WHAT IS ZONE 2 TRAINING
RUNNING
THE
ZONES
WHAT ARE THE ZONES? (% MAX HR)
1- 50-60% - You're barely moving 2- 60-70% - You can hold a conversation 3- 70-80% - [Nothing good happens here] 4- 80-90% - You can't talk, but can hold it 5- 90%+ - You're basically dying
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WHAT MAKES
ZONE 2 SO SPECIAL
ZONE 2: Higher threshold
Exercising at your Zone 2 heart rate helps increase your aerobic base & endurance. The ultimate impact is being able to run a sub-threshold pace for a longer period of time - making you faster over distance, despite trainign slower.
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ZONE 2: Lower heart rate
The other side effect of Z2 training is a lower overall heart rate. With a lower heart rate at a consistent effort, you can train harder/faster without leaving Z2. Getting even faster - at running slow - which also impacts top end speed.
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IS FASTER
BETTER?
If Zone 2 is good, isn't 3 better?
Short answer: No Long answer: Zone 3 is too hard to effectively recover day to day (because of lactic buildup) but isn't hard enough for physical adaptation. It's the dreaded grey zone where nothing happens.
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WHAT DOES PROGRESS LOOK LIKE?
Zone 2 Progress
You'll see progress either in: - Increased speed at similar heart rate - Decreased heart rate at similar speed
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THE
SHORT VERSION?
RUN SLOW TO
RUN FAST
GOT GOALS?
Check out our Marathon training plans for all different time goals - utilizing all of the methods you just learned about.