When it comes to cardio, there are largely 2 schools of thought:
- Person A: All I do is run, run, run. Running is great. Running is all I do.
- Person B: Cardio sucks, my form of [sports, weight lifting, crossfit] is much better.
These two people actually have one thing in common, which is that neither person truly understands the effects of “cardio” on the body. Person A does it mainly out of habit (what they’re used to), and person B thinks their form of exercise is superior.
Truth of the matter is everyone would benefit from doing some form of cardio no matter who you are. And today we’ll explore why through this thing called “Zone 2 training.”
Learning about Zone 2 has radically changed my perspectively on “cardio,” and if you read til the end, it very well may change yours as well.
Table of Contents
- What is Zone 2?
- Benefits of Zone 2 Training
- How to Do Zone 2
- Couple Tips / Pointers
- Final Thoughts / Drawbacks
What is Zone 2?
Here’s what you are physically capable of (from easy to hard):
Green is where we spend the majority of our time. For most of us non-athletes, 90-99% of our life takes place here, whether that be at rest, walking, etc.
This is called your aerobic system.
Red is that rare moment in life where you’re going full throttle. Maybe you’re in the middle of a real intense workout. Or your flight to Miami is about to take off in 10 minutes and you’re sprinting like a madman questioning your life choices.
Either way, this is called your anaerobic system.
Now somewhere in the middle – where this switch happens from aerobic to anaerobic – is what some like to call “Zone 2.”1
It’s like this tipping point where your aerobic system is just about to switch over to your anaerobic system (but not quite).
Those of you who sprinted know that you can’t sprint forever, and therefore our anaerobic system has its limitations.
Therefore, Zone 2 ends up being this sweet spot where you’re still exercising pretty hard, but can keep up for a long time without feeling like you’re about to keel over.2
Benefits of Zone 2 Training
So that’s like great and all.
But what’s the significance of exercising in Zone 2?3
And it brings up an even better question:
Why even do “cardio” at all? (Aka how does it benefit me?)
I’ll tell you one, single reason why everyone should consider doing some form of cardio, regardless of who you are or where you’re from
Which all boils down to this guy:
The mitochondria.
From a distant memory in biology class, you may have a vague recollection that you have these guys living inside you right now (about 37 trillion of them in fact).
What does your mitochondria do?
Well, it takes 2 things:
Right now, this is exactly what your mitochondria is doing for you as you’re breathing in oxygen and converting it to energy. This is all happening to keep you alive without you even having to think about it.
Essentially, our mitochondria is essentially our guy doing all that aerobic work for us.
For this reason, healthy, well-functioning mitochondria is absolutely vital to your long term health. That’s actually so important it’s probably worth repeating: if you want to give yourself the best chance to live a long and healthy life, you need to make sure your mitochondria is healthy and being good at doing its job.
Additionally, our mitochondria are the only method we have for utilizing fat.4
That’s right – this means without our mitochondria our fat would just be sitting there unable to be utilized.
This is in fact what is seen in people with poor metabolic health and diabetic patients, they lose their capacity to utilize their fat and have to rely on glucose instead. Unsurprisingly, this contributes to visceral fat accumulation (which you really don’t want) and obesity.5
Ensuring your mitochondria is healthy prevents all that, and more importantly, decreases our chance from developing the chronic diseases of diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, etc.6
The idea is that you want to be the person who can access his/her fat stores when you need it for energy.
Zone 2 training then is essentially training your mitochondria to its maximum capacity.
Why? Because as we just defined, “Zone 2” is where aerobic is maxed out before anaerobic kicks in.
You can think of it like weight training for your muscles, except for your mitochondria (to increase in their number and efficiency).7 And yes, while other exercises will certainly stimulate the mitochondria as well, Zone 2 is better.8 Why? Because it’s MAXIMUM aerobic, bro.
And when you build up your mitochondria (and therefore a robust aerobic system), you reap some other pretty substantial benefits as well:
And literally anyone can do it. That’s right – whether you’re just a casual exerciser to being a world class cyclist9, it is available to anyone. Even if you haven’t stepped into a gym in years and are looking for a way to get back in shape – Zone 2 training is a great place to start.
Whether you’re in your teens or in your 70’s, the beauty is that everyone has their own unique zone 2 that they can improve upon to give themselves the best chance of living their best life.10
How to Do Zone 2
At this point you’re like
Okay maaaybe I’m *ever-so-slightly* interested in giving this a shot.
How would I even go about doing this, HM?
Glad you asked.
Here’s what you would do, step by step.
1. Decide on a modality of your choice.
2. Figure out your Zone 2.
Calculate the ballpark of where your Zone 2 heart rate may lie for you (keep in mind, this will slightly depend on your current fitness level).11
3. Try it out.
Just try it out for like 15-20 minutes. Keep your settings the same throughout the workout and have your heart rate stay as consistently as possible to the one you just calculated. This may require some tinkering in the beginning, but you will soon quickly realize that it is actually pretty easy to do.
You can try this 2-3 times a week, slowly increasing your duration to 30 minutes (still easy). Eventually, you will get used to it, and if you’re ambitious, hopefully reach the recommended minimum effective dose (for health benefits) of 3 hours per week, ideally split 45 mins x 4 days.12
Couple Tips / Pointers
Now here are a couple tips to help you out so that you don’t have to troubleshoot (and save you some time):
1) The “Talk Test”
If you don’t have a wearable (ex. smart watch) that can tell you your heart rate in real time, you can simply consider holding onto the heart rate monitor that most cardio machines have attached.
But I’ll tell you an even more accurate method of knowing if you’re in Zone 2 that doesn’t have to rely on your heart rate.
It’s known as the “talk test,” where essentially you gauge for yourself if you can do the following:
You’re able to talk (if you had to), but you don’t really want to.
If you can’t hold a conversation at all, then you’re likely going too fast (Zone 3). If you feel like you can be a chatty Cathy no problem, then you can likely kick it up a notch (Zone 1).13
Tinker with your settings and find that sweet spot for yourself, and maintain that “I can talk, but don’t really want to” pace for the duration of the exercise.14
2) Utilize your favorite TV Show / Podcast
There is just one slight drawback to Zone 2 training:
It can feel boring (and long) AF.
Not only is the exercise already 30-45 minutes long, but you have to almost show the discipline NOT to go fast (because remember: you can go faster by tapping into your anaerobic). And no matter who you are, you’re probably busy AF – it’s going to feel nearly impossible to spare any time towards Zone 2 training.
So may I suggest the following:
Put on your favorite TV show or podcast in the background (especially something you would normally watch) to allow you to pass the time.
And the reason is simple: if you already have a favorite tv show right now, why not watch it while burning some calories? It will be an easy way to get your exercise in for the day, and you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone (not literally of course).
I guarantee Zone 2 is easy enough where you can still watch your favorite show or podcast, and the time will likely just fly by. And before you know it – voila! Your Zone 2 will be done. Personally, I listen to podcasts that I would already be listening to during my spare time, but I wait until my Zone 2 workouts, which makes me look forward to them every time.15
So plan your form of entertainment ahead of time and look forward to it during your Zone 2.
Final Thoughts
Admittedly, I used to be one of those people that completely neglected “cardio.”
But you don’t understand. I HATED running. Like absolutely detested it growing up.
So I became the stereotypical dude who showed up at the gym 4-5 times a week lifting weights, but no cardio. This in itself wasn’t bad per se, but what was perhaps unhealthy was my mentality around “cardio” – that it was this inferior form of exercise that could also potentially interfere with muscle growth.16
In reality, both strength and cardiorespiratory fitness is important for health. What I didn’t realize throughout those years was just how deficient I was in the cardiorespiratory department.
So I started on this Zone 2 journey about 2 years ago, while currently being on a 4x lifting + 4x Zone 2 per week schedule on alternating days (with 1 day of overlap).
It has been remarkable how my Zone 2 and therefore my aerobic system get “stronger” over the years:
More importantly, I just feel much more well-rounded in my overall fitness, as well as just have that feeling of “I feel good.”
It’s why my perspective on “cardio” has changed and highly recommend you try it out as well.
Lastly, there’s one great thing about Zone 2:
It’s easy.
As life gets more complicated riddled with more responsibilities, it’s nice to just have a workout where you don’t need to think twice about as long as you just show up.
And it perhaps teaches this rather important life lesson:
You don’t always have to go fast or hard all the time.
There is value in finding what is sustainable for the next 10, 20, 30 years..
So feel free to give it a shot and let me know how it goes! (Also feel free to recommend me any new good tv shows lately.)
