Fitness is about thriving in your natural environment. Thriving in your environment is different than getting by or winning gold medals. If you are a full time mom, banker, construction worker or engineer you will be happiest and perform the best when you are healthy. Nagging injuries are not indicative of health, or an effective exercise regime. It is my assertion that cardio respiratory endurance is the foundation of long term health and wellness and ultimately fitness.
It’s my belief that high-intensity exercise IS effective at creating athletic adaptations in certain cycles of training, but we are not always after athletic adaptations. Constant high intensity is used in manufacturing the world over, and it is called a stress test. The goal of a stress test is to find out when something will break. Exercising continuously at high intensity is the perfect method to find out when you will break. We don’t want to break you, went you to be happy and healthy.
I definitely respect and enjoy watching people push the limits of human performance. Roger Bannister’s sub 4 minute mile, Usain Bolt’s 100 meter world record, Sonita Muluh’s 701 pound squat, Michael Phelps’ 18 olympic medals, Barry Bond’s 73 home runs in a season and Lance Armstrong’s 7 Tour de France victories are all amazing athletic achievements. These athletes would do whatever it took to break all records, or die trying. But we are not trying to die. We are trying to live long, full lives. So how? Well…
Fitness is about surviving and thriving in your natural environment. The greatest danger you face is cardiovascular disease. Statistically, it is most likely to be your cause of death. If fitness is about surviving and thriving in your environment we must first prioritize training methods in order to prevent preventable disease and look to live longer; live better.
Aerobic conditioning has advantages over anaerobic work as it can increase physical endurance and lifespan. Recovery between bouts of aerobic exercise is easier and faster than anaerobic sessions. During aerobic training, the aim is to improve blood flow to the lungs, heart, and blood vessels. Aerobic conditioning is a process where the heart and lungs are trained to pump blood more efficiently, allowing more oxygen to be delivered to muscles and organs.
Efforts below 85% maximum heart rate are considered aerobic, while anaerobic is considered anywhere above 85% maximum heart rate. The majority of favorable adaptations come between 60 and 80% maximum heart rate.
Faster is not better. As long as you get your heart rate into the target range, running a 12-minute mile or six-minute mile produces approximately the same aerobic and caloric effect. A minimum of four weeks is generally required to build an aerobic base. For those of us that have trained ‘hard’ for some time, doing these sessions can seem boring and mundane, however the results from doing these sessions will replace the creeping thoughts of boredom.
I encourage you to wear a heart rate monitor as it helps you more accurately measure your level of exertion. This will be your most effective path to aerobic fitness, much better than an RPE scale or guessing. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, get one. Until then, use our 3 level scale.
Level 1 – “Talking” pace – You can hold a conversation while running/biking/rowing etc. You are able to talk in complete sentences. “Talking” pace is considered Zone 1 & 2. This is approximately 50-75% of your Maximum heart rate. This is used for recovery work, or long slow distance (LSD) for weight loss. This has the lowest impact physiologically, and these workouts could be performed nearly every day without overtraining or injury.
Level 2 – “Race pace” – You are able to maintain this pace for a long time, but would be unable to hold a conversation while doing so. You can say a word or two but are unable to speak in complete sentences. “Race pace” is between 75-85% of your maximum heart rate, or Zone 3 & 4. This would be considered a race pace. You could not comfortably speak, but could keep this pace up for the duration of a 5k or 10k race.
Level 3 – “The Burn” – You literally feel your muscles begin to burn. You are unable to speak without it diminishing your effort. “The Burn” is when you have surpassed 85% of maximum heart rate, Zone 5. You are now performing the majority of metabolism through the anaerobic energy systems. You literally feel your muscles burning, and you can not keep this type of effort up for more than 2 minutes without an extraordinary mental effort.
In order to exercise in the most effective possible way, the best program will consist of a majority of work in the 60-80% heart rate range, with small, short bursts and specific sessions near the lactate threshold. These bursts will generally be under 2 minutes in duration, and volume and intensity should be tightly controlled to make sure that over training is kept in check. Overtraining is associated with persistent fatigue, decreased performance, prolonged muscle soreness, poor sleep & recovery and frequent illness.
I encourage you to spend some time working on your endurance and see how it affects your other training and activity. Spend a month doing 3 sessions a week of lower intensity. You can still lift and there is no rule that says what type of training or movement you have to do. It doesn’t need to be a boring treadmill effort (though it can be); it can be a mix of bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells, jump rope…the possibilities are endless. You’re only limited by your heart rate. You can still do higher intensity on other days and still see the payout.
The general formula for max heart rate (HR) is 220 minus your age, though this will vary depending on training background, health history and recovery state on the day of your training. For an Average Joe or Jane that’s 50 years old, their hypothetical max HR will be 170 and percentages would be based off of this. 70% max HR is usually considered the sweet spot for aerobic training and 40 minutes is thought to be an ideal time for adaptation, though trainees can increase this as their fitness improves or decrease this if they’re new to training or making a comeback.
So, the plan looks like this for a 50 year old looking to gain aerobic fitness (adjust HR to your age):
On Monday, Wednesday & Friday do 10 minutes of ramping up to a HR of 120+/-bpm, 20 minutes at 120+/-bpm and 10 minutes winding your HR back down. This can be done after a core lift or a couple of supersets if desired. You can bike, jog, row, ski, echo bike, jump rope, walk, dance, box -whatever makes you happy – just keep your HR at around 70 percent and reap the benefits.
For those that are used to daily hard efforts, this will be difficult to do as they are used to a higher level of exertion and may chase the high that comes with near-max training. Avoid this. Save it for other days and be patient. I really think you’ll like what you get from this type of training.
