Incorporating Zone 2 Cardio Into Weekly Plan -- How Do You Do It?

Maybe if they’re very fit and well-conditioned to running. For most people (myself included), it’s going to be more of a brisk walk. Say a 3-5% incline and 3.5-4 MPH.

Personally, I prefer something more total body if possible, because only the working muscles get the peripheral adaptations such as increased capillarization and general “recovery” from increased bloodflow.

30 minutes on the airdyne followed by 15 on the rower feels pretty good in this regard. My pace on the airdyne is usually around 3-3.5 minute miles, and on the rower its about 2:30-2:45 per 500 meters. At that pace I can stay very relaxed in my movements and maintain nasal breathing, which I think helps keep the intensity in check. I still regularly monitor my heart rate during these sessions though because it varies day by day.

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Seriously? It must be background, but these come a lot closer to heart attack territory for me than a slow run does. I’m impressed.

I’m definitely not impressive in this regard. I bet if you did them at the paces I listed you’d find it very manageable as well.

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I’ve actually been liking the Airdyne for this too. It’s the only piece of cardio equipment I have at home and so long as I keep my RPMs in the high 40s or low 50s I can stay within the range I’m targeting. There’s no way mentally that I could use the rower for this – I’m too mentally tied to the splits I used to pull and can still pull to go at the pace I’d need to for my heart rate to stay in my target range.

One I heard was of you are able to breath through your nose the whole time is zone 2.

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I think thats a pretty good guideline and personally ensure that I’m nasal breathing during my Zone 2. However, some people have structural issues that make this really difficult, and other people can train their ability to nasal breath at very high intensities so it doesn’t work as an intensity guage for everyone.

I did a 21 mile outdoor ride this morning and managed to keep my heart rate almost exclusively between 112 and 129 (80% or so of the ride). There are quite a few hills where I live and like to ride, so this required me to slow down a good bit on the hills from my usual pace. It was an interesting change to the way I’ve ridden outdoors and the ride over all took about 5-7 minutes longer than it normally would have.

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This sounds like an awesome way to start the day.

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I’ve continued reading about heart rate based training and came across the following formula for calculating heart rate zones:’

"1. 220 - Age = maximum heart rate (MHR)
2. MHR – Resting Heart Rate = Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)
3. Training Zone Calculated based on HRR by: Target %HR *HRR
4. Training Zone Calculation + RHR = Heart Rate Training Zone

Example: For a 32 year old athlete with a resting heart rate of 53: 220-32 = MHR of 188. 188-53 = 135. Mid-zone 3 would be 75% of MHR so 135 * .75 = 101. Then, to get 75% MRH, 101+53 = 154."

I wasn’t familiar with this formula before. It gives me a somewhat higher range for my Zone 2 work – 126 to 139 instead of the 112 to 129 range I was using. I like this formula better since it means I can push harder on the hills. But I don’t think I could pass the Zone 2 talk test at a heart rate of 135+ so I am probably going to stick with the range I was using and just try to get as much work as I can in the mid to upper 120s.

The most likely variable to mislead this formula is your max HR (188). Resting rate is easy to measure accuarately, especially with 24x7 sports watch readings. Max HR by age calculation is far less accurate - try flat out efforts to get an actual measured Max HR.
I have a problem since my Max HR is 20 lower (156) when age calculated compared to measured (175). This screws up the above model for me. Even worse if I use a % of age calculated max HR and 60-70% effort with no allowance for resting HR. Its about as hard as playing chess.

If I understand correctly, talk tests and RPE scales are “good enough” for these goals. @TrevorLPT what’s your experience?

What I have gathered from my reading is that using heart rate is a good way to get into the ballpark for Zone 2 but that needs to be balanced against the talk test and RPE. I also think most of us that are on a site like this are probably far more likely to go too hard than we are too easy. I too am curious what @TrevorLPT thinks.

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I don’t have experience doing any of the more sophisticated testing to accurately determine my Zone 2, but I think the talk test is good enough. Theres an exercise physiologist name Iñigo San-Millán whose area of research is the mitochondrial adaptations to Zone 2 cardio, and I suspect he has tested more people in his laboratory than any other person when it comes to this topic. His advice to the average person about how to find Zone 2 doesn’t rely on formulas. It’s essentially: “go hard enough that you could have a phone conversation, but the person on the other end would know you’re exercising”. I think especially if that puts you somewhere between 115 and 145, its probably about as right as you’re going to get without regular laboratory testing.

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Bingo. “Easier than you think” goes a long way with this stuff IMO.

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