Hmmm, I hadn't really thought of Zone 2 endurance. I do cardio 3 times a week, one is the 5K which I am a bucket of sweat afterwards. On the other days I tend to use the elliptical or rowing machine. The elliptical is less intense than the treadmill but I am usually sweating a bit at the end of the 20 minutes, and rowing I tend not to put much effort into and didn't feel like I was getting much out of.
I reckon I could fit some in though, especially just walking around the city for fun - I just literally never considered it before now.
I had a decent 5km run time in zone 4 but I could not believe how hard it was to be efficient in zone 2
Just to make sure I'm understanding correctly... Zone 4 is around 100% of your maximum heart rate... but Zone 2 is a much easier pace right? You're doing cardio at a pace you could carry on a conversation? Wouldn't it be easier to be efficient at Zone 2 than Zone 4? Or have I misunderstood completely?
Wouldn't it be easier to be efficient at Zone 2 than Zone 4
It is definitely felt easier in zone 2 but I just could not move very fast with out my heart rate climbing out of zone 2. After weeks of trying I can move faster with a low zone 2 heart rate but there is still so much room for improvement. They reckon the elites can run 4 and half minutes kilometres with there heart rate in there easy zone 2.
Previously all my workouts ended up in a high zone, I struggled to recover and was injured all the time.
I tried it this morning and really struggled.
I was initially aiming for a BPM of 146, but that didn't feel sustainable so tried for a BPM of 136 but I couldn't seem to really hit it, I would either be 130 or 140. I only went for 20 minutes instead of an hour because I was pretty out of breath. Normally I'm at about 165 for 20 minutes and dead afterwards.
I'm going to try again later today and play with the elliptical settings a bit more to see if I can hit and maintain around 135.
I took me 2 weeks to get the hang of low rate running on the flat. I had tried before and given up.
This comment above was really helpful... I was going into it with the mindset of being perfect right away instead of building up to it. This morning I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at a setting that I thought was too low... but eventually my heart rate got up to the 135-140 mark I was aiming for... so I'll let myself take a couple of weeks to get up to an hour at 145. Thank you!
That is pretty much it, my understanding from my garmin and Dr phil maffeton's book is
zone 5 max sprint, can only hold for 3 mins. 220 bpm minus your age as a rough guide.
zone 4 threshold (my 5km pace).
zone 3 (my marathon pace).
zone 2 easy, fat burning should be able to go all day, 180 bpm minus your age plus 10 if your fit.
zone 1 warm up, cool down
I think there are lots of slightly different % depending who your taking to but they are all roughly the same.
They like to say zone 2 is the base of your fitness pyramid.
your walking around town might only be zone 1
Yeah, I was thinking about it later... walking around town has lots of stops and starts at traffic lights so it might not be good enough... but I could easily spend time on a treadmill listening to a podcast or watching a show. I'll start it tomorrow and try to get it in 3 times a week.
I play do splinterlands battles on my indoor bike set up !LOL
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