Operating at Fatmax

If you follow me on Strava and have been wondering what “at MAF” means in the names of my activities, that stands for Maximum Aerobic Function and I learned about it from Dr. Phil Maffetone’s 180 Formula. The 180 Formula says that you can subtract your age from 180 to arrive at a Beats Per Minute heart rate. This heart rate is very close to the point at which your body is burning the most amount of fat possible before you head into the anaerobic range of physical activity. When you’re anaerobic your body starts to tap into stored glycogen for energy. If you’re trying to lose weight by burning fat, then you want to be active at your Fatmax (MAF) and not exceed that heart rate. In addition to burning fat this also helps improve the efficiency of your aerobic system so that you can make better use of oxygen and fat as energy. It also allows you to recover more quickly from activity of any intensity.

In this article from Sports Illustrated they write about how heart rate training was used to improve a climber’s aerobic system in preparation for his attempt to summit Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen.

“Before flying out to Tibet this season, Ballinger had a follow-up metabolic test at the UC Davis clinic on Apr. 5. In just four months, he had shifted his fat-burning to carb-burning transition point from 115 beats per minute up to 141.”

If you’d like to add some low intensity training to your life to improve your performance, schedule a free call with me today.