At midnight on 26 March 2020, the country went into Level 5 lockdown. Amongst the many other ‘freedoms’ that were put on hold as the country started it’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we as runners had to come to terms with a different way of staying fit. For some of us, this entailed a treadmill, whilst others ran in circles around their garden, and others did nothing at all. Thirty-five days later, we were allowed to run again outside between 6am and 9am with a mask.
At this same time, Regenerate Health and Fitness launched an eight-week Aerobic Fitness program. This program was designed to take into account the lost fitness levels and to rebuild one’s fitness again in a responsible manner (the danger lay in athlete’s trying to pick-up their training where they left off) that would not increase the risk of injury or illness and thereby avoid having another setback to training.
A bunch of eager runners signed up for the journey. The first week we conducted some fitness tests to determine where everyone’s was at. Based on this each athlete was given their program with slight variations in training to account for levels of experience. The other important aspect of these tests were that the sessions could then be individually tailored to each athlete’s current fitness and ability level.
“….. it’s the perfect platform to regain fitness”
The training was focused around improving the athlete’s aerobic capacity with the majority of the sessions run at a low intensity. In my opinion, the best way for this is to use the MAF method whereby one does the session under a prescribed heart rate (180 minus age). High intensity interval training (HIIT) were also included. These sessions were specifically designed to target the aerobic oxidative system, and to mostly limit the neuromuscular strain. This was key to limit the risk of injury and illness that often accompanies excessive stress.
Eight weeks later we conducted the same fitness tests to determine the level of improvement in the athletes. Below is a summary of the results.
Overall, fantastic improvements were found across all the fitness tests, with vVO2Max improving on average 5.7% and MAF improving 8.9% which validates that the intended program design hit the prescribed adaptations that it set out to achieve. The largest improvement in vVO2Max was a phenomenal 10.8% and a staggering 22.2% improvement in one athlete’s MAF results. Only one athlete did not improve on their vVO2Max with a 1% decline, but did improve in their MAF.
This eight week aerobic program is ideal:
if you are wanting to build/rebuild your fitness levels
if you have completed a stressful cycle of training or an event and returning after a recovery cycle
if you are wanting to focus on a base building phase
if you are wanting to maintain fitness without any specific goal to focus on in the interim but require some structure and variation to your training
if you are returning from injury and require a program that will not over-stress your body
” I saw and felt improvement in my running in a short time and I learnt a lot I can take with me going forward”
You have selected the Bronze Package. This package consists of selected ‘off-the-shelf’ training plans only. Athlete’s can contact the coach/s via email (1x per month) with questions/queries/advice relating to their training plan. Training plans are delivered via the TrainingPeaks® platform.
Customisable and individualised features include:
Athlete can choose an appropriate program to suit their needs and ability, based upon:
Target distance & time frame to event
Ability / Fitness level
Athlete determines when they will start the program based on target event’s date
Fitness tests, included in the plans, allow for customisation of training paces based on the athlete’s current ability. Where applicable, training paces can be amended during the program as and when fitness/ability levels change (when these tests are re-examined within selected programs only)
A list of available training plans, including costs, programme details, target times, weekly training volume, etc can be found by clicking on the link provided below:
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
You have selected the Platinum Package. This package consists of a highly individualised training plan built specifically around the athlete, incorporating various health related aspects. Training plans are custom made according to athlete’s ability, fitness levels, target events during the year (distance / date of event), day’s of week available to train and health status (ie: stress, sleep, nutritional needs). Athlete’s can contact the coach/s via email and mobile with questions/queries/advice relating to their training. Coach/s will provide monthly feedback to the athlete (30min online session via Zoom or other systems)
Training sessions / plans are delivered via the TrainingPeaks® platform.
Customisable and individualised features include:
Athlete can choose specify days of week to train as per their work/lifestyle schedule
Coach builds a customised annual training plan (9 months to 12 months) according to athlete’s target races/events, specifying when different phases of training occurs
Athlete selects target event/s distances / dates for which he/she will be training towards
Athlete profile assessment will be performed to highlight strengths and weaknesses. These will be factored into the training plan as well as incorporating key adaptations required to based on target races/events for the year
Race analysis, pacing strategy and race hydration for targeted event are provided
Strength &/or Flexibility programmes are included within the overall training plan
Nutritional advice is provided and incorporated as part of the training plan, and adapted according to different phases of the training plans &/or adaptation required
Various health and lifestyle coaching specific to the athlete is provided (optimising sleep, HRV monitoring, stress, etc) and incorporated as an integral part of the overall training plan
Athlete and Coach discuss training progress monthly (30min online session)
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
You have selected the Gold Package. This package consists of a highly individualised training plan built specifically around the athlete. Training plans are custom made according to athlete’s ability, fitness levels, target events during the year (distance / date of event), day’s of week available to train. Athlete’s can contact the coach/s via email and mobile with questions/queries/advice relating to their training. Coach/s will provide monthly feedback to the athlete (30min online session via Zoom or other systems)
Training sessions / plans are delivered via the TrainingPeaks® platform.
Customisable and individualised features include:
Athlete can choose specify days of week to train as per their work/lifestyle schedule
Coach builds a customised annual training plan (9 months to 12 months) according to athlete’s target races/events, specifying when different phases of training occurs
Athlete selects target event/s distances / dates for which he/she will be training towards
Athlete profile assessment will be performed to highlight strengths and weaknesses. These will be factored into the training plan as well as incorporating key adaptations required to based on target races/events for the year
Race analysis, pacing strategy and race hydration for targeted event are provided
Athlete and Coach discuss training progress monthly (30min online session)
Strength &/or Flexibility programmes are included within the overall training plan
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
You have selected the Silver Package. This package consists of individualised training plans, based on athlete’s target event (distance / date of event) as well as day’s of week available to train. Athlete’s can contact the coach/s via email (1x per month) with questions/queries/advice relating to their training plan. Coach will provide monthly feedback to the athlete (30min online session via Zoom or other systems)
Training sessions / plans are delivered via the TrainingPeaks® platform.
Customisable and individualised features include:
Athlete can choose specify days of week to train as per their work/lifestyle schedule
Athlete selects target event distance / date for which he/she will be training towards
Training sessions are planned in accordance to above target event, and adjusted according the athlete’s ability / fitness levels
Athlete and Coach discuss training progress monthly (30min online session)
Strength &/or Flexibility programmes are available at an additional cost
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
Should you have any questions about this or other coaching options available please fill in your questions in the form below and we will get back to you ASAP.
Are you tired of being over-weight, beat-up, injured or sick resulting in a stop-start affair with training?
Has your performance stagnated, declined and/or having difficulty reaching your goals and ability?
Are you a novice and looking for a program that will guide you step-by-step to achieve this goal and dream of completing DOWN RUN Comrades 2020? If your answer is YES to one or more of the questions above, then look no further, join my fun group coaching program specifically designed for your Comrades Down Run 2020.
The program kicks off on the 1st October 2019. Along YOUR journey to Comrades 2020 we will explore and cover various aspects relating to the race itself and your training, but as importantly improving your overall health and fitness – giving you much more than just a running program!!!
# Should you be keen then please fill in the DISCOVERY From in the link below. I will get in touch with you to set up a 20min discovery call/meeting so we can assess an appropriate fit.
Limited space available for this program, DON’T DELAY, DON’T MISS OUT!
Looking forward to working together, and seeing you at the finish line.
Dave Yuill
Often people take up exercise to lose weight and regain health, with many never achieving this. Conventional wisdom and training philosophies have led us to believe that exercise, especially the ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy, will not only make us thinner but also stronger and healthier. Watch any marathon, Ironman or other ultra-endurance event and a noticeable number of participants are overweight and/or carrying an injury. Surely, if these athletes are spending hours upon hours training, getting stronger and burning extensive calories then why aren’t they at ideal body composition and/or injury free? This is because the exercise component of weight loss/weight management is overemphasised and misunderstood by conventional wisdom and training regimes at times don’t balance fitness with health.
When one subscribes to a pattern of chronic exercise in pursuit of extreme or narrowly-focussed fitness goals, it can promote fat storage, illness, injury, accelerated ageing, reduction in cognitive function and ultimately burnout. The complete opposite of why one started in the first place.
The good news is there is a very simple way to achieve this idyllic state of optimal health, improved fitness and performance whilst drastically reducing risk of injury, illness and burnout and that is to develop your aerobic system.
Our genes thrive on frequent everyday low-level movement and aerobic conditioning. This basic requirement can be met through a combination of structured aerobic workouts, efforts to increase everyday movement and mobility exercises. The greatest benefits of exercise relate, not to the oftentimes goal of burning calories, but rather to the movement of muscles and joints and to the optimisation of adaptive hormones.
What is Aerobic Training and how to calculate it?
Aerobic means “with oxygen” and hence indicates a level of effort whereby there is sufficient oxygen to burn predominantly fat (fat requires oxygen to burn during exercise). An aerobic workout is conducted at a comfortable pace, is minimally stressful to the body and burns primarily fat. In the absence of laboratory testing (whereby calculating ventalitory threshold VT is possible) one cannot discern the point where one shifts from burning mostly fat to an increasing percentage of glucose, and thereby entering the realm if anaerobic training. Utilising a heart rate monitor (ideally a chest strap which is more accurate than a wrist based monitor) when exercising provides a very useful biometric feedback device to monitor this threshold point for us.
Although there is a range of opinion on the matter of quantifying maximum aerobic heart rate, the simplest method is Dr Phil Maffetone’s “180-age = maximum aerobic heart rate” formula. For example: if you are 40 years old then your training needs to be conducted at or below a heart rate of 140 (180-40) in order to stay aerobic.
The tried and trusted Maffetone formula offers some adjustments factors based on your current state of health and fitness. Take 180 minus your age as your baseline number, then adjust it if:
• Subtract 10: Recovering from illness, surgery, disease or taking regular medication.
• Subtract 5: Recent injury or regression in training, get more than two colds/flu annually, have allergies, asthma, inconsistent training, or recently returning to training.
• No Adjustment: Training consistently (4x/week) for two years, free from aforementioned problems.
• Add 5: Successful training for two year or more with improvement and free from aforementioned problems.
Keep in mind that this is a sub-max heart rate, this is not your maximum heart rate. As you improve your fitness and aerobic efficiency, your speed at your maximum aerobic heart rate will also improve. This will make you a faster endurance athlete, the ability to move at a faster speed whilst expending the same physiological effort.
What are the Benefits of Aerobic Exercise?
1. Fat metabolism: Aerobic exercise trains your body to efficiently utilise free fatty acids (ie: fat) for fuel. This benefit is further maximised when adhering to a low-insulin producing eating pattern.
2. Cardiovascular function: Aerobic exercise increases the ability of blood vessels to supply muscle cells with needed fuel and oxygen. Further it raises the stroke volume of your heart (more blood pumped with each beat) and improves the oxygen utilisation by your lungs.
3. Mitochondria building: Aerobic exercise builds more mitochondria in your muscles. One prominent role that mitochondria provides is to produce the energy currency (ATP) in your cells. When you exercise aerobically, with plenty oxygen available to make fat the preferred fuel source, mitochondria produces energy more efficiently than when glucose is the primary fuel source. Further, building more mitochondria through aerobic exercise, allows your body to handle a greater workload without getting overwhelmed.
4. Musculoskeletal strength and resilience: Aerobic exercise strengthens your bones, joints and connective tissue so you can absorb increasing stress loads without breaking down (ie: injury). This is critical to your ability to not only perform and handle the high intensity strength and speed workouts (anaerobic training, HIIT, etc) but as importantly your ability to recover from these sessions.
5. Immune function: Chronic exercise (a pattern of frequent medium-to-difficult sustained workouts with insufficient rest/recovery) leads to an excess production of the stress hormone cortisol. Excess cortisol production promotes systemic inflammation, oxidative damage, accelerates ageing, compromises bone density and supresses the immune function. As aerobic exercise is minimally stressful to the body, the production of cortisol is not abused and hence the body does not become systemically inflamed. This not only aids a reduction in injuries, but also protects the immune system.
It’s time to “go slow to go fast” Sources: The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing by Dr Phil Maffetone; Primal Endurance by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns; Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson
WOW! What a fantastic workout. This really takes training at maximum aerobic heart rate (MAHR) as calculated by Maffeton’s 180-age formula to a new level. If you are unfamiliar with what aerobic training and development is, then refer to previous article in link https://regeneratehealthfitness.co.za/2019/07/30/aerobic-benefits/
When an athlete first starts out with aerobic training and conducting workouts below MAHR it usually is a very frustrating period for the athlete. This is due to having to slow down substantially, oftentimes walking as the athlete’s aerobic system is under-developed. Overtime the athlete starts to run further and faster at the same heart rate before having to walk. When the aerobic system is developed the athlete will often run a number of heart rate beats per minute (HRbpm) lower than their MAHR as their pace becomes ‘too difficult’ to sustain or enjoy for the duration of the workout or everyday.
What are aerobic intervals and what is the purpose of this training? This is mentioned in Dr Phil Maffetone’s Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing and consists of breaking a normal MAHR session into smaller sub-sections of training at your MAHR limit and the other sub-sections at a much lower HR. I decided to alternate 1min fast (at MAHR limit) and 1 min slow (15-20 HRbpm lower), all conducted below MAHR. In other words one runs for one minute as fast as you can whilst maintaining HR below MAHR and then the next minute is used as ‘recovery’ and to bring your HR well below MAHR. The purpose of this training session is to improve your aerobic speed.
How did I feel and what did I learn from doing this workout. Firstly, it was harder than I initially perceived it would be. When I train aerobically, I set my watch to only show HR and lap time as pace is not the focus of the session, heart rate is. This means that whilst on the training session I do not know what pace I am training at, nor do I care. Post my training session I then analyse this. This ended up being harder than previously expected simply because my 1min fast intervals were a lot faster than I imagined. I am very familiar what my MAF (Maximum Aerobic Function…see link https://philmaffetone.com/maf-gps-test for a detailed explanation of MAF) speed is and I expected to go a little faster than this but ended up going a lot faster…a good 30-40s/km faster.
This ability to run faster during this shorter one minute fast interval is due to what is termed heart rate inertia or the lag affect of your heart rate (graphically shown below). Essentially your heart rate needs to ‘catch-up’ with your pace so to speak. Hence this becomes a threshold type training session but without the added stress.
Other really useful observations to take note of, relates to how quickly your heart rate drops during the recovery section. If it begins to drop back quicker from one week to the next, then it is one indication of improved fitness. Another post training assessment that can be observed is your pace during both the fast and the recovery sections. If you pace during both the faster and recovery intervals improves, then this not only indicates improvements in your aerobic speed (best measured through regular MAF testing) but also improved fitness.
An observation that I made whilst on the run was as the session got longer it would take less than a minute, during the fast interval before I reached my MAHR and correspondingly would take longer to drop during the recovery interval. This is related to what is termed cardiac drift (ie: heart rate increases as exercise time increases at a steady intensity) and submax fatigue (refer to article link https://philmaffetone.com/fatigue-cardiac-drift by Dr Phil Maffetone for more detail on this). Hence this is something I will keep my eye on when conducting these sessions in future. If the onset of cardiac drift prolongs then it will indicate improved submax fatigue which is important for most endurance events.
I elected to do one minute intervals, however this can be adjusted as your training / desire requires. For example, you might consider 4mins fast and 2mins easy. Alternatively, simply employ a fartlek type session where you mix up the fast and easy sections on the fly with no prior prescription to time or distance.
If you are looking for some variety whilst training aerobically, then certainly incorporate the aerobic intervals &/or aerobic fartlek into your training program. Mix them up and have some fun with them.
This 12-Week Coaching Program is a highly individualised program that focusses on optimising your personal health, fitness and wellness goals.
What is included:
• Health, wellness and fitness plan is jointly developed that is inclusive, flexible and responsive with the goal to move your daily practices towards healthier choices
• 6 x one-on-one hour coaching sessions – these are scheduled bi-weekly and are either conducted in-person or via online video platforms
• Whatsapp/email engagement and support during the 12-week period
• Educational handouts
During our 12-week coaching program we will delve deeper into the following areas relating to your health and fitness:
• Healthy Nutrition
• Mobility and Strength
• What constitutes healthy fitness
• Lifestyle practices that support health, fitness and vitality
Nutrition
Mobility / Strength
Excercise
Vitality
Assessments of current fitness conditions will be made to create a dynamic, sustainable workout plan that fits your current needs and shifts with your ongoing advancement. Throughout your health and wellness journey both concrete strategies and personal encouragement is provided with the intention for you to feel empowered to make daily choices that enhance your health.
The greatest investment you can make, is to invest in YOURSELF. So why not leverage the expert guidance and personal support of a coach to make this the most powerful investment in pursuit of your health and fitness goals.
Send us the contact form below and we will run more information to you 🙂
Aerobic Fitness program. This program was designed to take into account the lost fitness levels and to rebuild one’s fitness again in a responsible manner (the danger lay in athlete’s trying to pick-up their training where they left off) that would not increase the risk of injury or illness and thereby avoid having another setback to training.
