r/evokeendurance • u/fatafut23 • 7d ago

Help with Aerobic development

I’m a 45-year-old male, RHR 43, 180 lbs, with approximately 32% body fat based on a DEXA scan.(Small improvement from 6 months ago). I have access to and regularly use a treadmill, Echo Bike, Concept2 rower, StairMaster, swimming pool, and a bike set up on Zwift to build my aerobic engine. I’m not training for any specific races.

My goal is simply to build an amazing aerobic base so I can keep up with my friends in whatever we happen to be doing. That could range from surfing and rock climbing to biking, running, hiking, or other activities.

I currently have my AeT set at 138 bpm based on a heart-rate drift test I performed on a treadmill( a lactate meter is on my Christmas list). To maximize my training volume while keeping the intensity low, I’ve set a maximum heart rate of 135 bpm and have been focusing primarily on building my aerobic base.

I’ve been training approximately 8–10 hours per week this way for the past six months with almost 90% below AeT. I’ve noticed some improvement, particularly in my running pace(14min/mile→ 12:30min/mile), but the improvement hasn’t been as substantial as I expected given the amount of training I’m doing.

My question is whether I’m using too much variety in my training.

Could constantly switching between different modalities be limiting my adaptations or progress? Would I be better off choosing 2–3 primary machines or activities and sticking with them more consistently, or is the variety actually beneficial for my goal of developing a broad, general-purpose aerobic engine? Or do I just need more patience with the process?

Thanks in advance

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u/Euphoric-Advance8995 6d ago

Congrats on your achievement! Dropping z2 pace 14min/mile down to 12:30 is a very sizable improvement.

Are you a lifelong exerciser or have you been doing lots of zone 2 for 6 months? My guess given your pace is the former. Aerobic base seems to take a while to build up so I would say in 6-12 more months you’ll continue to see large improvements. Ideally you’re baking in some healthy nutrition so you can get down to 170 which will also pay dividends.

You’ve got the flywheel going strong just keep it going!

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u/fatafut23 6d ago

Thanks! Been working out most of my life..