Cardiac output or Zone 2 training for fall sports (soccer and football). In this article we will discuss and give examples of how to successfully implement conditioning that gets athletes in shape. While not impacting their speed and strength.
Brief overview of Zone 2
Zone 2 training or cardiac output method is “conversational pace” workouts. Typically, we would prefer simplistic easy to perform or repetitive movements that allow athletes to perform work for 30 to 90 minutes.
An example of this, would be using the assault bike, any of the Concept 2 Equipment (Ski, Bike, Row). Even using a sled connected at the waist to your body and walked with.
Zone 2 works to expand the left ventricle of your heart. This allows the heart to pump more blood to your body when doing exercise.
Also zone 2 training allows athletes to recover faster between max effort sprints or explosive plays.
Specific implementation of Zone 2 for Sports
The specific implementation for soccer and football will be discussed. There are many ways to utilize zone 2 work but this is how OC Sports Performance utilizes the approaches for these two fall sports.
All of the zone 2 work we do follows a “three week wave” approach. Simply meaning we either increase the duration of activity in the zone 2 heart rate each week.
Example:
Wk1: 30 minutes
Wk 2: 35 minutes
Wk: 3: 40 minutes
Soccer
OC Sports Performance has trained a huge number of high school and college athletes. The zone 2 workouts for soccer players is extremely valuable especially when using alternate means other than running.
Why not running?
Soccer players run a lot – doing more of the same isn’t going to elicit a new response and can lead to some overuse injuries and put the soccer player at risk of soft tissue injuries. Soccer players’ seasons are long when an athlete plays high school soccer and then transitions into club soccer which means long periods of time of just running. Again more of the same isn’t going to help the athlete.
What to do
Soccer players should bike 1x a week in zone 2. At the minimum this will develop a greater work capacity. The bike is easy to recover from as it is cyclical(repetitive) and doesn’t have a long eccentric(lowering phase). Long eccentrics in terms of conditioning will make athletes sore and negatively impact their performance.
Example for high school soccer athletes:
Week 1: 30 minutes bike – in zone 2 or conversational pace
Wk 2: 35 minutes bike in zone 2
Wk 3: 40 minutes
Week 4 30 minutes but rotate 5:00 on a bike and then do a 440ft sled drag(walking with a belt around the hips) the sled drags work to build a strong posterior chain and helps prevent low back, hamstring and groin injuries which are common in soccer.
Wk 5: Either start over again with 30 minutes or you could increase the starting level depending on how the athlete(s) responded to the first cycle of training.
Example:
Wk6: 35 minutes
Wk7: 40 minutes
Wk8: 45 minutes
Wk 9: 30 minutes on a bike with sled drag rotation
Is this it? It can’t be this simple can it?
Yes in fact it can be this simple – and it works! We have trained a number of high school teams, college players and have consulted with college soccer programs utilizing this same approach. The players don’t get hurt – they don’t feel like these are torture or beat down sessions and their performance increases in both the testing portion of soccer tryouts and performance in games.
Football
For football players we utilize zone 2 training as well, as we have seen really positive results when implementing the training on how well they perform on conditioning tests for their teams as well as how the player(s) report feeling starting training daily doubles and throughout the season.
What to do
Drag sled! We use 12 -16 trips with a 45# plate on a sled, and walk back and forth 12 trips at OC Sports Performance is 1 mile. The athletes “overstride” walk down, rest as needed and then walk back.
12 trips at the gym(down and back being 1) is 1 mile. These are super low impact workouts – cause very little soreness but help strengthen the low back significantly. Also athletes have reported very positive results for their hamstring and glutes development using this approach.
Example:
Week 1: 12 trips
Wk 2: 14 trips
Wk 3: 16 trips
Week 4: 30 minutes bike for 5:00 and then sled drag – using the same weight as was utilized for the previous three weeks.
Wk 5: 12 trips + 10-20# from wk 1
Wk6: 12 trips + 5# from week 5
Wk7: 12 trips + 5# from week 6
Wk 8 30 minutes bike for 5:00 and then sled drag – using the same weight from wk 5
How do you know the Zone 2 training is working?
If athletes have access to wearables, like an apple watch or another type of heart rate monitor the athletes will be able to do more work with a lower heart rate.
Athletes have stated that they feel “more recovered” during the week when they are doing zone 2 work. Although this isn’t scientific if an athlete “feels better” they typically perform better.
How do you zone 2 work without a bike?
Without a bike, I would recommend using a sled. Sleds are relatively inexpensive and easy to store and use. Also there are great videos online showing how to build a sled using a car tire and tow straps.
Can running be zone 2 work?
For experienced and well developed athletes running can be used. High school athletes are neither well developed nor experienced. We have had some college athletes use some running for zone 2 training – but what these athletes found out that it was fairly difficult to keep their heart rate low enough while “jogging”.
As a work around we had the athletes put on a weighted vest 20-60# and walk 30 minutes and this ended up being great work. Walking is easier on the athletes bodies. Also walking allows the athlete to get the zone 2 training in without having to run.
How to test athletes for heart rate zone
We use this equation 180 – (athletes age – 18) = 162 – 20 = 142. In this example the athletes zone 2 work would be 162 -142 beats per minute. But again, we default to just talking to the athletes. Have them answer questions if they can’t talk normally then it is pace is too high.
To test max heart rate, it is an involved process, that requires repeated max effort attempts – we use the assault bike – but going through this process is fatiguing for the athlete. We have found as much success just using the formula above as going through the testing process.
Zone 2 training doesn’t impact top speed or explosiveness
We have been training athletes since 2012 and have been utilizing zone 2 training for athletes since 2014. When we started programming top speed and acceleration sprints for athletes we tracked and recorded the data – and athletes saw no negative impact from using zone 2 training 1-2x a week.
In fact, we have seen more improvement for top speed once athletes start getting in 1x a week zone 2 workout. This is probably due to increased recovery.
Zone 2 and Fall Sport Athletes
Overall, athletes that use Zone 2 training end up developing a strong motor for their sport. The zone 2 training can be easily implemented and even implementing it 1x a week will yield great results.
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