Zone 2 training has become extremely popular—and for good reason! Despite being a relatively low training intensity, zone 2 is said to improve your fitness across everything from long steady rides to really hard efforts. But how do you get the most out of it? And what should you do alongside Zone 2 training to keep developing as a rider? Here are our top tips!
00:00 How do you get the most out of Zone 2 training?
00:14 What is Zone 2?
00:38 How to find your zone 2
01:24 What does zone 2 do for you?
02:28 Sweet Spot Training
03:30 Keep testing your fitness
04:21 Increase your training load
05:44 Adding VO2 Max Training
07:13 Recovery is vital
08:09 Conclusion
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📹 Zone 2 & Beyond: Training Secrets From Dr Iñigo San Millán (Tadej Pogačar’s Coach) 👉 https://youtu.be/dBbK-0vh-d8?si=YpcW-jBehjEBuNvg
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42 Comments
What has your experience with zone 2 training been like? 🤔
Question: when I ride at zone 2 (both power and breath test methods to get my zone 2), my heart rate is way higher than the supposed zone 2 heart rate that i read from online articles (my heart rate at high zone 2 power is at around 77 – 80% of my max heart rate and 90% of my threshold heart rate).
Should i just ignore the heart rate and continue with zone 2 power or follow the heart rate and lower my power for zone 2?
Admittedly an older person’s view 🙄 but I complement my cycling with a good 400-500 hours of Z1 walking per year. 😅 You get to stretch your back and hamstrings, and hopefully also enjoy a good conversation along the way. ☺️
I've started at miserable state: Although I had some power in legs (I did 1.1k watts in sprints) my ftp was somewhere near 150-160 watts. During winter I've started to ride 3 times a week in z2 on zwift and once it was sunny outside, I've started to ride outdoors (on ebike). In outdoors I got a little bit crazy and averaged to 16-22h on a bike weekly (only in z2). This week I got back on zwift and my z2 is around 140-150 watts and ftp is somewhere in 200 or so. I think I could achieve more if I did at least one SS or VO2 max or Over/Under ride during a week. Good video 🔥
Reliance on an indoor training system to establish zone 2 begs the question, can you determine zone 2 outdoors (no access to an indoor training suite)? Thanks for the knowledge.
How about z2 based on HR. I did that all last winter and watched my power increase at a lower HR
Awesome material!
Is it only for me pure ad of zwift?
I appreciate the comment about the nose breathing not working 100% for everyone!
What is the minimum percentage of time in zone 2 for it to be considered a zone 2 ride? I live in a hilly area with lots of short steep climbs, and I have to ride in zones 3 and 4 to get to the top of the hills, and then coast down in zone 1, so I’m in zone 2 for maybe 1/3 of the time – is that a zone 2 ride?
Good stuff! If you want to go deep into the science, Peter Attia interviewed Dr. Iñigo San-Millán (Tadej Pogačar's coach) on his YouTube channel called "Deep dive back into Zone 2 Training | Iñigo San-Millán, Ph.D. & Peter Attia, M.D." (https://youtu.be/-6PDBVRkCKc?si=3KD95PvEXTS07Nvb) Very science heavy but worth every minute.
I describe zone 2 as being able to breathe through your nose, and sustain the effort but you'd rather not.
My primary trainiong is an indoor traner. but cycling isn't my primary acivity. so Z2 is what I do…unless I'm completely bored and then it may be the alpe…
I also agree with Dr Attia's comment that he trains for longevity for his family…
You talk about doing a FTP test as often as every couple of weeks. To the best of my knowledge, you should be well rested in order to do so.
Are you essentially doing one after every rest week?
Zone 2? If you're not doing 320 watts for 5 hours, you're doing it wrong.
Concentrated on higher volume lower intensity in comparison to last year. could sustain power for longer and didn't dread getting on the turbo. Gotta have the time to do it though.
"Wherever you are on your training journey consistent zone 2 will make you fitter" Well guess what, consistent any zone training will make you fitter! Unless you are Tadej Pogacar and your zone 2 is 320-340 watts then staying in zone 2 for a wholes ride is miserably boring. For those of us who aren't pros and just like to enjoy our rides just get out there and ride consistently to whatever zones you like and I guarantee you will improve.
Whatever happened to "dialing it back" come Fall/Winter? I plan my year with 3 peaks. The last one coming in September. At this point of the year I'm looking at mid-distance rides (50-70 miles) in Zone 2 with some efforts thrown in. No more Tempo rides, intervals or hill repeats. Enjoy the rides, take in the scenery and don't go into the New Year hating the bike. BTW I'm 63yo and so far have 6,700 miles in for the year. Just saying…
I’ve been doing 80 20…. 80% zone 2, 20% hard or higher….
Typical!
I tried doing a Z2 ride this morning and failed spectacularly. How do people stay in Z2 and a high cadence? And also during a climb?
I do zone two on the trainer. As a heavier fella it's hard to stay lower power on the roads with hills. Z2 has literally changed my riding and built my endurance so much.
Zone 2: The maximum PERCENTAGE of fat burning.
379, not bad
What about zone 1? Very few people talks about it, and I think its underestimated. I like to go all over the zones , not forgetting any of them. The classic long easy ride is a mix of zone 1 and 2 and history tells that it has been good for many people. I cant go zone 2 for 4 hours without getting very exhausted, but if I dilute it with a lot zone 1, I arrive home a lot fresher and not so exhausted that I cant take a ride tomorrow. I disagree with the 80% zone 2 idea and believe its too hard. It should be diluted with some zone 1. The week before Road World Championship I was passed by an Arcea B&B Hotels pro-rider (Embret Svestad-Baardseng?) and a Coop-rider, and they were definitively going no harder than zone 1. My guess is that the Pro-riders spend a lot time in zone 1. Zone 1 is also a very much used zone for commuting. The worlds best skier in 1966, Gjermund Eggen, did mostly zone 1 in the summer, walking in the mountain looking after his sheeps.
Jackson Robert Gonzalez Ruth Allen Cynthia
No use of Heart rate? MAF method
Why carb load if your training your fat energy systems?
Whenever I hear zone 2 all I think of now is Pogacar 🔥 🧨 💥
I’m injured and not allowed outside zone two for now and it’s driving me maaaaaaaad. I always do it anyway but not having efforts to look forward to is depressing.
The body doesn't work like this. It doesn't flip between fat and glycogen for energy. Your muscles store glycogen and will use that 1st
I get a 2 hour 2×20 work out done 2s a week and do Z2 pretty much everywhere else: commute, group rides or just moving about on the bike its pads out a 4 hour week to nearer 10 when I'm working and nearer 20 of I'm not working
Really well put together, I like the clear examples and charts. Well done Connor.
Those Zwift numbers are simultaneously impressive and depressing!
if you live in a hilly area and you want to keep in zone 2, just get an ebike it's the best thing for zone 2 training. the steeper the hill just press for more assistance. this is obviously aimed at the lesser fit people. last week I did a 100km ride and I'm fat adapted, no feeding and my average bpm was 132 and did it just over 4 hrs. and I also weigh 132kgs. the route had a few hills but a very bad headwind on the way back
Worth considering that a majority of us probably don't even know what our FTP is.
I really don't and cycle very regularly across the whole range of zones.
Great video!
When I have enough time I like to do long Zone 2, with bits of Zone 3,4+ and some weights, and feel great. It’s the only way I can do high volume and recover.
But weeks where I only have 2-4 hours to cycle, I feel better off with high intensity intervals (given I have plenty of recovery time anyway).
Zone 2 trains your slow twitch aerobic muscle fibers which act like a vacuum cleaner to remove/use pyruvate/lactate produced by the fast twitch glycolitic fibers when intensity increases. In other words, you can go harder for longer! Like attacking with 100km to go and winning!
As a competitive squash players, we recon a hard squash match is the equivalent several of Vo2 max efforts… so during the squash season I mostly do Z2 bike rides. When the ridding season begins (late spring here in Canada) I somehow always feel stronger than the previous one! I hang the racket and focus on having balanced cycling efforts and recovery. Then squash season restarts in the fall and I feel fitter than the previous year. Now I'm 43 years old and I understand it'll probably start going down every year soon lol. Thanks for the great videos, GCN ROCKS! 💪
I can breathe through my nose into zone 4. So still not a good metric to use for some people.
I prefer sweet spot training… Good for riders who to be strong but train 8 hours or less…
No suggestion for extended threshold sessions?