Alejandro Machado
Training for Long-term Vitality
technique, application
Alejandro Machado
Obstacle Course Racing and MovNat

Training for Long-term Vitality

The other night I was in a discussion with some friends about what my approach to training was, and how it might differ from what they were doing day-in and day-out.  This got me thinking I needed to add some more information, inspiring this entry.

My approach to training is rooted in the Maximum Aerobic Function method developed by Dr. Phil Maffetone.  I would describe this method starting with the chart below:

maf

Let's walk through the it, blue line is your bodies' recruitment of aerobic system (blue line) and anaerobic system (red line) as a function of heart rate.  Dr. Maffetone, based on his research, has shown that your Maximum Aerobic Function peaks at a heart rate equal to 180 minus your Age.  This threshold value differs quite a bit from what the conventional wisdom considers aerobic. In fact the MAF heart-rate is considerably lower than other thresholds you find; this value puts you in the gray area where neither aerobic nor anaerobic system functions optimally.  This causes overly stressful sessions that can lead to burn-out in the long run.

So based on this framework, this is what I do:

  • 80-90% Aerobic - This is where is invest most of my time and effort.  I go for long walks almost daily, practice tai chi daily.  These activities fall well within the aerobic zone. I adapt the volume and intensity of my daily natural movement practice to fall within this zone.  When I chose to go for a trail run or mountain bike ride, I do use a heart-rate monitor to ensure I don't fall outside the zone.
  • 20-10% Anaerobic - Interspersed in my routine, I add true anaerobic sessions.  This might be a High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) natural movement session or a set of sprints.  These sessions are short, lasting less than 15 minutes and very difficult.  I also take care to fully recover between these bouts of training.  I don't adhere to a schedule, rather I do it when I intuitively feel rested and prepared to maximize the benefit

Does this approach intrigue you? Contact me to discuss how I can get you on this track to long-term vitality.   

Musings on Injuries

No physical movement practice is without risk of injury, while I maintain the highest level of safety, accidents and injuries do happen from time-to-time.  Unfortunately, I have had some setbacks this summer but by no means has this hindered my overall ability to maintain my movement practice and conditioning program.  One of aspect that MovNat emphasizes is to be unspecialized and equalized.  So what does this mean? Unspecialized refers to having a broad base and breadth of skills, the aptitudes taught in MovNat include: walking, running, balancing, crawling, climbing, lifting, carrying and throwing/catching.  The second dimension of equalization is to strive for equal abilities across all these movement aptitudes. While I might be more proficient with certain skills, I train all of them so that not one is neglected.  One of my injuries was to my foot, which did not allow me to run or land jumps for a few weeks. Any injury can become a frustrating setback but I was able to train and condition my crawling and climbing skills (taking care of landing safely). I also increased my walking volume to continue to build up my aerobic base.  Train safe and get out there and Move!

 

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Obstacle Course Racing and MovNat

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This past Memorial Day weekend I ran my first Obstacle Course Race (OCR) and it was an excellent event and a great test piece for my MovNat training.  

I would like to give thanks to the Terrain Racing and The Recess Factory for putting together a very enjoyable event.  I found it to be well organized, with a smooth check-in process to get bib and timing chip. They offered a gear check to drop-off your bag during the race.  There were vendors and food trucks for after the race along with hoses to "wash" off.  The weather was mostly sunny with temperatures in the upper 60s at my designated start time of 10:45am.

Am I ready for this?! Kind of...

Am I ready for this?! Kind of...

First of all, I am not a runner.  I knew that my hard work training MovNat would allow me to complete the obstacles, but running for any length of time is a completely foreign concept to my movement practice. So I was definitely nervous about being able to complete the 5K within a reasonable amount of time.  That said, I do go for walks almost daily and occasionally hike.

The course had 25 obstacles:  Mudpit with duck unders, Monkeybar Traverse, Tire Flip,  Spider Weave, Rope Climb, Tube Slide and Crawl, 16 ft wall climb with rope, 6ft Wall, Bucket Carry, Rig Traverse, , Hill Climb, 6ft Wall, 8ft Wall, Hill Down climb, Cargo Net #1, 6ft Wall, 3-rope traverse, Wreckbag carry, Cargo Net #2, Tire drag, 4ft wall, "Mud Moguls", balance traverse, Cargo Net #3 and Pole Slide.

Here's a break down of the MovNat aptitudes and techniques (follow the links to MovNat YouTube channel for reference) that allowed me to overcome these obstacles in an effective and efficient manner:

Walking: Mudpit with duck unders - hinged walk & stepping under, spider weave - stepping over. Both of these obstacle required ducking under or stepping over horizontal bungees.  The manage them effectively you needed good balance and body control in akward postions.

Crawling: Hill climbs, tube slide, horizontal cargo nets #1 & #3, Mud Moguls - hand-foot crawl. I discovered that on horizontal cargo nets, crawling along the longitudinal lines was most efficient instead of trying to use the transverse lines as foot holds, keep the hand and feet on the intersections.  Also, crawling was used at times as the terrain became slippery and added points of contact increased traction and stability.

Four legs good, Two legs bad 

Four legs good, Two legs bad 

Climbing: Rope climb - jumping pull-up, 3-rope traverse - side power traverse, monkeybar traverse - front power traverse, rig traverse - front swing traverse, cargo net #2

Jumping/Vaulting: 4ft- 6ft- 8ft- walls - split jump - split landing - climb up -  tripod transition -depth jump, 16ft- wall climb, pole slide - depth jump.  I have found that step vault/tripod transition combination is the safest method for getting up and over these walls.  Having a controlled descent allows you to ensure that the landing is clear of other runners, rough ground, etc. 

Preparing for a Tripod Transition over a 4ft wall

Preparing for a Tripod Transition over a 4ft wall

Lifting/carrying: Tire flips - deadlift/clean , Tire drag , bucket carry - hand carry and wreckbag carry - shoulder carry

Balance: Balance Traverse - balancing hand-foot crawl.  This traverse would have been straight forward if it were dry, however the complexity was definitely high since it was wet, muddy and very slippery. Being able to adapt from a quiver of techniques on the fly is part of the beauty of MovNat. 

Not the best form, but effective at keeping me moving up the obstacle safely

Not the best form, but effective at keeping me moving up the obstacle safely

Crossing the finish line!

Crossing the finish line!

How did I do? I completed the course in 40:25, fast enough to be in the top 5 Open wave finishers in my age group. Not a bad performance for a first-timer.

A couple of additional observations:

What to wear? A friend recommended that you don't have anything baggy that would retain water as this would eventually become saturated and begin to as he put it "fall off".  So a set of quick drying compression shorts and shirt were a good choice. As to footwear, I prefer to wear minimalist type shoes, however the sole tread pattern on my Merrells would be quickly clogged and useless in the extremely muddy conditions of the race. I opted for a pair of inov-8 Muclaw 265. These have only a 3mm drop and great tread pattern that performed well in race conditions.   

Cold Plunges.  The first obstacle, a waist deep mud pit with duck unders, had a cold pool about 10 yards in length.  The tube slide and crawl also ended in a cold pool fully submerging you.  While not an unexpected obstacle, the cold plunge always surprises you.  Recently, I started to end my showers with a "cold plunge" of increasing duration.  This practice helped my adapt to this environmental demand with minimal disruption to my system.

While the past few months my training mainly was focused for the MovNat Level 2 Certification, I continued my training and conditioning in lead up to this event.  I was very surprised to be have  achieved a level of conscious and unconscious competence performing the above techniques during the race under the additional physical demand of running and increasing fatigue and the complex environmental demand of mud. 

What is next?

I have registered for the BattleFrog race on October 1st.  For the next month or so I will work specifically on my aerobic engine. I hope to increase my running capacity, both in terms of speed and endurance, the BattleFrog race is 8K.  Obviously, I will continue to practice MovNat techniques progressively increasing the volume, intensity and complexity  particularly under load.  

If you are in the Boulder area and would like to learn more, contact me and I can help you start your MovNat journey.  If you are interested in learning more where you live, find a MovNat Certified Trainer near you.  

Now get out there and move!