Mountain fitness for Dad

[beachbunny]

doing this for your dad,very cool ,i remember when my dad could not make it up a mountain in the himalayas,he couldnt make it ,so i stopped also, it wasn't all that important to me without him

 

[McKolorado]

The other pro for MAF is the aerobic capacity you build with it will allow you to train with more intensity/volume on your other training days. MAF is a simple progressive overload that requires little recovery. It's really the main benefit of it. If your dad is a 20 minute mile hiker at his MAF hr today he will be a 15 minute mile hiker at his MAF hr by November. I wish I would've known of this training style in my twenties because I went through several of the programs listed my mckolorado from the MTI company and they created a lot of imbalance and have poor coaching in technique and doesn't really have a great grasp on how to build programs. Don't get me wrong, I was in excellent shape but the long term cost to my joints was pretty high. My physical therapist was shocked at the programming from MTI and said he could see why my back and hips are 20 years older than my age group. I follow the stamina and apex programming from SOFLETE which has been great for me in conjunction with physical therapy. I drank the Kool Aid from MTI for about 10 years. Im no novice in the training realm and have been a Wildland Firefighter for almost 20 years. Anyways I'll get off my soapbox

You make a lot of good points. I'm glad to have your perspective on the MTI stuff. For what it's worth I have had some "concern" that the MTI programming is "overkill" and I have had to modify it minimally because of this. I do still appreciate a lot about their straightforward no nonsense approach and still stand by the fact that I am in better shape now than I have ever been (although this sounds like it was true for you as well). Again, glad to hear your perspective on it.

I definitely can get behind the MAF training and agree that any amount that he can do will be beneficial. I think what I was trying to bring to the conversation is that while yes, any MAF training will be beneficial, it's not a magic bullet and without longer MAF sessions over time his "range/mileage" while easier and faster will still be limited in total mileage. Hopefully that makes a little sense.

Always trying to get better and be better.

 

[VAelkhuntr]

Sounds like we're on the same page.

The big issue with MTI is programming high volume to movements that are meant to be more low volume. Example is high volume sandbag get ups that are coached as lay down and stand up for say like 80 reps for time. You could get the same stimulus from doing about 25-30 strict good form get ups with little risk of injury wear/tear. I don't think you'll ever get hurt while doing their programming, but your longevity in regards to your joints will pay the price. I think if you are into doing their general fitness programs they are fine but I would avoid their sport specific stuff. I use SOFLETE now and it has been great for me. They have sport specific programs but I just try to be a generalist these days and it has been a good call for me. I may not be the fastest hiker but I can maintain a pretty good pace and can go do it any day of the year.

 

[VAelkhuntr]

Sounds like we're on the same page.

The big issue with MTI is programming high volume to movements that are meant to be more low volume. Example is high volume sandbag get ups that are coached as lay down and stand up for say like 80 reps for time. You could get the same stimulus from doing about 25-30 strict good form get ups with little risk of injury wear/tear. I don't think you'll ever get hurt while doing their programming, but your longevity in regards to your joints will pay the price. I think if you are into doing their general fitness programs they are fine but I would avoid their sport specific stuff. I use SOFLETE now and it has been great for me. They have sport specific programs but I just try to be a generalist these days and it has been a good call for me. I may not be the fastest hiker but I can maintain a pretty good pace and can go do it any day of the year.

I will say their leg blaster and quadzilla complexes are second to none for eccentric endurance though. I still do those on a regular basis.