What’s a go to longer zone 2 conditioning workout

[dawn16]

@christopher11 I mean if you can cry and still keep pedaling you are probably in zone 2

 

[christopher11]

@dawn16 Haha true!

 

[mhichborn]

@chibisensei21 Best I’ve found is the stair stepper. Set to level 10 on the machine I use, I can lock my HR in zone 2 indefinitely.

 

[chibisensei21]

@mhichborn how long do you go for usually ?

 

[mhichborn]

@chibisensei21 Usually after 20 min I’m so soaked in sweat I have to stop or risk being kicked out.

 

[tr2]

@mhichborn And it's very easy to adjust just by going up a level. For me adjusting speed on a stair stepper doesn't throw off my gait like dropping a half mile and hour on a treadmill messes with my ability to stay centered on the belt.

 

[journeytolife77]

@mhichborn Stair master is gold

 

[jimsanjay]

@mhichborn Walking on an incline treadmill is pretty great too.

 

[cloakndagr]

@chibisensei21 Echo bike for me has been great. Strap on a heart rate monitor that projects to the screen, Pop in my headphones, throw on a movie and off we go

 

[oneyoungman]

@chibisensei21 8-10 mile jog, able to talk/sing along to my music

 

[research49]

@chibisensei21 Walk for 3+ hours, ride a bike for 3+ hours, do anything at kinda low intensity for 3+ hours…

 

[christopher11]

@chibisensei21 Cycling seriously for a couple of months now and I’m able to do 4,5 hours unbroken at the moment in zone 2.

 

[jamesbates]

@chibisensei21 Go on a trail run

 

[philosophik]

@jamesbates As a newish runner it can be challenging to stay in it for me. Because I’m not good at pacing and cadence yet. But right out my door is a 3 mile loop that takes around 40 minutes so I do it most often. Easier to stick to than going to the gym off class time to get on a machine for that long.

 

[jamesbates]

@philosophik Nice! I'd wear a HR monitor and alternate between running and walking to keep your heart rate in Zone 2. Soon enough your aerobic fitness will increase and you'll be able to run it in zone 2.

 

[christopher11]

@jamesbates With running it’s particularly hard to be in zone 2.

 

[revjrm2047]

@christopher11 That completely depends on how strong of a runner you are. If you can run a 20-minute 5K it’s a much different story than if you can only run a 35-minute 5K.

 

[chantelle1989g]

@christopher11 Run slower

But yes, it’s really slow. I never used to like it but now sunny day just makes me want to go shuffle for an hour. Easier than rowing, mentally.

 

[ytrevino1977]

@christopher11 Didn't you accidentally leave out 'not' in front of hard?

 

[christopher11]

@ytrevino1977 No, with running you tend to be in a higher zone (of a 5 zone system) too quickly because running is zone 2 for an beginner to intermediate runner is just about quicker than walking. And that is an awkward pace because it feels too slow to run and too fast to walk. So you end up running in zone 3 or higher.

Zone 3 is tend to be the grey zone because it’s not white (zone 2) or black (zone 5). So it is not that effective. Good endurance training tends to be polarised (black or white). That means a lot of zone 2 and a little zone 5 training.

So no, it wasn’t a mistake it’s just very hard to maintain a zone 2 pace while running. If you want you can use a chest heart rate monitor to experience it yourself.