The MAS is a personal indicator that helps you work out your ideal running pace. Find out how to calculate your MAS
Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) is a vital indicator when it comes to running. Calculating this can help you find your comfort zone for jogging and predict your time for a sport challenge. These tips will show you how to calculate your MAS. This is a personal indicator specific to every runner.
The initials MAS stand for Maximum Aerobic Speed. What does aerobic mean? Aerobic indicates the quantity of air in your body. When you run, your body uses oxygen as its main energy source. Once you reach a certain speed, the body hits the maximum quantity of air it can distribute to the muscles. This maximum aerobic speed, where your body reaches its maximum oxygen consumption, is your MAS.
Your maximum speed is your peak speed. You reach this speed during a very short period in a 100 m sprint. Your MAS is an indicator of endurance. You can keep this speed up for several minutes running at a constant rate
MAS is often used in running to gauge your level of fitness. It can help you know your body, to discover at what speed you can run during a jogging session and the pace you can train at in a speed session.
It will also help you predict your time over a 10k, half-marathon or marathon in advance.
If you are just taking up running, it can still be interesting to calculate this indicator to find your ideal running pace and actually enjoy yourself. It can also help you to:
- Identify your current level
- Find a comfortable jogging pace. (55-70% of your MAS)
Calculating your MAS will allow you to do MAS sessions (or speed sessions). These are excellent general body maintenance and toning workouts.
Determine your potential for progress
Determine the speed you can train at and work on your stride
- Choose the right running pace for race day
- Set the right time target with a training plan tailored to your physical condition
Basically, when it comes to running, if you go too fast, you risk injury, while if you go too slowly, you might lose motivation or get bored. By finding the right pace, you will feel more comfortable and be keen to carry on running.
For beginners, finding your pace can help you get a taste for running. If you are running at between 55 and 70% of your MAS, your body will be able to assimilate each session comfortably. It will recover quickly and you will be craving more!
If you are used to running, calculating your MAS will be an extra source of motivation, a point of reference you can rely on. Your MAS is your starting average speed, which you can improve through training.
It also helps you avoir overtraining. Running at over 75% of your MAS at each session is not a good idea. Since this pace causes fatigue, your body may struggle to recover. It is important to vary the type of session and do a recovery session at below 70% of MAS between intense sessions.
There are several ways of calculating your MAS. Either by recovering data from your latest running sessions and entering them into an MAS calculator. You will then obtain a purely theoretical estimate of your MAS. Or, alternatively, 'shoes-on' MAS tests which are generally carried out on an athletics track or open road, with the aid of a smartphone/GPS watch. These are also estimates of your MAS but carried out in the field and with a good level of reliability. The two best known and most reliable MAS tests are the VAMEVAL test and the half-cooper test.
You can quickly estimate your MAS with an MAS calculator. This is the fastest method, since you can do it at home without even putting on your shoes. To do so, you need two pieces of information: the time and distance covered in a running session. Since the MAS is an aerobic maximum speed indicator, you will need to have run at 100% capacity during this session.
This is why, in general, we recommend taking data from a stopwatch, i.e. a 10k, half-marathon or marathon competition time. In a race, you are often at 100% of your breathing capacity.
Remember that if you take data from a race run several years ago, the MAS you obtain may not been up to date. By way of illustration, high-level athletes calculate their MAS every 3 weeks! We therefore recommend that you use the short-term MAS calculator to give you an idea, while you then organise a 'shoes-on' MAS test to confirm these data.
The most accurate and scientific method for measuring your MAS is visiting a medical sport centre. With a mask and electrodes, a doctor will ask you to run on a treadmill and measure your oxygen consumption and heart rate in real time.
This method requires equipment and a certain level of logistics, which generally comes at a cost. In addition, it does not reproduce all the real conditions of a race. This is why the simplest tests to implement and which can be carried out in the field have been developed by athletics coaches.
The two tests found most commonly are the VAMEVAL test and the Half-Cooper test for their reliability and ease of execution.
To carry out these tests, the ideal solution is to wear a GPS running watch.
VAMEVAL is a gradual speed test. You start at 8 km/h and increase your speed by 0.5 km/h per minute. Read our detailed article to see how a VAMEVAL test is carried out.
The test ends quite simply when you can no longer keep up with the pace.
The final stage where you stop your test indicates your MAS.
The main advantage of the VAMEVAL test is acceleration in stages, which enables better management of possible effort. This is why this test has such a reputation for reliability.
It is available free of charge on the Decathlon Coach application.
The Half-Cooper test is a continuous speed test. You run at a fast pace that you keep up for 6 minutes. It is important that you already have an idea of your running pace, to predict the average speed you will need to run during the 6 minutes of the test. Our range of tips for the Half-Cooper test.
At the end of this À la fin the test, the total distance covered is taken in km and then multiplied by 10.
For example: 1.35 km covered in 6 minutes = 1.35 x 10 = MAS of 13.5 km/h. The Half-Cooper test is also available on the Decathlon Coach application.
Your MAS depends on a number of parameters (sex, age, genes, training and physical condition in the main).
It indicates your level of fitness at the time of the test and makes it possible to observe your evolution over time. It is therefore a personal indicator.
If you are getting back into sport, your physical condition will progress through practice.
Once you have calculated your MAS, you will have a starting point for your running, a benchmark to optimise your practice.
If you want to increase your average running speed and endurance, this mainly requires increasing your respiratory capacity. What is the best way of improving my respiratory capacity? Doing MAS sessions, more commonly known as 'interval training'.
Be careful not to confuse your MAS test with an MAS session.
The MAS test session will enable you to calculate your MAS (Half-Cooper or VAMEVAL)
- An MAS session is a training session whose goal is to increase your running respiratory capacity.
An MAS session is therefore a high-intensity session with changes in pace.
During this session, you switch between intense effort to raise your heart rate and gentle effort to let your body recover, with a certain number of repetitions.
There are several ways of working on your MAS:
- running on a track with a stopwatch
- running on a mountain trail
- running in town with height gain
- doing fartlek, the Scandinavian method for making progress whole having fun…
Discover the different ways of improving your running speed in our detailed article on different MAS sessions.
If you are running mainly for pleasure and sensations, using MAS sessions will help you discover new paces at which you might not necessarily have run. For example, following an MAS programme will boost your stride, making it more aerial and, in the end, improving your running sensations.
If you have been running regularly and for a long time, MAS sessions can help you vary your efforts and break up the monotony of training. Calculating your MAS regularly will also help you monitor the evolution of your practice. Lastly, if you are running for competition and against the clock, MAS sessions are vital for improving your personal records.
If you are an experienced runner or competitor, starting an MAS cycle will enable you to increase your base speed by boosting your respiratory capacity and strengthening your muscles.
A running and cycling enthusiast, I was asking myself the same questions as you about MAS, starting with running! Together with coach Jérôme Sordello, holder of a Specialised Higher Diploma in 'Physical Preparation and Management of Sport Teams', we are here to answer all your questions about the MAS in a series of 4 articles.
