Zone 2 Cardio:
5 mins >3 hours, pick your modality and duration
Start with as little as 5 or 10 minutes.
Try to add around 10% each week.
If 5 minutes at Z2 is too much, start with holding Zone 1 for 5 or 10 minutes.
Feel free to start out at zone 2, then drop down into zone 1 or even lower if you need to.
If you have one, use a heart rate monitor. We suggest you increase volume or intensity by no more than 10% per week.
Find zone 2 by using this formula:
(220- your age) x 0.6 for the bottom of zone 2
(220- your age) x 0.7 for the top of zone 2
The other way is to aim to hang out around 180bpm – your age.
If you need a recovery day, drop the intensity to zone 1, same rules on volume. Start with something manageable and add around 10% each time you repeat the workout.
If doing a long zone 2 effort is too monotonous do rounds of 10 minutes of cardio, 300m heavy Farmer’s walk. You are welcome to change the cardio modality each round.
For Zone 1 use an audio book.
For Zone 2, music. Holding Z2 takes concentration and effort.
Photo by Ikrom Chinaski on Unsplash