Just checking.....

by Jax
(South Africa)

Hi

I have been doing MAF training for almost 2 months and my times seem to be getting worse, not better. I am very happy to keep plodding along for 6 months to test it out fully, but I just wondered if it is normal to get worse before getting better? Or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Nicole's reply:
Hi Jax, thanks for your question.

Don't worry as it can be quite normal to find the first few months frustrating and with little or no progress. Your body and mind could well be adapting to a new way of running. Also 2 months is still early into your MAF training and you need to give it 4-6 months at least. It took me at least 6 months to see progress.

A few things to consider:
* Make sure that your heart rate monitor is accurate and correctly positioned. Wrist HR rate monitors can be a bit more temperamental compared to HR chest straps.
* Are you doing monthly MAF tests? Sometimes you think you are not improving when in fact you are.
* I don't know how many hours a week that you are MAF training but people often see the most progress when they can do 7 hours or more. Equally don't overdo it as you can still over-train with MAF training.
* Check if there are any stresses in your life which might be hindering progress, such as poor sleep, diet, illness.
* Don't obsess about watching your heart rate at every step. Just relax into your run and go with the flow.

My advice would be to give it more time, do regular MAF tests and then reassess after 4 months. I hope that helps.

Comments for Just checking.....

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May 24, 2023
 Am i doing it right..?
by: Nek

Hi and keep on the good work with your site!It s very helpful!
I ve started running 3 months now.I m 45years old(male)with just usual(part time excercise.Some roller skating and bicycle mostly weekends) but daily walking 3km to 6 sometimes to and from my work.I started running very gradually(walking running)and in a month i was able to run 5km from 40min to 30min.now after 3months i manage 5km in 21min.But the last 2 months i ve started maf too.First 50min running at 135hr and 6,5km when i reached 7.5km in 50 min,i rised the time to 55min.Now with 135hr in 55min i covered 9,5km.I see that there is an improvment.Should i keep rising the time of my maf or just keep it here at 55 min?(there is 1 km walking to and 1km back from the point of my route to my home plus some warm up and cooldown excersices at home reaching totally 1h and 10-15min).I run4-5 days per week and one of these i run as 5km.
I was thinking to rise in 1hour running at 135hr and keep it there.Is that ok?should i aim for longer time Maf despite the km that i cover?
Thanks in advance!

(Note:178cm and 63kgr,polar chest strap for Hr monitoring)
May 29, 2023
by: Nicole

Hi Nek, it sounds like you are making great progress. In terms of MAF training, doing 7 hours a week in total is often when people start to see a lot of progress. However you need to remember that you can still over-train even when MAF training so you need to listen to your body.
You can try increasing the time a bit each week but if you start to feel fatigued or if you start feeling niggles, then you may be overdoing it.
I would also suggest that every 3 weeks, you have what we call a 'down' week whereby you reduce the amount of time spent training in order to give your body time to rest and recover. I hope that helps.

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