Establish Your MAF Heart Rate
Before you can do a MAF test, you’ll need to know your MAF heart rate. I like to establish this number during alactate testbut for those who haven’t done one or don’t have access to this form of testing, you can usePhil’s 180 formula.
For those of you in Singapore, you have no excuse, come anddo some testingwith us in our lab.
How To Do A MAF Test
With MAF heart rate established, it’s time to test.
It’s important to note that this test can be done with any exercise except weight lifting. For the purpose of this post, however, I will focus on running since the majority of our readers are runners and triathletes.
Here’s how I have Coached athletes do the test.
Perform The Test
Head to the nearest track.
You’ll need a monitor that can capture your splits and allows you to view your heart rate. I suggest youuse a monitorwith a heart rate strap over a wrist-based monitor if possible because they’re usually more reliable and accurate.
Warm up for 10 minutes at MAF heart rate. If you have done a MAF test before and your second km was faster than your first, increase the warm up by 10 minutes.
Next, run up to 8km at MAF heart rate (this is the actual test). For our fitter athletes, I have them run 8km. For the less fit, I usually have them start with 4 – 5km.
As you run, your watch should capture your splits every kilometre. Your first kilometre will be the fastest and you should find that each subsequent kilometre gets slower. This is completely normal and demonstrates a normal fatigue factor.
Do some light stretching to cool down.
Control The Variables
To ensure an accurate and consistent test result, you’ll need to do your best to control the variables that can affect your test results.
Time Of Day.Do the test at the same time of day. If you do your first test in the morning, do your follow-ups in the morning too. If you do a test at a different time of day, make a note in your log for reference and understand that it could contribute to any changes (good or not-so-good) that you see in follow up tests.
Climate.Do the test in the same climate each time. Heat, humidity, rain, wind and snow, for example, all provide different challenges that can affect your physiology. If you do a test outside the normal conditions make a note in your log for reference.
Altitude.If you’ve not adapted to altitude, it will have a significant effect on your body and your MAF test. If you have to test at altitude when you are not acclimated, make a note of this in your log for reference.
Hydration.You need to bewell hydratedbefore completing the test. Even mild dehydration can slow you down and lead to inconsistent test results.
Equipment.Use the same equipment each time you do the test. If you make changes to your equipment, make a note of the changes in your log for reference.
Health.When you are sick or getting sick your body’s immune system is working very hard to recover. In this situation do not perform the test and wait until you are feeling better.
Your Results
Your MAF Test should indicate faster times as the months go by. When you see this, you can feel confident that your aerobic system is getting stronger and your fat burning is improving, enabling you to do more work at the same effort.
Ming has been following the Coached programme for just over a year and a half.
While everyone develops at their own rate, here are the results from some of his tests to illustrate the progression you can anticipate.
As you can see, he’s able to run at a much faster pace at the same heart rate. You’ll also notice that he has a smaller drop off between the first kilometre and the last as the months go by.
This is the goal and is evidence that training is working.
Try using MAF testing in your preparation and see how it works for you.
