What is Zone 2 cardio… and should you be doing it?

The past year I’ve been focusing my cardio workouts to stay in zone 2, which means I keep my heart rate between 60%  – 70% of my max heart rate.

Ok, sure… but what does that actually mean?!

There are 5 different levels, or zones, of cardiovascular work.

The lower zones –  walking, hiking, light intensity strength training –  use less effort, a lower heart rate and can be sustained longer whereas the higher zones of cardiovascular training – sprinting, high intensity weight lifting – will require much more effort, a higher heart rate and can only be sustained for short bursts.

Zone 2 is popular because when we are working in that 60 – 70% range of our max heart rate we are creating an aerobic base. This level of fitness helps us stay healthy, move easily and keep up with our lives. 

You can monitor this with a wearable fitness tracker or you can simply use the talk test: you’ll know you’re in zone 2 while you’re exercising if you can still talk, even with an elevated heart rate. 

In zone 2 you aren’t gasping for air or feeling out of control with your breath – you can still breathe in and out through your nose in a steady manner.

Different people will have different activities that get them into zone 2.

For some, simple walking on a flat path will get them there. Others will need to do a brisk walk with an incline (hills or treadmill). Some folks can jog at this lower level of intensity.

The reason why I have been more focused in this area specifically is because this is where the magic happens for metabolic health; blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol regulation all happen here.

[My metabolic health is something I’m intentional about because having kiddos was tough on my metabolic system – I developed hypertension and preeclampsia with both of my pregnancies and I still deal with hypertension now.]

Aerobic vs Anaerobic Training

Another way to look at lower zone cardiovascular training — aerobic exercise — versus higher zone cardiovascular training — anaerobic exercise — is that aerobic exercise is a great base for health and anaerobic exercise is a great base for performance. Some people will want to work in both areas whereas a lot of folks will just want to focus on aerobic exercise.

As with everything else fitness and health related, what you need may vary from what I need. We all have to figure out what works well for our bodies, including feasibility and access to exercise, stress levels and seasons of life.

My current goal is to get 2 or 3 strength training workouts and 1 or 2 zone two aerobic workouts in each week. As I move farther along postpartum, sleep more and gain more energy, I’d like to increase the number of aerobic (and then someday anaerobic) workouts I can do each week.

All in good time.