coming off of a major illness or injury, I actually reduced that to one 30. K. You see how these reductions or additions? Work. Next subtract five. If you're just getting back into training frequently, get sick, or haven't been training consistently for a year. Now keep the number the same. If you've been consistently training without problems for at least two years. And then add five. If you've been training injury free for more than two years and are progressing in competitions or performance. So, again, an example for a 40 year old would be 180 minus 40. And you have your one 40 beats per minute that you are looking to do. Now, you want to stay within your math zone during your training sessions. So that would be keeping your heart rate at or below this math number. So there's one 40 as the example. So the goal is to stay in this aerobic zone. Allowing your body to develop efficient fat burning capabilities and endurance without overstressing it. And it's going to help you build your aerobic base over time. And help you avoid overtraining. Really it is the best methodology for getting better and what I would What I would measure here is what I'm saying. So run a set distance in a set course, like around your house. Or on a track, if you want to just keep it super consistent. Whether that's three miles, four miles, five miles, six miles. This is how I tested it. When I first started doing it years ago, it was a six mile run. Because I felt like six miles was enough to where I couldn't, I couldn't screw with it. I couldn't just put in more effort, like, you know, and, and I had the same six mile loop around my house. And so that's what I would measure. I would run that at least once per week, obviously with other training and other math training factored in. But when I was really trying to train to get better at running. I would do that. And that was, that was my benchmark. I would keep my heart rate goal. Like, you know, no, one's perfect. But plus, or minus two or three beats per minute, if you can, in that map zone, I would run six miles. And then I would just look at what my pace was and what I saw happen over time was that pace started to click down. It took a while it takes a couple months, but then it stopped. Finally started to click down. I was able to run the same course that basically the same. Heart rate, but I was getting faster times over time. And it can be really annoying sometimes because you can't just run faster. Right. You can't just like there's. There were some times when I just, I wanted to see a better number and I was like, I'm just going to run a little bit faster. I push it up. Outside of my math zone. And it's like, well, that doesn't really count. I kind of have to throw that data point out. So don't do that. Just stay consistent. If anything, don't even look at a watch other than just like having the heart rate on the screen. Just say like, if, if one 40 was actually your number and you like have a Garmin watch, like me just put heart rate only on the screen and maybe distance, if you want to metrics. But nothing else. So you can't manipulate it or you don't want to manipulate it. You just see, Hey, I've got my, my heart rates at one 40 and I'm one mile into this two miles into this, whatever don't look at pacing or overall time or anything. Then when you get back, look at the data and that's a great way for you to start making progress. And if you want to know, like how much should I be doing? It really depends on your fitness level. I mean, it can be anywhere from two to three hours per week, up to eight, 10 hours a week. If you're really advanced endurance athlete, 12 hours a week, 12 plus hours a week, if you're really advanced athlete, but most of the people listening to this. Probably aren't just now figuring out about math zones and if you're training 12 plus hours a week just in the math zone. So I would say try to get a two to three hours in the math zone you know, Each week, if you can, you. You know, one at a minimum. And see if you can start making progress, if all you can fit into your training is the one run that I'm talking about, like a six mile, five mile, whatever, where it's the same every single time. And you're just tracking heart rate. You'll still see progress from that. Like, if you want to make significant progress, that's when you're going to have to put in the 3, 4, 5 hours a week. But if you don't really care, you just want to get a little bit better than just putting it in one training session like that, or maybe two, and you will start, start to see significant progress. And that is how you. We'll run faster. Mild times at a same given heart rate. I increase your fitness level. You just have to stick to it for a very long time. But that's it for this one. Thank you for all the garage gym athletes who are part of our training and being consistent in implementing things like the math zones that we have in our training. If you're new here and you want to learn more about that, you can go to garage, gym, athlete.com, sign up for a free trial, and we would love to have you. Remember, if you don't kill comfort, comfort will kill you.

References:

• "Maximum Aerobic Function: Clinical Relevance, Physiological Underpinnings, and Practical Application"
  Full article: Frontiers in Physiology(Frontiers)(Frontiers)
• "MAF Method: Here's How The Maffetone Method Of Moderate Running Works"
  Full article: Marathon Handbook(Marathon Handbook)
• "Should You Train with the Maffetone Method?"
  Full article: Laura Norris Running(Laura Norris Running)