Fitness & running writer at Allin
Training, running and body metrics
Aisha writes about training, running and the numbers behind fitness. A lifelong runner, she turns body metrics and pace math into practical training decisions.
Aisha names the equation behind every number — its author and its year — because the published formulas for pace, body composition and training load disagree with one another. A reader who knows which one produced a figure can tell an estimate from a measurement, which is the whole difference on this subject.
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· 5 min read
Run as far as you can in twelve minutes, then read the distance against your age and sex. The same number also converts straight into an estimated VO2 max — here is the table and the formula.
· 7 min read
Best 8 of your last 20 score differentials, averaged, and no 0.96 multiplier — that disappeared in 2020. Here is the full chain from a gross 92 to a Course Handicap of 17, with the numbers worked out.
· 4 min read
A 176 lb man benching 220 lb is intermediate, not strong. Here are the usual bodyweight multiples for bench, squat and deadlift, and why the labels mislead more often than they help.
· 5 min read
Use the Riegel formula to predict your half marathon time from a recent 5K or 10K, then turn that estimate into a realistic race-day pace with a smart pacing plan.
· 4 min read
How many calories does swimming burn? Learn the MET-based formula, typical MET values for freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly, and how weight and effort change the total.
· 4 min read
The 10% rule says to raise your weekly running mileage by no more than 10% at a time. Learn why it works, when to break it, and how to plan safe progression.
· 4 min read
Use the Wilks coefficient to compare powerlifting totals fairly across bodyweights, so a lighter and heavier lifter can be ranked.
· 3 min read
What VO2max measures, how it ranges by age and sex in ml/kg/min, and the training that raises it.
· 4 min read
How to convert between running pace in minutes per mile and speed in miles per hour, with the exact formulas.
· 4 min read
Turn your FTP into the seven Coggan training zones, each a percentage of threshold power, to guide every ride.
· 4 min read
Set a 300–500 kcal daily deficit to lose fat at a safe, sustainable rate while keeping muscle and training quality.
· 3 min read
To build muscle, aim for about 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. Learn how to hit that target, spread it across meals, and time it around training.
· 3 min read
FTP is the highest power in watts you can hold for about an hour. Learn how to test it, why watts per kilogram matters, and how it guides training zones.
· 3 min read
Turn a marathon goal time into a pace per mile and hold even splits. Learn the math, the pacing strategy, and how to check your target is realistic.
· 3 min read
MET values let you estimate calories burned for any activity. Learn the formula — MET × 3.5 × kg ÷ 200 × minutes — and typical MET values for common exercises.
· 3 min read
10,000 steps works out to roughly 4 to 5 miles for most people. Learn how stride length turns steps into distance, and how many calories the walk burns.
· 14 min read
There is a standard behind two-person, and its berth is 24 inches wide. Divide real floor plans by their occupants, compare the result with a sleeping pad, then compute how much of a quoted peak height actually exists: in a straight-sided A-frame, sitting height covers 18 per cent of the floor width.
· 14 min read
The numbers on a sleeping bag come from ISO 23537-1, which publishes four figures and lets retailers print one. The standard measures a heated manikin's heat loss — so it measures insulation, and its own test mat is R 4.8. Put the same bag on an R 1.5 pad and the heat leaving through your back more than triples.
· 14 min read
A published walking-energetics equation turns body mass, pack weight, speed and terrain into a daily calorie figure. But calories are not what you carry — mass is. Work the arithmetic and the planning number stops being calories per day and becomes calories per ounce.
· 17 min read
Every zone scheme is a set of percentages of some anchor, and the anchor is the whole argument. One runner, three published schemes: the ceiling of easy aerobic work lands at 131, 141 or 150 bpm. And if the anchor is 220 minus age, a two-standard-deviation error moves one boundary by 30 bpm.
· 4 min read
Percentage-based training scales every lift to your one-rep max. Learn the strength and hypertrophy zones and how to set your working weights.
· 3 min read
Watts per kilogram is the number that decides who climbs fastest. Learn how W/kg works, what it means for FTP and how to improve it.
· 3 min read
Learn how to estimate your maximum heart rate, use the Karvonen formula and train in the right zones so every session hits its intended intensity.
· 4 min read
Batting average is hits divided by at-bats. Learn how to calculate it, why a .300 hitter is excellent and what counts as an at-bat in baseball.