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=Practical Advice =
My practical advice is that FaxMax training is worthwhile, but don't get hung up on the exact intensity. Instead of looking at heart rate zones, simply ensure you go slow enough that you can keep it up longer without feeling exhausted. The pace should be slow enough you can hold a conversation, which seems to be one of the best intensity metrics, even now with so much available technology. How long will depend on your fitness, but longer is better. Decades ago, coaches recommended "2-3 weekly interval sessions, a weekly long run, and as much low intensity as you can handle<ref name="Bowerman"/>", which still seems to be true.
=Tangent – Maffetone's MAF Method=
Philip Maffetone developed his "Maximum Aerobic Function" or MAF method<ref name="uMAF"/>. While this is based on similar concepts to FatMax, it uses exercise intensity based on an assumed [[Maximum Heart Rate]], which isn't valid. Calculating your Maximum Heart Rate from your age is like calculating your weight from your height. There's a corelation between height and weight, but no one would think that calculating weight from your height makes sense. The MAF subtracts your age from 180, then modifies the result. So, if you're 21, your MAF heart rate would be 159. If your true max HR is 214, that 150 would be 74% of max HR, but if your true max HR is only 164, it would be 97%! (A study of elite athletes showed a range of max heart rates between 164 and 214<ref name="x643"/>.)
=Tangent – Defining Intensity Levels=
When reading any research into FatMax, it's worth noting that studies typically define intensity as a percentage of [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]]. That's fine in a lab but doesn't help much in the real world. Often a percent of [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]] is assumed to be the same percentage of Heart Rate, but that's not quite true. To convert from %[[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]] to %HR isn't a simple one and doesn't work the same for all people. Really, we need to use a percentage of the reserve capacity<ref name="o235"/>. The well-known [[Heart Rate Reserve]] has a parallel with [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]] Reserve. If you can reasonably convert from a percentage of one reserve to the other. But too few research papers use the reserve numbers. Hopefully, this will change over time.
<ref name="o235">Joseph Lounana, Frederic Campion, Timothy D. Noakes, Jean Medelli, Relationship between %HRmax, %HR Reserve, %V˙O2max, and %V˙O2 Reserve in Elite Cyclists, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, volume 39, issue 2, date 2007, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0195-9131 0195-9131], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1249/01.mss.0000246996.63976.5f 10.1249/01.mss.0000246996.63976.5f], pages 350–357</ref>
<ref name="Bowerman">William J. Bowerman, Bill Bowerman's high-performance training for track and field, William Hardin Freeman, William J. Bowerman, date 2009, publisher Coaches Choice, isbn 978-1-60679-031-1, 3rd ed !!edition!!, location Monterey, CA</ref>
<ref name="x643">G. Whyte, K. George, R. Shave, N. Middleton, A. Nevill, Training Induced Changes in Maximum Heart Rate, International Journal of Sports Medicine, volume 29, issue 2, date 2008, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0172-4622 0172-4622], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-965783 10.1055/s-2007-965783], pages 129–133</ref>
<ref name="uMAF">Dr. Phil Maffetone, The MAF 180 Formula: Heart-rate monitoring for real aerobic training., Dr. Phil Maffetone !!website!!, date 2015-05-06, https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/, 2024-05-16 !!access-date!!</ref>
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