[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on February 19, 2023 at 9:20 am · in reply to: MAF vs. Measured Metabolic Tests #75769

Farzin, the cardio-metabolic test is going to be more accurate than a one-size-fits-all formula, no matter how scientifically it was derived.

If your AeT is within 10% of your AnT (anaerobic threshold), it is a good idea to keep the intensity lower: lower zone 2 and zone 1. Also, remember that the AeT is just an estimate. It’s the best estimate we have at this point for monitoring in-activity effort level, but it’s also going to vary from day to day, and it will change in a larger way over time — which is why we’re all doing this training, as you know!

A skill that it’s valuable to develop is to sense what your body is telling you: when you’re out on an “aerobic run” or hike (i.e. one designed to increase your aerobic capacity), does the effort you’re expending feel comfortable; or does it feel like you’re pushing? If you’re pushing, then you’re probably going too hard in that moment.

There are a couple of UA podcasts you might find helpful, or at least interesting to listen to:

Phil Maffetone Talks Health, Training, and Aerobic Deficiency with Scott Johnston

Fundamentals of Training for Mountaineering: Part 2 – Aerobic Threshold Testing

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on February 19, 2023 at 3:16 am · in reply to: hiking vs. running below AeT #75761

Hi Jared, yes, you can substitute an uphill hike for a run, and you can make the hike a bit longer if you want, e.g. 45-60 mins to replace a 30-min run. Just be sure to stay slow and easy — including on the downhill — and make sure you’re recovering well.

By the way, that’s a pretty high AeT, so you might want to mix in zone 1 with your zone 2.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on February 9, 2023 at 7:32 am · in reply to: Help calculating HR zones? #75504

Hi Rob,
Yes, only for aerobic sessions, whatever form they take. HR is not a good measure of effort expended/stress on the body for strength training, climbing sessions, and other non-aerobic activities. For those, if you’re using Training Peaks to track your training, you want to estimate a TSS.

Here’s an article that might be useful: https://uphillathlete.com/aerobic-training/trainingpeaks-metrics-ctl-tss/

Jane

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on February 8, 2023 at 10:44 am · in reply to: Training “crash” #75490

Spot on, Jake.

Jiri, it does sound like you’re chronically under-recovering. Sleep as you note is a huge factor. Also, the stress of your work. As far as the body is concerned: stress is stress. It doesn’t matter whether it’s physical, psychological, emotional, phsyiological or any other -al. It all has the same effect. Nutrition might also be something you could look at. You might be able to support your body better with some nutrition modifications.

These articles might help:

Practical Recovery Essentials

Active Recovery: You May Be Doing It Wrong

Nutrition for Injury Prevention and Recovery

Recovery by Feel

Recovery Strategies for Endurance Training

Overtraining: The Elephant in the Ultrarunning Room

There has also been at least one podcast on the topic of recovery and overreaching/overtraining.

Let us know how it goes.
Jane

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 30, 2023 at 1:45 am · in reply to: Please make menopause a topic in the forum index #75199

Hey again! I’m glad to hear you’ve already proposed this. UA definitely has a strong focus on serving women of all demographics, and also athletes over 50 as a demographic in themselves (fully aware of the physiological differences). There’s a long “we want to do now” list of projects, but I’ll put this forward again to at least keep it in the conversation. Culturally speaking, it’s time. In the broad perspective, of course, it’s long, long overdue, but we’re getting there.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 30, 2023 at 12:37 am · in reply to: Does the allotted time for Z1/Z2 sessions include the 15 minute warmup? #75198

No worries about using my time. I manage the whole forum 🙂

I hear you on just getting into flow and then having to end the workout. After months of rehab and setbacks it’s only just this month that I’ve been able to get back to doing longer hikes (over 1.5 hours) with elevation gain of more than 300-400 metres. I am so happy to be able to do full loops rather than short out and backs and go long and high!! haha! I’m hopefully starting a return to run block in a few weeks, if the physio gives the ok. Fingers crossed!

I’ve learnt that slow and steady, and backing off when I get the signal to do so, *will* bring me to the goal of being strong and fully functional again, and keeping the long-term benefit constantly front of mind has been crucial. Good luck with your recovery! It does take a lot of patience.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 28, 2023 at 3:18 am · in reply to: Aerobic Work for Knee Pain #75149

Hi hsharple,
First off, welcome! It’s great to have you here and I’m thrilled you’re getting so much value from the books and other resources. I’m also glad you’ve discovered the power of nutrition. It’s been a game-changer for me, for sure!
Regarding your question: this thread might give you the answer you seek. If not, let us know: https://uphillathlete.com/forums/topic/pelton-training/
Jane

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 28, 2023 at 1:27 am · in reply to: Does the allotted time for Z1/Z2 sessions include the 15 minute warmup? #75148

Hi again! Yes, the total time includes the warm-up.

The 15-20 mins is an estimate, but the time needed to really warm up will differ by person and by day. For instance, at 52 and slow-twitch dominant, some days it takes a good hour for my body to fully ‘come online’. During that time my body is still working – heart, lungs, muscle fibres, metabolism etc. – so that time needs to be included in the total time.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 25, 2023 at 1:15 am · in reply to: ADS: Start Transition Period per the book, or only Zone 2 for # weeks? #75055

Yes, planned recovery sessions count towards total aerobic volume.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 23, 2023 at 3:46 am · in reply to: ADS: Start Transition Period per the book, or only Zone 2 for # weeks? #74981

Glad you’ve experienced the durability of the metabolic changes, too!

One more thing you might want to consider since you’re coming back from injury is to extend the transition period. You can extend a 6-week transition period to 8 weeks by repeating weeks 2 and 5, or to 10 weeks by repeating weeks 2, 3, 5, 6.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 23, 2023 at 3:09 am · in reply to: Recovery of Aerobic Capacity after COVID #74979

Since there’s a reply, you can leave this post here. People will see that the discussion has shifted to the other forum.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 22, 2023 at 4:38 am · in reply to: ADS: Start Transition Period per the book, or only Zone 2 for # weeks? #74927

Hi mgoat4,
Yes, you can start the transision period. In fact, I would say that at 12% (if you find you’re still there or when you get back to that point) that you’d be close enough not to need to replace all the Zone 1 with Zone 2. This is a situation in which you can tune into your body to see what feels right on that day. It’s good to remember that even though we have all this scientific data, this is still more of an art than a science, since our bodies are highly individual and changing all the time — which female hormones play a large part in!

The good news is that the metabolic changes you made with all that prior training don’t go away quickly, so you might find you haven’t lost much. I’ve been rehabbing an injury for a year, after 2ish years of regular training, and even though I’m not yet back to running again, I can sense that my aerobic base is still pretty good.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 21, 2023 at 12:11 pm · in reply to: Recovery of Aerobic Capacity after COVID #74905

Hi Jon44,

Have you looked through our Covid 19 & Sports Med forum? You might find some similar experiences reported there. Also, if you want to repost your question there, Dr. Thomas Summer monitors that forum.

Jane

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 13, 2023 at 9:53 am · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #74608

Hi Bob,

I’m glad that confusion has been cleared up. The podcast with Chantelle that you listened to was more off the cuff than the video I linked, so the explanation was not as clear as it could have been.

So, yes, if the drift is within 3-5% then you can take your starting heart rate as your AeT. If it’s a fair bit higher than 5% (say, 7% or more), it’s probably a good idea to retest, targeting a lower HR. If it’s not too far above 5%, you can estimate. E.g. if your target HR was 134 and the drift was 6%, you could estimate your AeT at around 132 or 131. Again, the number is never going to be 100% precise because human physiology is imprecise. In that situation, I prefer to estimate low, because then I’m less likely to drift into Z3 (through inattention or poor self-control) when the intention of my training is to stay below AeT.

If the drift is less than 3%, either retest at a higher HR or estimate. If the drift is negative, then retest at a higher target HR.

Jane

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on January 13, 2023 at 7:49 am · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold Testing #74603

Hi Bob,

Paraphrase 1 is correct. Paraphrase two is incorrect. This video explains how to analyse a heart rate drift test, using real-life tests as examples. Please let us know if you have more questions after watching it:

How to Administer and Analyze a Heart Rate Drift Test

You’re absolutely right that it’s part art and part science, to the point that each person’s individual AeT will drift around from day to day and even within each day, depending on physiological factors.