“The Maffetone Method stresses simplicity and common sense. Once you learn a few commonly misunderstood concepts of exercise and diet, you’ll be well on your way. The most inexpensive and perhaps most successful workout device is the one you possess naturally: no machine will do more for you than you can do with your own body. Dramatic benefits from exercise can be attained by easy walking 30 minutes, five days a week. To do more, such as running a marathon, will require additional training, but never to the point of pain. …
The Maffetone Method will give you unlimited energy, make you burn more body fat, and improve the quality of your life—forever. It is based on a number of scientifically proven concepts known to few people other than exercise professionals. ‘No pain, no gain,’ while an intriguing advertising message and a temporarily effective exhortation from a high school varsity coach, is quite simply wrong. When you exercise strenuously, your body is programmed to burn less fat. To encourage your body to burn more fat all day long, you must keep your heart rate within certain target levels, the formula for which is simple. In fact, when you finish a workout, you should actually feel as if you could easily do it again.”
~ Philip Maffetone from The Maffetone Method
I was first introduced to Phil Maffetone in Christopher McDougall’s great book Natural Born Heroes. McDougall tells us that Maffetone had a huge impact in the athletic world then basically disappeared into hermit-mode (go hermits!). In his book, McDougall shares his challenges in tracking down this genius-hermit to tap into his unusual training methods.
We’ll talk about some of that wisdom in the Note. First… Have you ever heard of Mark Allen? If you’re a triathlete you know he’s a legend. For those who might not know, Allen won the Ironman world championships an unprecedented six times. Triathlete magazine voted him the greatest triathlete of all time.
You know his secret?
Maffetone.
Allen wrote the foreword to the book and attributes his success to following Maffetone’s method.
I’ve had the basic wisdom from Natural Born Heroes in my head since I read the book a couple years ago and started my casual training for Spartan Races. But, after recently running into a Spartan world champion (50+ age group) on my morning trail workout, I was inspired to take my training up a notch so I searched through the ol’ home library to find this book.
Written in 2000, the book is simultaneously old-school/dated and yet, somehow, still cutting-edge. Maffetone pioneered a lot of the whole fat-for-fuel wisdom that is now super popular and I enjoyed going to the source. If that sounds like fun, get a copy of the book here. (btw: Maffetone is considerably easier to find these days! Cruise on over to his site here.)
It’s packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share the basic framework of the Maffetone Method along with some wisdom you can apply to your life TODAY so let’s jump straight in!
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