1. Maffetone Method Reviews

Maffetone's unique training system for champions proves that the kinder, gentler approach actually works the best. This fitness regimen has worked for champions and non-athletes alike- because it's based on Dr. Philip Maffetone's deep understanding of how the body works.

Maffetone has used that knowledge to develop The Maffetone method, his successful low-stress fitnes Dr. Maffetone's unique training system for champions proves that the kinder, gentler approach actually works the best. This fitness regimen has worked for champions and non-athletes alike- because it's based on Dr. Philip Maffetone's deep understanding of how the body works.

Maffetone has used that knowledge to develop The Maffetone method, his successful low-stress fitness program, which can be tailored to any individual. It means 'training slower to go faster,' says Mike Pigg, world champion triathlete and Maffetone client. The Maffetone Method includes: A ten step program to reduce stress and increase overall fitness; Exercise techniques designed for increased results with decreased pain; The real lowdown on some of those fad diets. In short, this is a fitness regimen for champions that everyone can use to reach their own goals whether it be running a marathon or walking around the block. Debunks the myth: 'no pain, no gain.' Replaces it with the idea that pain is the body's signal that there is something wrong, and therefore any exercise that causes pain or severe discomfort must not be contributing to health. Working out with this mindset is much more enjoyable, which translates to a more regular practice of exercise.

Maffetone is one of many holistic fitness experts who suggest a lower target heart rate for aerobic training. Many of us are too impatient to get through the init Debunks the myth: 'no pain, no gain.' Replaces it with the idea that pain is the body's signal that there is something wrong, and therefore any exercise that causes pain or severe discomfort must not be contributing to health. Working out with this mindset is much more enjoyable, which translates to a more regular practice of exercise. Maffetone is one of many holistic fitness experts who suggest a lower target heart rate for aerobic training. Many of us are too impatient to get through the initial training stages, where exercising at a lower target heart rate means staying at a slower pace. But, if one can manage the initial ego bruise of recognizing how 'out of shape' he or she is, and stick with the program, the result will be a increased performance, with greater enjoyment and improved health.

A holistic guide to fitness without pain or stress. While published in 2000 the information in this book remains quite fresh. You may feel, as I did, some resistance to the ideas, only because it feels quite opposite of what we've been told for years.What I liked: The information is quite unlike anything I've read before on fitness and actually seems doable (also unlike a lot of other programs). It is presented in a readable format meant for regular people and the concepts are clear and easy to A holistic guide to fitness without pain or stress. While published in 2000 the information in this book remains quite fresh. You may feel, as I did, some resistance to the ideas, only because it feels quite opposite of what we've been told for years.What I liked: The information is quite unlike anything I've read before on fitness and actually seems doable (also unlike a lot of other programs). It is presented in a readable format meant for regular people and the concepts are clear and easy to understand.What I didn't like: Some of the chapters weren't relative to me and therefore a bit boring.I give this book a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Really just excellent. While I don't agree with all of the diet recommendations in the back of the book, and some of the material is outdated simply because of the technological advances, no fault to the author, the substance of the book remains eminently practical. Build up your aerobic core by keeping your heart rate within the range of your max aerobic threshold, and watch as your athleticism rises and your anaerobic core improves as well. I will begin training with this method for a half mar Really just excellent. While I don't agree with all of the diet recommendations in the back of the book, and some of the material is outdated simply because of the technological advances, no fault to the author, the substance of the book remains eminently practical. Build up your aerobic core by keeping your heart rate within the range of your max aerobic threshold, and watch as your athleticism rises and your anaerobic core improves as well.

I will begin training with this method for a half marathon in 2 months! Personal BackgroundI've been running for 2 years. Lately, I've been wanting to improve my pace and distance but feel like I'm working too hard to do it (seen by high heart rate and feeling tired afterwards). Furthermore, I'm not enjoying my runs like I used to. What was fun is turning into work.Book SummaryIn short: work out at a much lower heart rate. This is found by a formula that starts at 180 bpm minus your age.

It gets adjusted based upon how you answer some other questions but that's the Personal BackgroundI've been running for 2 years. Lately, I've been wanting to improve my pace and distance but feel like I'm working too hard to do it (seen by high heart rate and feeling tired afterwards). Furthermore, I'm not enjoying my runs like I used to. What was fun is turning into work.Book SummaryIn short: work out at a much lower heart rate. This is found by a formula that starts at 180 bpm minus your age. It gets adjusted based upon how you answer some other questions but that's the gist: don't go higher than this number.Dr. Maffetone says that when you exercise higher, you are exercising 'anaerobically'.

This means that you are deriving your energy by burning sugars or carbohydrates. The problem is that most people only have 1.5 hours of glycogen before they get exhausted. Furthermore, you increase your chance of injury and burnout by exercising at this intensity.Instead, you should workout at a lower heart rate thereby deriving more of your energy from fat than sugars. This is called exercising aerobically. You have much more plentiful fat stores than sugar so this will allow you to work out more efficiently (and for longer) without feeling exhausted.

In fact, he says that you should exercise at such a low intensity that when you are done, you should feel as if you could do the whole exercise all over again. Additionally, this will train your body to burn fat 24/7!He proposes measuring your progress once per month by writing down your results when you run on the same course. He calls this the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) test. You should see monthly improvement in your pace as you'll need to move faster to keep your heart rate up as your aerobic base develops. Once you hit a plateau in your improvement (about 3 - 6 months for most people), you can exercise with some measured anaerobic activity but should repeat the test monthly. If you slip, you need to get to the bottom of the change.

It could mean you have a health issue or that you are over-training and are due for an injury.ThoughtsI like Dr. Maffetone's practical approach geared more toward just getting people moving with a bent toward no amount of exercise is too little. This attitude is not only non-intimidating but would yield so many health benefits for people if they did even the smallest amount of activity (walking for a few minutes, etc).I am a little suspicious of some of the 'holistic' and 'natural' terms. Nonetheless, I think there's something to what he is advocating. He also covers other aspects such as diet, footwear, etc but these receive less attention in the book. Honestly, most of this information can be found online. In fact, I think I saw a reproduction of his book on his professional website.I started my MAF training two weeks ago.

My target rate is 150. It is tough, especially on hills, to stay below this number. I'm moderately happy with the pace, though, when I'm not on a hill. I'd describe it as a jog and it makes my runs enjoyable again. I have time to think and let my mind wander. Time will tell if the approach is effective but, based upon other accounts on the internet, in 3 months I should see dramatic improvement. I really hope to see personal record paces without the high heart rate or level of effort I had been putting in.I hope to return to this review in a few months (if I can remember) and update with my progress!

This book is an excellent read for anyone who exercises or hopes to excercise soon. Heck, I'd even give it to someone who doesn't want to excersize but probably should!

Maffetone explains his method of developing your aerobic capacity to increase your endurance for long-distance running or any other physical activity. He makes a very interesting and unconventional case and his method is unlike any other program that I have read. It certainly doesn't mesh with the 'no pain-no gain' crowd.

He This book is an excellent read for anyone who exercises or hopes to excercise soon. Heck, I'd even give it to someone who doesn't want to excersize but probably should! Maffetone explains his method of developing your aerobic capacity to increase your endurance for long-distance running or any other physical activity.

He makes a very interesting and unconventional case and his method is unlike any other program that I have read. It certainly doesn't mesh with the 'no pain-no gain' crowd. He also delves into nutrition, work-out equipment, and recovering from injuries. I am currently using his method in my training schedule and have been very satisfied with the results so far. A word of caution the Maffetone method is not for the impatient. It takes a few months to start seeing the benefits in training, but I have noticed a difference in my body's fat-burning capacity already.

Hopefully this will translate into more stamina in Mile 23!

I didn't see anything in the method book about this and was curious.It's been almost a month since my last workout and three and a half weeks after my sinus and deviated septum surgery. The surgery went well and I can now breath through my nose in what I guess is a normal fashion, something I could not do before surgery.

Now that I can nose breath, I decided to test it on my first post-surgery workout, an hour walk (still exceeded my MAF). I could nose breath easily and did for most of it.

When I felt the urge to mouth breath, my HR was at or above my MAF number (135). If I kept my exertion level to where I could comfortably nose breath, my HR stayed in the 130-135 range, right were it should be.Is there a correlation between nose breathing and the MAF number? Or, is what I experienced just be a coincidence, possibly due to post-surgery recovery?

I'll check again in future workouts, but wanted to learn more about it. Thanks for any info. I just let my body breath naturally, and it chooses to use both mouth and nose. It finds its own rhythms. I see no difference in maintaining a specific HR when I force a rhythm (e.g.

In breath 5 steps, out breath 5 steps) than when I just let the body do it. How do heck do I know how much it needs at any given moment? So, I just leave it alone.

When I'm racing hard, I naturally breathe a 4-count, with mouth and nose. I breath fairly deeply, naturally, from the belly from years of yoga.During marathons I have been known to drink through my nose running through water stations.-Jimmy.

I did a bit more research and found a book about this. It's Body, Mind, and Sport by John Douillard. One book excerpt mentioned one 38 year old runner who, after building up to it over a period of time (18 months), could run a six minute mile while maintaining a 120 bpm heart rate. His marathon time was 2:53. This is compared to the 170 to 180 bpm range he had with moderate exertion before starting this training method.

The results certainly seem similar to those obtainable from following the Maffetone method.One comment about the book said this: 'He strongly recommends that the runner shouldn't breath through the mouth at all. Instead, he says, the runner should backpedal, go back to significantly lower training intensities (50-60% of HRmax) in order to become able to sustain prolonged exercise at that intensity and then work his way up from there very gradually. He maintains that one can climb up to his previous performance level but this time with breathing rates as slow as 14-20 breaths per minute and heart rates around 130-140!!!'

I wonder if he just uses nose breathing as a exertion limiter like we do with the MAF number. If so, that would allow for exercising without keeping an eye on our HRMs all of the time. I'm not suggesting giving up the Maffetone method.

I'm just curious if this other method dovetails with Maffetone's. Has anyone read Douillard's book? Interesting question Tim. I am in Jimmy's camp on letting nature take its course and breathe as required in whatever way is least stressful.

That being the case, exercise in general is the ability to get oxygen to the muscles and anything you do to restrict that will either make you work harder at a given pace or slow down. Sort of like high altitude or swimming in some respects. So I say nose only breathing will impact your HR during exercise.

Will only nasal breathing help you improve? No clue but if thats the best way for you to stay below MAF, I say use it. Let us know how it goes.I'm now off for my first run since Disney (wicked blister is ready to support my running). Perhaps I will try this today. As Jimmy pointed out, Yoga teaches you that your breathe should be long, slow and through the nose.I took an intro to Yoga class for a couple weeks in December (much tougher to do then I thought) and decided to try out that technique while riding my bike on my roller trainer, I notice that if I take the yoga approach to breathing, my HR will drop about 5 bpm and stay there until I stop thinking about it and start breathing quicker through my nose and mouth. If I notice my HR rising, instead of slowing my cadence, I'll use the long, deep breathes to settle my HR down.I imagine the same would be true when running.

I try to mix up my breathing during a run, but find it much more difficult to slow it down and breath more deeply. I try to breath out of both my nose and mouth especially during the mid to end of my run. In the beginning I can usually breathe exclusively through my nose. So I say nose only breathing will impact your HR during exerciseThat was one of the things I found interesting when I looked into it.

Supposedly, nose only breathing lowers HR. Mouth breathing raises HR.

Mouth breathing fills only the top part of the lungs, but exhales more carbon dioxide. Exhaling too much carbon dioxide changes the ratio in the blood and can inhibit oxygen usage.

Mouth breathing triggers a stress response. By contrast, nose breathing disarms the stress response. It pulls air deeper into the lungs. It also activates the nitric oxide production in the sinus, which, in the small doses produced by the sinuses, acts as a vasodilator and improves blood flow. (Think of the effect of nitroglycerin tablets for heart patients.) At least, this is what I found with some quick research.

There was also mention of it being similar to the asthma treatment methods of Buteyko. Chapter 17 of the Maffetone Method book discusses the diaphragm and breathing, but it doesn't discuss nose breathing vs mouth breathing. I wonder if the new book mentions it. Now that I can nose breath effectively, I will keep an eye on it in future workouts to see what happens. I just let my body breath naturally, and it chooses to use both mouth and nose. It finds its own rhythms.

I see no difference in maintaining a specific HR when I force a rhythm (e.g. In breath 5 steps, out breath 5 steps) than when I just let the body do it. How do heck do I know how much it needs at any given moment? So, I just leave it alone.

When I'm racing hard, I naturally breathe a 4-count, with mouth and nose. I breath fairly deeply, naturally, from the belly from years of yoga.That was one of the problems I have had trying to do low HR base building.

I have found that feel alone is an insufficient identifier of when I exceed my MAF number. Before my surgery, even when fast walking, I have exceeded my MAF number. I didn't realize it when it happened, but when I finally got around to looking at my HRM, I found myself 10 or more over my MAF. When I did my workout yesterday, I wasn't even aware of any rhythm of in/out breathing vs steps. I certainly wasn't trying to force that. I just noticed that when I was below my MAF number, nose breathing felt comfortable and natural.

Above my MAF number, I felt the urge to gasp for air through my mouth. Slowing my pace let me nose breath easily again. It was almost like a change in my breathing was the equivalent of a MAF exceeded alarm going off. It was weird, but interesting. As for racing, I haven't progressed that far yet.

I'm still base building and will be for quite a bit longer yet. I have not done yoga; not really interested in the spiritual aspects of exercise. But, I have done breathing from the belly. I also sleep mostly on my left side, which I have heard encourages that. I got the book from the library and read it over the last couple of days.

I didn't care much for the the first half, but I did find most of the second half fascinating. Parts of it seem to dovetail with Dr. Phil's method. Here's the gist of what I got out of it:OTR - Optimum Training Rate This HR is based on 50% of the Karvonen Max HR.

(220-age+RHR)/2For me, this was (220-45+60)/2 = 117.5. This is compared with my 135 MAF number.

The OTR number is just a guideline that is adjusted by monitoring your breathing and comfort level as you exercise. In other words, it does not stay at a fixed number.

It is more of an approximate guide.It seems the key element in this method is an expounding of Dr. Phil's diaphragm breathing to be nose only breathing and very deep breathing. This uses the parasympathetic (calming) nervous system instead of the sympathetic (stressing) nervous system. The warm up and cool down ('resting phases') use a Darth Vadar technique. Try making the Darth Vadar breathing sound in the back of your throat while keeping your mouth closed.

In order to do that, you need to engage the abdominal muscles. While not done during the entire workout, that abdominal engagement further increases utilization of the lower lobes of the lungs when compared with the regular deep breathing through the workout. Breath rate is also a factor. It should be between 10 and 20 breaths per minute instead of the more normal 40 to 50 breaths per minute.There is also a listening phase. The idea here is to pay very close attention to how you breath. When deep breathing through your nose, there is a slight pause when air changes direction. Pay attention to this pause and to when exercise is no longer comfortable.

This should be around the OTR number. Also, at around the OTR number, you should learn to detect changes in the comfort level in your body.

With experience listening to your body, these changes are easier to detect.The workout structure is as follows:warm up (lung exercise and stretches, Darth Vadar breath)resting phase (Darth Vadar exhales with very slow walk/jog, keeping HR at OTR - 30)listening phase (not to exceed OTR, paying very close attention to breath and comfort changes)performance phase (exercise at OTR while increasing exertion, still paying attention to breath and comfort)resting phase (Darth Vadar exhales to flush system with very slow walk/jog, trying to lower HR to OTR-30)This is level 1. One aspect I found fascinating is the level 1 exam. In order to pass the level 1 exam, you need to develop your respiratory system so that an increase in exertion at OTR lowers your HR. There were some charts in the book comparing regular, shallow, mouth breathing with deep nose only breathing.

As the watts effort increased, the regular breathing rate and HR increases. To a point, so did nose only breathing, but then it flattened out as effort continued to increase.

When you are able to do this, you are able to exercise 'in the Zone' at will instead of by chance. Very interesting.Level 2 adds more increased intensities to the performance phase. For example, the book explains how to add sprint intervals and what to do for weight training.So, I tried this out on a walk this morning. I only did a few stretches. I did the before and after resting phases, my warm up and cool down.

I don't normally do those. Then I did the listening phase, trying to monitor what my body was doing, how I was breathing in relation to my HR number. My walking pace was slower than with just MAF, but I think the deep breathing let my HR be lower still. I didn't really do a performance phase, staying in listening phase instead until I learn to listen to my body better. This is almost like doing my workouts at MAF - 15, but adding the deep regular breathing to help keep the HR down. I liked what this felt like and will try it again. I think that's a pretty accurate summary of Douillard, and I did note some similarities with Dr.

Maffetone (the warm up/cool down, diaphragm breathing). Of course, Dr. Maffetone doesn't object to exercise at intensities below the 180- number. As I'm sure you saw, Douillard's dietary recommendations get a little further afield of Dr.

Maffetone Method Reviews

Maffetone's, but that's the Ayurveda coming through.Just a couple of points to consider:. Douillard uses the 220- formula as a proxy for HRMax, but that formula is often wildly inaccurate and has little scientific basis.

Have you had your HRMax tested? The differences can be dramatic and unpredictable.

I'm 39 so, for me, 220- yields a projected HRMax of 181 bpm (220-39), but I've had a stress test and hit 206 bpm before the doctor stopped the test. Unless you're having a HRMax test done with appropriate medical supervision, be very careful about testing yourself. There are some good, low stress tests that you can use to estimate your HRMax better than 220-, but I would strongly caution against actually maxing out without a doctor nearby. (As an aside, one of the things I like about Dr. Phil's 180- formula is that you don't need to know your HRMax to use it. The math is also a lot easier ).

I didn't see you apply any 'body type' adjustments in your calculation (see p. With a HRResting of 60 you should be eligible for some 'more cowbell' (apologies, LG). Did you take the 'Body-Type Questionnaire' on pp. (FWIW - apparently I am strongly Pitta dominant, and my HRResting is 56, so I'd get to add10 bpm to my OTR.)If you find the deep nose breathing helps you, that's great.

For me, when it comes to breathing I recall Frank Shorter. A reporter once asked him: 'What are your feelings about breathing?' Shorter's reply 'I'm all for it!' ETA: Douillard obviously paid better attention to his algebra teachers than I did. After thinking about it more, I think that his formula really is the same as the Karvonven formula for 50% effort.

He just expresses it in a different way. So I was wrong to say they're different and obviously goofed in my math when I got different results using the two different equations. I've removed all that stuff now.

Just a couple of points to consider:. Douillard uses the 220- formula as a proxy for HRMax, but that formula is often wildly inaccurate and has little scientific basis. Have you had your HRMax tested? The differences can be dramatic and unpredictable. I'm 39 so, for me, 220- yields a projected HRMax of 181 bpm (220-39), but I've had a stress test and hit 206 bpm before the doctor stopped the test. Unless you're having a HRMax test done with appropriate medical supervision, be very careful about testing yourself.

There are some good, low stress tests that you can use to estimate your HRMax better than 220-, but I would strongly caution against actually maxing out without a doctor nearby. (As an aside, one of the things I like about Dr. Phil's 180- formula is that you don't need to know your HRMax to use it.

The math is also a lot easier ). I didn't see you apply any 'body type' adjustments in your calculation (see p. With a HRResting of 60 you should be eligible for some 'more cowbell' (apologies, LG). Did you take the 'Body-Type Questionnaire' on pp. (FWIW - apparently I am strongly Pitta dominant, and my HRResting is 56, so I'd get to add10 bpm to my OTR.)If you find the deep nose breathing helps you, that's great.

For me, when it comes to breathing I recall Frank Shorter. A reporter once asked him: 'What are your feelings about breathing?' Shorter's reply 'I'm all for it!' ETA: Douillard obviously paid better attention to his algebra teachers than I did.

After thinking about it more, I think that his formula really is the same as the Karvonven formula for 50% effort. He just expresses it in a different way. So I was wrong to say they're different and obviously goofed in my math when I got different results using the two different equations. I've removed all that stuff now.The book specifically mentions using the Karvonen formula (top of page 206, before discussing the forumula).

There was also a mention of Dr. Ken Cooper and his recommendation to never exceed 60 percent max HR. My 220 minus forumla shows an HR max of 175. In my couch to 5k plan, I routinely saw 165 to 170 bpm numbers. I even saw one period of 191 bpm.

That was one event that triggered my lower HR interest. A year or so ago, before starting to exercise, I had a stress test. IIRC, my HR in that test only went to 145. I have not had a more recent test. So, I have no idea what my HR max really is. I am also not sure if the definition of RHR is the same, generally at rest (75) vs before getting out of bed (60).

That is one of the things that attracts me to the nose breathing part. I can use a change in breath/rate as an indicator of my upper range and not just a number.I did do the body typing. For increased accuracy, I had my wife answer the questions. I ended up fairly well balanced: winter-19, summer-18, spring-16I like breathing, too.

But, I also found some differences in the effect of how I breath, now compared with before I could nose breath. I'd like to continue with it to see if it makes any further differences in my rate of improvement. I agree with G, those MHR formulas can be way off. You can easily find yours at the end of a race, when you're warmed up enough. RHR should be taken at rest. When you wake up is a good time to do it.A nose breathing/running by breath rate experiment seems worthwhile to me. Keep us posted.-JimmyI've never raced.

So, I can't test that way yet. I'm guessing there are companies that can do this kind of testing. I'm in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and there is bound to be some place around here where I can test. Is it expensive? Should I look for certain methods of performing the test? Thanks.I keep a small wrist blood pressure monitor on my nightstand so I can check first thing.

It was down to 55 bpm this morning.I will keep updating my log and noting how the nose breathing is going.