How much zone 2 training do you need per week?
There is no researched minimum for zone 2 in recreational athletes, but patterns in elite athletes show that low intensity fills the majority of training volume and that removing it comes at a cost to fitness. If your training time is limited, focus on building a broad base of low-intensity work and only add high intensity once that base is in place.
Zone 2 training (exercise at which your blood lactate stays between 2 and 4 mmol/L) takes up a remarkably modest share of the weekly programme for elite athletes. In elite cyclists that share was just 7 to 13% of total training volume, while the large majority of time (65 to 91%) was spent in the even lower zone 1. An Olympic rowing pair averaged 17% zone 2, with the remainder likewise at low intensity. Zone 2 is present in all these cases but is clearly not the dominant zone.
That pattern in elite athletes does not necessarily tell us anything about recreational athletes. In national-level youth swimmers, 7 weeks of more high-intensity training at the expense of low-intensity volume produced no performance gain. Lactate threshold speed actually declined in the group that did less low-intensity training. This suggests that a broad base of low-intensity work contributes to maintaining fitness, even in young athletes.
Concrete weekly figures for the average athlete are difficult to derive from the available studies. What does emerge is that elite endurance sports are characterised by a large total volume with the emphasis on low intensity. Zone 2 is one component of that, not the centrepiece. In world-level running, this translated to 150 to 180 km per week with the majority at a low heart rate; zone 2 was just one of several intensity zones within that.
How much zone 2 you personally need depends first and foremost on your total training time. If you exercise 5 hours per week, even 15% zone 2 amounts to just 45 minutes. The studies provide no minimum threshold value for recreational athletes. What they do show is that athletes who traded low-intensity volume for more high-intensity work did not perform better and sometimes performed worse.
All available studies are descriptive or case-based (single athletes or small groups) without a control group, except for the youth swimmers study (randomised, but small and short). None of the studies tests an optimal zone 2 dose in a controlled experimental design in recreational athletes.
How do you determine the right amount of Zone 2 training without fatigue sabotaging your progress?
There is no hard universal formula for the right amount of Zone 2 training, but lactate as a control tool (target zone 2-4.5 mmol/L) offers a more concrete guide than pace or heart rate alone. Build volume gradually and pay attention to signals such as heart rate variability to monitor fatigue.
What is zone 2 training?
Zone 2 training is light endurance exercise just below your first threshold, popular among (elite) endurance athletes, but for the general population with limited time it is probably not the most efficient approach: higher intensities appear to yield greater returns in that context.
How much cardio do I really need per week?
For a healthy adult, 150 minutes of moderate cardio per week is the well-supported minimum, supplemented by two strength-training sessions; if you want to maintain your weight, you are better off aiming for 225-420 minutes per week.
How often and how hard should I strength train?
Start with 2 to 3 training days per week, sets of 8 to 12 repetitions close to your maximum, and increase the weight as soon as you can add extra repetitions. This approach demonstrably builds both strength and muscle mass at every level.
How much rest do my muscles need between workouts as I get older?
Getting older does not call for more rest, but for more regular training: at least two resistance-training sessions per week, supplemented with adequate protein, is the best-supported approach for counteracting muscle loss.
How much exercise do I need to live longer?
The biggest health gain comes from just a little exercise. Going from nothing to 150 minutes per week gives a 31% lower risk of premature death; after that the benefit increases somewhat more, but levels off.