Zone 2 Training

[mtwarden]

After long mountain races you really want to just sit on the coach and lick your wounds, BUT 2-3 easy miles for a couple of days seems to significantly decrease soreness and facilitate recovery

 

[P Carter]

This is anecdotal, but I've done enough of these to be convinced. After a long trail run (20miles with 4-5k vert), I'll stay "on my feet" the rest of the day, walking up to another 4 miles as I go about chores, etc. I feel much better the following day than if I was lethargic after that hard workout.

Agree—if you eat 400 calories per hour during, and spend the rest of the day active, it’s a wholly different experience than eating <200 calories per hour and sitting on the couch after…

 

[plebe]

Simple formulas to get a good idea of the upper limit of zone 2:

MAF formula:

180- Age

Nose breathing test:
The max heart rate you can sustain for many minutes while breathing with only your nose.

I can nose breath exercising for an hour and more at 25-30bpm over my MAF number.

Anyone else have this problem?

Should I stick to MAF, or go with perceived effort (nose breathing/conversational output)? Or is lactate testing my only recourse?

 

[BBob]

I can nose breath exercising for an hour and more at 25-30bpm over my MAF number.

Anyone else have this problem?

Should I stick to MAF, or go with perceived effort (nose breathing/conversational output)? Or is lactate testing my only recourse?

That MAF formula is unreliable. I'm higher by 15BPM than the formula suggests. As you get fitter the number can climb even higher. Maffetone I believe only intended that number to be a starting point for self testing. Many years since I read his stuff but that's what I recall. I'd stick with the conversation test. If you do lab test make sure you ask for your aerobic as well as your lactate threshold.

 

[Cactus kid]

I can nose breath exercising for an hour and more at 25-30bpm over my MAF number.

Anyone else have this problem?

Should I stick to MAF, or go with perceived effort (nose breathing/conversational output)? Or is lactate testing my only recourse?

@BBob is correct in the MAF being a rough starting point. On a population level, MAF is accurate. On an individual it leaves a lot to desire.

The perceived effort it’s the metric I use. I’ve never had a lab test, but it is the gold standard.

 

[Poser]

I find that perceived effort is fairly simple to identify for zone 2 for the experienced trainee who is not particular concerned with competitive performance at a high level.

I do admit there may be some bias there due to the simplicity of zone 2 conditioning because, on the flipside, I find the concept of RPE (Rate of Perceived Effort) as it relates to strength training to be entirely absurd. You can't convince me that most any trainee, come the end of a hard week of training and after a crappy night's sleep, can go into the gym to squat and effectively distinguish between, say an RPE 7 and a RPE 8 in any meaningful and consistent manner. Rowing/Hiking/Running/Biking in an output where one can maintain conversational pace while still perceiving that they are effectively training zone 2 seems, by comparison, to be a more straightforward concept, but maybe that's not fair?

My point? If you're training to be in shape for hunting AND you're staying in shape year round, you're intuition about what is zone 2 and what is not, is probably sufficiently accurate if you do enough of it and your perspective is not entirely tainted by a heavy focus on anaerobic training (Crossfitters may have a difficult time keeping it in low gear, for examples, since everything they do is anaerobically full throttle all of the time).
If you're looking to put up some competitive times in an endurance race of some type it would certainly be worth investing the time and money ito accurate heart rates zones that are exclusive to you as an individual.

 

[Marbles]

Reviving an old thread here but I am just looking for some understanding on Zone 2. My MHR = 190 and my RHR = 51. Using online calculator that puts my zone 2 max around 148 bpm which makes sense to me. Using my Garmin though, it thinks my zone 2 max should be around 133 bpm which I think it too low based on exertion. I tried it today and did 45 minutes on the treadmill, basically walking at an 8% incline for 45 minutes, not exceeding 133 bpm to stay in the Garmin/treadmill indicated zone 2 (chest HR strap). Is this the right range for developing the aerobic capacity, or should I be pushing it more to the 148bpm? Staying at 133bpm as my limit means very little running for me as I usually am in the 140's.

I can nose breath and talk well into zone 3 (as measured by a heart rate drift test on a treadmill). Garmin places my zones too high. I can also hold lactate threshold for over an hour, so my anaerobic system is solid, enough to fool the perceived exertion signs.

Do the drift test or pay for a lab. The first time I tried the drift test I started at what I thought was zone 2 and stopped early because I was getting clost to zone 4 and already new I had over 10% drift. I'm seeing better results now and that slow pace is speeding up.

Updated Thinking on Aerobic Assessment for Mountain Athletes

Until recently, there were limited options for an endurance athlete to get a handle on his or her metabolic response to exercise at varying intensities. There are several good options, but we’ll start with the one we usually default to. Be aware that it requires serious technology, such as an...

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