You may have heard about low intensity training aka..low heart rate, Maffetone, 80/20, etc. There are a lot of different ways to train at a low intensity and improve your performance. This is a fun way to train because you are not constantly in a success/fail/recovery cycle and spend most of your time in a comfortable and fun place in your training!
When you train with a lower intensity you can increase your volume due to the shorter recovery time needed between workouts. You need to combine this with enough sleep, good nutrition/hydration and managing your stress to see the best results.
You can do this with or without a heart rate monitor and the newer watches are very accurate if you have one that tracks heart rate. The older watches are more accurate when used with a traditional heart rate strap but make sure you use electrode gel to get the best contact between your skin and the sensor. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, don’t stress because you don’t need one! You can train by feel!
When training for anything over 50 miles the bulk of your training should be in the easy zone with some in the moderate zone. You don’t really need speed work when training for over 50 miles unless you are planning a 12 hour 100 mile race but you still don’t need that much.
Our bodies adapt to the stress we apply to it which is why low intensity training works. You will get faster without increasing your heart rate! This process takes time and patience but once your body adapts it is so much fun to see the improvements!
When you focus too much on speed work you can’t recover enough to get the most from your training and you will eventually fall into the succeed/fail/recover cycle which can ultimately result in adrenal failure, stress fractures, etc.
I love to use HRV to train myself and my clients that are interested in using HRV to track their recovery and adaptation. I train by effort or heart rate depending on how detailed my client wants to get.
If you combine low intensity workouts with heavy strength training and minimal intense workouts while giving yourself two high quality moderate effort runs a week you will find yourself spending less time sidelined and sad!
If you would like help in your training feel free to reach out and schedule your free consultation with me to see if we would enjoy working together! I love to help my athletes overcome and make peace with ptsd/stress while getting faster with fewer injuries!
So let me help you get to the starting line so that you can cross the finish line!