This article has been made to educate athletes and endurance enthusiasts who may have fallen to the trap of poor fitness and unspecific cardio, or are looking to boost their knowledge on how to improve their endurance for a specific event, health and sport.
I have outlined the 5 cardio zones of interest. From this you should be able to use this information to minimise injury, avoid hitting burn out and staying clear from the “grey area” of cardiovascular fitness.
The 5 zones of endurance
Zone 1 - This involves a very light exertion, purposeful towards recovery whereby there is no intention of adaptation to level of aerobic fitness. Using fat for energy only. Often useful for cognitive benefits and reducing stress, maintaining exercise habits and utilising energy.
Zone 2 - Beneficial for long term cardio respiratory health, hormone function and heart function. This zone involves a low level of stress on the body and central nervous system but promotes a level of endurance that can be sustained for longer periods - usually this pace can be held whilst having a conversation as is often paired with Zone 3 for long steady state endurance sessions. This can also be included with recovery sessions and taper / de-load weeks. This is where the body is producing energy from both fats and carbohydrates (zone 3 also)
Zone 3 - The main aerobic endurance development zone of interest for all athletes looking to build their work capacity. This is the zone which 80% of total work time should be spent at, whereby heart rate is controlled between a threshold level that may vary very slightly depending upon the distance, speed and stage of your training program. This is aimed to around 70% of max heart rate or more specifically MAF (maximum aerobic fitness zone) which is 180- your age. Therefore these runs would target a sub MAF threshold (E.g 180-28 =152, my HR zone could be 138-150 for my zone 3 workout).
Zone 4 - Anaerobic threshold involving both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems to provide necessary energy for performance. This is the zone where you should look to spend approximately 20% of your total weekly endurance work at. Working at 80-85% of your max heart rate. Such sessions are usually in the format of intervals at faster paces, controlled tempo with rest periods to allow for repetition. E.g 400m-5km distancesThis facilitates VO2 max, anaerobic (without oxygen) adaptations to improve overall work capacity and help to improve the mechanisms that are involved in greater O2 capacity and waste removal as the intensity is increased during competition. Carbohydrates are the primary source of fuel for this level of output (zone 5+6)
Zone 5 - Maximal speed and intensity training for speed benefits, typically short in duration but near to maximal intensity This zone has its place in in low volume, to elicit lactate removal adaptations and building a higher lactate threshold in addition to that seen from zone 4. This is where injury and burn out is most likely if repeated too often, as it is extremely taxing on the body physically, mentally, and requires a high demand from the nervous system when combined with high volume training. E.g 100m to 400m in distance.
This table outlines intensity and heart rate % related to each zone:
Zone Intensity % of MAX HR
1 Very light. 50–60%
2 Light 60–70%
3 Moderate 70–80%
4 Hard 80–90%
5 Maximum 90–100%
Note - the body is always in fluctuation between either aerobic and anaerobic zones during activity, and it must be understood that to achieve zone 5, you will go through all previous zones temporarily to get there. Knowing your heart rate zones provides better clarity and specificity towards the adaptations necessary for the type of fitness related to an individuals goals.
As you can see, it would be easy to enter different zones un-intensionally without carefully planning and consideration or monitoring. However, it is important to understand and develop your personal targets if you want to optimise your training and experience the performance and health benefits.
Managing weekly sessions:
Zone 1,2&3 = 80% of endurance training time
Zone 4&5 = 20% of endurance training time
Important considerations:
An endurance athlete should never stop training in zone 2.
The ideal training plan might include...
3-4 days a week of zone 2 training in the first 2-3 months of pre-season training
As the season or camp begins, 2-3 days a week as the competition gets closer and 2 days of maintenance.
This principle of prioritising Zone 2&3 training has been proven to help to build ATP production capacity for energy during longer periods, in addition to metabolic efficiency of using both fat and carbohydrate to provide energy, building type I muscle tissue that is responsible for removing lactate, at higher paces when consistently repeated whilst maintaining the specific degree of perceived intensity during sessions as time progresses. Also it improves mitochondrial density, these are the cells whereby energy production takes place.
What to avoid:
Going too fast on easier days and then not having the energy to perform to maximal intensity necessary for faster, higher intensity days in higher HR zones at the correct right pace is a direct causes of the ‘grey zone’ endurance effect.
This will lead to performing a lack of specific endurance, and therefore slow progress desired to achieve your goals for the type of fitness related to race days, sport and peak performance. When poorly managed programs are in place, this can contribute towards reduced recovery impacting other scheduled training days, muscle tissue damage and fatigue.
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Here's a throwback to my first marathon in Melbourne, October 2018. Completed in a time of 3 hours 20 minutes.
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