Zone 2 success or Cardiac Output method success. How would you measure success with Zone 2 training? We answer the question and help you understand the benefit of training in Zone 2.
What is Zone 2 training?
Zone 2 training is also known as the Cardiac Output method. We have written about this type of training – here and here. For those who haven’t read the previous blogs on the topic here is a short run down.
Zone 2 in this context is describing doing training based on a heartrate – for simplicity sake this the formula we use – 180 – (your age) = the top end of you zone 2 heart rate. Subtract 20 and this is your zone 2 range.
Example: 180-40=140-20 = 120. Zone 2 heart rate training is about 120-140.
At the gym we have people use a polar heart rate monitor or utilize their wearable technology(apple watch) to keep track of their heart rate zone.
Another great way to measure zone 2 training is keeping your pace conversational. Meaning can you converse normally while training. If you can’t you are going to fast/hard – you should slow down.
For most people a little slower is better.
Measuring success in Zone 2 training
Now that we went through Zone 2 training – how do you measure Zone 2 success with the training?
One of the absolute simplest ways to track progress in Zone 2 – is how much work can you do in that zone? If you are using Concept 2 equipment, keep track of the distance in meters and see how far you go with the rules that you can’t get out of the heart rate zone.
Example: Wednesday, June 5th I was able to row for 30 minutes in zone 2 and rowed 4200m.
Wednesday July 3rd I was able to row 30 minutes in zone 2 and rowed 5400m. Or an increase of 1200m in about a month.
Other ways to measure success
Resting heart rate:
Resting heart rate is a great indicator of getting into better shape. This is how you should track it – when you first wake up in the morning, measure your heart rate record it, and then once a month record it again. This is easy with the technology wearables these days.
Typically, we advise people to record it for 2-3 days and then average that heart rate out – and then do the same a month later.
Faster recovery
One of the less technical ways to measure success in zone 2 training is to go by feel. I don’t like this method very much – as it isn’t black and white. The data isn’t solid – it goes by feel.
An example of how to do this is repeat a workout and keep track of how you feel. Record it and a month later repeat it. Did you feel different? Did you recover faster. This is by feel but here is an example:
Day 1: 4 rounds of 20 cal assault bike with 2:00 rest between rounds.
Day 30+ 4 rounds of 20 cal assault bike with 2:00 rest between rounds.
What we see with wearable tech is that the heart rate will decrease faster and will also stay lower longer during each interval.
Muscle recovery
Another way that is less hard data driven but still proves success – is how fast do you recover between strength movements. A great example of this is box squats – if you are doing 5×5 box squats and supposed to rest 2:00 between sets, and the squats are at 75%, do you feel a difference month to month?
Your zone 2 aerobic work will definitely help you recover faster for anaerobic activities such as weightlifting, powerlifting, – aka strength training.
Injury prevention
Injury prevention is one that is almost impossible to track but it really shows up in consistency – people that are consistently training in zone 2 – 1x-2x a week are able to show up and train consistently in classes without missing time due to injury.
One of the reason is that you won’t be overtrained – and instead you are mixing intensity zones so that you stay fresh and recovered and without risk of overtraining or being at risk of injury.
Measuring zone 2 training success
Measuring zone 2 training success allows you to see and understand how this work is improving your quality of life, building a successful and efficient engine(you), and keeping you healthy and recovered so that you can train without being injured.
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