Running: Overtraining- Prevention 1

If you are overtrained, it can be difficult to recover. As with most conditions, prevention is the best step. The single best training step you can take to prevent overtraining is the use of a heart rate monitor.

There are a few different ways that athletes utilize heart rate monitors. A doctor by the name of Phil Maffetone devised a method of finding your maximum heart rate. This is calculated by subtracting your age from 180. So if you are 40 years old... (180 - 40= 140) your maximum heart rate should be 140.

Those of you familiar with heart rate monitors may realize that at first glance, this seems a bit low. The traditional method has been to subtract your age from 220; use that as the maximum heart rate and then to train between 65-85% of that maximum. For the 40 year old person (220-40= 180) 65-85% of 180 is 117-153. The traditional recommendation is to train closer to the 85% point for increases in overall performance and aerobic capacity.

For our 40 year individual, the question arises; should I train at 140 or 153 bpm? The answer is 140. This is a good opportunity to make this point: There is a big difference between "training for performance" versus "training for performance AND good health."

Training for performance is a relentless, "all-in, do what it takes" attitude that demands the most of your body. For example, you can drive your car fast all the time (performance) but you must realize that the life of the engine, tires and brakes will suffer as a result of that. On the other hand, if you take good care of your car and drive responsibly, it will certainly give you excellent performance when you need it.

Training at 140 (for this imaginary 40 year old runner) may seem slow and awkward at first. You may feel like you're doing a gentle jog rather than a training run and you may experience some frustration. But over time, you will be able to run faster while maintaining that slower rate. This has the important effect of minimizing chemical and hormone stress while programming the aerobic engine of your metabolism. For more on this, read Maffetone's book, "In Fitness and In Health."

To be clear, healthy individuals may perform just fine while training at the higher heart rate derived from the traditional calculation. But the hidden cost of that is potential hormone and metabolic shifts that have long term implications. If you are already overtrained or getting to that point, it is essential that you follow the 180-age formula for heart rate.