Yesterday morning I did my MAF test. I was disappointed so I did it again this morning! Not too much improvement. The MAF test is Dr Maffetone’s way of testing one’s aerobic base improvement when using his method of working out at a certain heart rate level (180 minus your age with adjustments). I have tweaked his test somewhat so I will call it my Z2 test. This is what I do.
My recommended level is 125 to 135 bpm. So whenever I hit 136 bpm I walk until my heart rate is back in the required zone. Then I jog again – I say jog because the pace is so slow I hesitate to call it a run. If I try and make the run portion too fast I cannot keep in the zone for any decent length of time. I use a treadmill on incline zero for my test. First I walk a kilometre to get my heart rate up to the higher end of zone 1 and then I run/walk another kilometre. This is my warm up. I then reset the treadmill and do 5km trying to run as much as possible but still keeping that heart rate below 136 bpm.
My times so far have been 43:21, 43:51 and 43:37. This shows that my aerobic base still needs work. I’m disappointed in my progress but Dr Maffetone does say that when working on the base initially, any anaerobic workouts will hinder progress. I don’t want to give up my gym class in the afternoons so I guess I must take the slow progress and get on with the job! I do try and keep as much as possible low impact during the classes to minimize the anaerobic bits but I don’t wear a heart rate monitor. Those classes are purely for fun (and strengthening) – I don’t want to spoil it by stressing over my high heart rate!
So….persistence is my middle name! Onward and upward!