Most triathletes have no doubt heard about the legendary Mark Allen and his six Hawaii
Ironman victories. His training methods and spirituality are also well known
within the greater endurance sport community, with low heart rate training
being the backbone of his approach.
But where did this method come from?
Back in the early 1980s, an East Coast holistic practitioner and
marathoner named Phil Maffetone began working with a young Mark Allen,
gradually extending his practice to other professional and recreational
athletes with amazing results. Phil’s “train slow to race fast” philosophy
gained momentum in the endurance sporting world, yet this mantra is only a
snapshot into his holistic approach to athletics and to life in general. One of
the upsides of his approach is that it is refreshingly simplistic; many
aspiring athletes of today lead an over-complicated existence, which often
stunts their growth thus limiting their actual potential.
Phil certainly has quite an eclectic range of skills and interests, be it
coaching world class athletes, healing sports injuries, writing and more
recently as a singer/songwriter. He also maintains a comprehensive website containing regular essays
and yarns from his life-long experience in his chosen field.
Phil kindly agreed to answer my questions about his background and
philosophies.
Nature Gym: Phil, could you give us a background into your work as a
holistic practitioner and later as a highly sought after endurance coach and
advisor?
Phil Maffetone: Even before I got
to college, growing up in the 1960s in New York, natural living and being
holistic was something I gravitated to early—or perhaps I should say it seemed
always to be with me. Studying Eastern philosophy, natural medicine and other
innate things ultimately led me to more traditional training in anatomy,
physiology, and the sciences, along with detailed studies in Chinese medicine,
nutrition, kinesiology and other complementary subjects. Being an athlete,
sports medicine was an important topic of study, and eventually I opened my own
clinic.
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| Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Maffetone |
When I first started seeing
athletes with various injuries, it was clear that their training, and, quite
often, other areas of their lives, was very much related to their main
complaints. So looking at their training to make appropriate adjustments to
avoid injuries became a necessity.
What began as a small local
practice with joggers and runners turned into an international venture, working
with professional and amateur athletes in virtually all sport.
NG: While
your work with Mark Allen is well known, you also advised many other top
athletes back in the 1990s. How did you manage to convert Mike Pigg to your
aerobic and fat-burning philosophy given that he was known as one of
triathlon’s hardest workers ever?
PM: Like many athletes who
initially came to see me, Mike was overtrained and hurting. He was also ready
to retire. Realizing he could not go on training the only way he knew, Mike was
ready to hear about other options. He was willing to try a different approach,
but I suspected for only a short time. Fortunately, by training slower and
eating better, he quickly started feeling better. But he still wondered if this
was going to truly help him at a high level of competition. After a few months
of slow training, his first race was a success—not only winning, but beating
Mark Allen. At that moment I had his full attention.
NG: Could
you give some insight into working with Mike during that period and how his
training/racing approach subsequently evolved?
PM: Mike was a lot of fun to work
with, even though he questioned everything I recommended. He not only wanted to
get healthier, but get back to the top. And he wanted to learn. Like everyone
else I worked with, I treated Mike like a unique individual, whose training,
dietary and racing needs specifically had to match his body and brain. Most
importantly, he learned the necessity of self-assessment. Every 3-4 weeks he
would go to the track and perform an MAF test—running at his aerobic training
heart rate. If his pace was faster than the previous test, we knew all was
going well. Racing was also a test of sorts, and as he raced better, and
started having more fun again, but without abusing his body. And, he also got
healthier. Today, Mike still works out but doesn’t race. He does some coaching
following a very similar philosophy.
NG: Having
been involved with the coaching of triathletes since the early 1980s, what
changes have you seen with regards to training and lifestyle of athletes
compared to today? Have there been improvements, or is overtraining still rife?
PM: I began working with Mark Allen
in 1983, but before that with a number of other triathletes beginning in the
late 1970s. It was a very exciting and unique sport to be a part of from a
coaching standpoint, and even participating in. I was already working with
runners, cyclists, swimmers and other athletes, but now, to have one athlete
who must excel at three endurance sports was a wonderful challenge.
Obviously, many things have changed
in the thirty-plus years since
Overtraining may be worse now than
in the early years of the sport, as there appears to be more physical and
metabolic injuries. Physical injuries are well known, and, unfortunately, not a
lot of people are without them. These include knee, back, hip and other joint
and muscle problems. Barring trauma, such a bike crash, a physical injury is
usually indicative of something gone wrong—in training or diet, with stress or
hormones, or, as is most often the case, a combination of imbalances.
Chemical, or metabolic injuries
include fatigue, depression, or chronic illness (such as frequent colds or
allergies). These kinds of problems are also often associated with
overtraining. Perhaps the biggest difference today compared to 30 years ago is
there are more over-fat athletes, and at all levels of competition.
There also appears to be more
unhealthy athletes now. A recent study of Olympic athletes, for example, found
triathletes to have the highest levels of asthma (~25%).
NG: How
do you define the term “holistic” when it comes to athletics? Have you ever
encountered a truly “holistic" athlete?
PM: The term holistic is not well defined, and has been abused and misused for
decades. Much like the word natural,
it’s often used to impress others, lure consumers or to help people feel
comfort, especially when selling a product or service.
I define holistic as the understanding that everything in life
affects us—the food we eat, our physical activity, society, and all aspects of
our environment. And it’s the knowledge that we have control of these factors
to the extent that, by managing it well we can significantly influence our
brain and body in a positive way. In other words, with very few exceptions, we
are in charge of our health and fitness.
Being
holistic is striving to achieve optimal balance in all we do, all the time.
Humans have evolved as part of the whole environment, so we also must maintain
a healthy world—all of our surroundings in the living environment, including
the air we breathe, what we sense, see, feel, smell and hear.
For
athletes, the same applies. In addition, striving to reach ones athletic
potential is a key part of being holistic.
But
holistic is not a black and white thing, so I can’t say that a particular
athlete is or is not holistic. I think Mark Allen was the best example of an
athlete who was dedicated to being as holistic as anyone can be.
NG: A hypothetical question for you: if an athlete were to develop a
calcaneal bursa on the back of their heel, would this be due to overuse of the
calf or soleus muscle due to the athlete’s excessive hill running or an
imbalance of the posture?
PM: It’s not possible to even speculate on this
or any other sign or symptom in an athlete, without thoroughly evaluating him
or her. But I’ll play along, hypothetically.
Anything can cause anything—the body’s complex
mechanisms of compensating for even minor imbalances, pain or mechanical
deviations from normal is incredible and can produce a whole set of other
problems. I will say that in my experience, most mechanical injuries in
endurance athletes are due to muscle imbalance. This causes other physical
strain on joints, ligaments, tendons, other muscles, and bones, producing
secondary symptoms. One reason conditions become chronic is that the cause of
ones injury is never found and treated—most remedies today, unfortunately, are
symptom-oriented.
Muscle imbalance often is the result of improper
and or overtraining, the wrong shoes, reductions in health, or other reasons.
NG: You are an advocate of strength training for performance and general
wellbeing, but not in the conventional sense. Could you describe your approach
to strength training and how athletes of all levels can incorporate it into
their everyday lives?
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| Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Maffetone |
PM: Many of today’s strength training approaches
can impair aerobic fitness and endurance because of the stress they create.
Stress is associated with hormonal changes in the body, such as elevated levels
of cortisol, which have negative effects throughout the body. This is a complex
subject and I can only briefly mention some of the important aspects here, but
one problem with traditional gym workouts for strength is that the specific
exercise, each set, is done to fatigue. While this increases muscle strength,
it also builds bulk, and for the endurance athlete the added body weight is
counterproductive. Think of the Olympic weight lifter who is very strong but
not as bulky as the body builder with big muscles (and much less strength).
Lower reps (maxing out around six reps, which is
about 80% of ones max power for that weight), and resting sufficiently between
sets (at least two preferable three minutes or more) can accomplish this feat.
In addition to muscle, the proper weight workout
should also strengthen bones. By not lifting to fatigue, you’ll get bone and
muscle strength without added bulk or impairing aerobic/endurance function.
NG: What are your thoughts on the recent emergence of “barefoot” or
“minimalist” running, given that you were one its original proponents over two decades
ago. Is it a fad, or do you see any longevity in this emerging industry?
PM: Part of the problem is the mass hype
generated by the companies that sell these so-called barefoot or minimalist
shoes. Just the notion of a barefoot shoe is silly. And, most of the minimalist
shoes I’ve seen are nowhere near minimal. My hope is that consumers will
realize the harm of most shoes and stop buying them. There are plenty of good
shoes out there, but harder to find in the jungle of junk shoes.
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| Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Maffetone |
NG: Muscle flexibility and endurance sports has long been a topic of
heated debate, with many athletes practicing yoga and/or extensive stretching
programs, whilst others do not perform any sort of flexibility component. What
are your thoughts on this subject?
PM: The scientific research is finally catching
up with the clinical knowledge that stretching is not only unnecessary for
proper flexibility, but is a source of potential harm. Certainly, there’s much
less stretching going on in the endurance world today than years ago.
One problem with many athletes is that
stretching causes or maintains muscle imbalance (defined as the combination of
a muscle that’s too tight and one that’s too long or overstretched). In
addition, an active warm up (walking or slowly running or biking) can
significantly improve flexibility.
The actions of running, cycling, swimming and
other endurance activities don’t require the extreme flexibility needed in
sports such as gymnastics. Yet many endurance athletes try to achieve that
level of flexibility. Injuries most often occur in muscles and joints that are
either inflexible, or too flexible.
NG: You are the author of several books and your frequent essays that
appear on your website are highly informative and enjoyable to read. How do you
manage to come up with so many ideas for your blog articles? Do you find that
your writing is rather therapeutic?
PM: Thanks and two interesting questions. I
think after all the years of writing (now nearly 40) I’m finally getting good
at it, creating my own unique style and voice. This makes writing very
enjoyable, and perhaps for the first time. I could see how this could also be
therapeutic. Writing is an extension of my desire to help people, which I did
for so many years in my clinic. Being able to explain complicated issues or
topics most people are unaware of is a challenge and can be very rewarding.
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| Photo courtesy of Dr. Phil Maffetone |
I’ve never had a problem coming up with topics
to discuss, there’s always something new to write about. I read the
scientific/medical research nearly everyday, trying to keep up to date with the
latest studies being published in hundreds of journals. In addition, I receive
many questions from athletes via my website, which I often can’t answer due to
time, but this feedback provides ideas for articles too.
NG: Are you still an active athlete? What kind of fitness regimen do you
keep these days?
PM: I am very active, working out almost
everyday. The workouts vary with the time of year, weather, what I’m feeling,
and the other things. Throughout the year I do two or more daily workouts that
might include biking, hiking, running, and swimming. If I’m not performing
natural Paleo-type physical work outside (building fences, lifting large
stones, cutting fire wood, etc.) I do an indoor weight workout as I described
above. I no longer compete, so my workouts are less structured and more
intuitive. So I often don’t know how far I go, the pace or even the time.
