What Is Zone 2 Cardio, and Does It Live Up to All the Hype?

Think of it as a sustainable effort: “In Zone 2, you must feel comfortable,” like you can go for 2 hours or longer, Athena Fariasan exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer, and running coach at Get Fit SATX, in San Antonio, tells SELF. (Note: If you’re just getting began with exercise normally or running specifically, the concept of doing for hours can sound inconceivable. This really does mean slowing down a LOT—and likewise, it’s not something to obsess over instantly, which we’ll get to in a moment.)

There are tons of health and performance advantages to zone 2 training.

Zone 2 workouts do indeed bring plenty of perks, Dr. Olenick says—she’s even called them the “best-kept secret” of coaches and fitness pros. And their advantages all should do with the way in which your cardiovascular and metabolic systems respond over time.

When you often exercise at that sustainable level, your muscles, heart, and lungs get comfortable working a bit harder and your body adapts to maximise these changes, Dr. Olenick says. Your heart will turn out to be stronger and more efficient at pumping blood through your body. You’ll sprout recent capillaries, tiny blood vessels that carry oxygen-rich blood into your muscles. Inside those muscles, your mitochondria—the energy factories that turn oxygen into fuel—will turn out to be more plentiful and powerful.

As a result, you’ll construct what’s called your aerobic or cardiovascular base, a reserve of fitness that helps you sustain each effort for longer. Thanks to a solid base, every subsequent workout, including ones that take you into higher zones, should feel easier, helping you get more work done more efficiently. In fact, one small study found doing two hours of low-intensity exercise per week improved recovery—and likewise boosted running performance—after a few month; one other found advantages for recovery and endurance when pro soccer players incorporated more lower-intensity training. And you’ll also see several health advantages from these chill sessions, equivalent to a lower risk for insulin resistance and diabetes, heart disease, and stroke, Farias says.

Now, you possibly can reap most of those rewards from kind of aerobic exercise. But the large good thing about zone 2 is that you could accomplish that without majorly taxing your body, something that may’t be said for high-intensity intervals, Dr. Olenick says. Because zone 2 doesn’t cause a number of fatigue, you possibly can rack up a number of hours or miles of those easier efforts each week without less risk of overdoing it (though you must still progressively construct up the period of time you’re understanding).

There’s also a psychological profit to this sort of training. You might feel a way of bliss or a runner’s high, almost such as you’re floating. If you’re exercising outside, you possibly can take time to concentrate to the flowers blooming or the trees changing colours (since in spite of everything, you’re not busy worrying in regards to the fact that you could’t breathe or your heart might explode). “Zone 2 is soul fuel,” Farias says. “This is your time to have a conversation along with your friend or your spouse, enjoy nature, whatever it is advisable do to decompress.”

But zone 2 training also can stress the hell out of you.

Sometimes, though, this type of training becomes less about simply moving your body in a chill way and more about ensuring you’re hitting your “easy” numbers. One of the most important frustrations? When doing nearly any kind of cardio takes your heart rate too high and out of that golden zone, Dr. Olenick says—even, sometimes, for those who feel such as you’re attempting to keep it easy. That’s very true for those who’re recent to fitness, or coming back to a routine after a while away.