Roy Benson Training
Roy T. Benson, MPE, CFI, is an exercise scientist and distance-running coach. He has run competitively for more than 40 years, and he has coached professionally for 46 years for military, club, university, and high school teams. From 1993 to 2008, his boys’ and girls’ cross country teams at Marist High School in Atlanta, Georgia, won a total of 16 state championships and his cross country and track runners won 21 individual state titles.
Benson has been a consultant about heart rate training for both Polar and Nike and has written three books for runners on the subject. He also serves as a special contributor to Running Times magazine and has been a contributing editor for Running Journal magazine.
Related to Schul’s Igloi Method, the Heart Rate plays a major role in training. Heart Rate training is a step-by-step guide to optimizing performance. As you train, monitoring your heart rate can better monitor and track your progress, and improve over time, your heart will be able to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles faster and more effectively. This effort based training would focus on different stages of training based off a percent of effort of max oxygen uptake. These different percent’s of effort grows and helps recover the glycogen storage by burning fat as the primary fuel as well as preparing the muscles to transition from aerobic to anaerobic running.
Benson has been a consultant about heart rate training for both Polar and Nike and has written three books for runners on the subject. He also serves as a special contributor to Running Times magazine and has been a contributing editor for Running Journal magazine.
Related to Schul’s Igloi Method, the Heart Rate plays a major role in training. Heart Rate training is a step-by-step guide to optimizing performance. As you train, monitoring your heart rate can better monitor and track your progress, and improve over time, your heart will be able to deliver more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles faster and more effectively. This effort based training would focus on different stages of training based off a percent of effort of max oxygen uptake. These different percent’s of effort grows and helps recover the glycogen storage by burning fat as the primary fuel as well as preparing the muscles to transition from aerobic to anaerobic running.
The 4 Zones of Heart Rate Training
- Endurance (less than 75% of MHR) ::: the ability to travel from Point A to Point B no matter how much you have to slow down. This is the aerobic foundation zone for all athletic activity. In this zone you will burn the most fat, run without getting tired, and feel the best after you finish a workout. In a nut shell, it’s a nice and easy pace.
- Stamina (75-85% of MHR): the ability to go from Point A to Point B without slowing down. This is the best aerobic zone to be in while running an endurance race like a marathon, triathlon, or parts of an ultramarathon.
- Economy (85-95% of MHR): the ability to go at race pace while using the least amount of oxygen and energy. This is ideal for a faster pace during a shorter race (5k, 10k, or possibly a half marathon.)
- Speed (95-100% of MHR): the ability to go at top speeds for short periods of time. This is perfect for interval training. This is the final stage of training and is completely anaerobic exercise.
Every workout, whether easy or hard, and each competition, should begin with an active warm-up. Too many athletes jump through this preparatory phase of training. This prepares the body for the most efficient and safest workout possible. The warm-up increases fat-burning and circulation through the muscles, raises the lung capacity to increase oxygen uptake, improves flexibility, helps process carbon dioxide, and generally increases body temperature to signal other necessary metabolic actions that are very important.
Cooling down, or the shake out is vital too. It serves as the first stage of recovery from the workout. Even competition deserves some kind of cool-down to help start recovery, even if it’s just walking around the finish area. An active cool down sets the pace, so to speak, for the body’s recuperation process over the next 24 to 48 hours or more. This too is something we all want to take advantage of at the end of each workout.
Gradually raising the heart rate is important, this is why it is the center of attention in interval training.
For the Igloi Method, this is the heart. This stimulates all the nerves and contracts all the muscle fibers along the way as well.
Cooling down, or the shake out is vital too. It serves as the first stage of recovery from the workout. Even competition deserves some kind of cool-down to help start recovery, even if it’s just walking around the finish area. An active cool down sets the pace, so to speak, for the body’s recuperation process over the next 24 to 48 hours or more. This too is something we all want to take advantage of at the end of each workout.
Gradually raising the heart rate is important, this is why it is the center of attention in interval training.
For the Igloi Method, this is the heart. This stimulates all the nerves and contracts all the muscle fibers along the way as well.