I Did Zone 2 Cardio for 10 Months - Here's What Happened

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I do not own any of the video clips used in this video. The legal rights belong to the legal copyright holders of said content. I have used them under the 'fair use' policy and have done so for entertainment and educational purposes only.

P.S. This is not professional medical advice and should not be taken as such. The creator of this video is not held accountable for your health. Consult your doctor first.

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[User-dicm]

Been doing consistent zone 2 cardio now for about 2 years, after none for the first 22 years of my life. My life is so much better because of it. Inflammation has gone down significantly (there is research showing that 60 minutes of zone 2 cardio upregulates autophagy to the same degree as a 72 hour fast). My mood is through the roof during and after a chill run. My facial aesthetics have improved signifcantly - noticed both from personal judgement and comments from friends/family. Thanks for video siim.

[jlvandat]

This is an excellent video on Zone 2 training and the benefits. Thank you SIIm. Everything you say is in very good alignment with the best science I have read on Zone 2 training. On a side note regarding running and injury. I recall some medical people telling me when I was 28 years old and had just begun running that my knees would wear out. That was over 40 years ago and my legs are doing just great, thank you.

[NewDarkKnight]

Slim is my favourite longevity guru. His protocol is easier to follow.

[MarkBanister]

Siim, great video. I have been watching since you had less than 5, 000 subs and am delighted for you at the well deserved growth of your channel and more importantly that your no-nonsense clear and concise messages of inspiration are reaching the ever increasing audience that need and can personally benefit from them... Keep going, do more and thank you!

[СемчукАндрій-фж]

Goal of zone 2 is to increase aerobic threshold(~<2 lactate). Anaerobic threshold we increasing when works on zone between 4 and 5. Its names anaerobic threshold when body learn to utilise lactate.

[theantiqueactionfigure]

I'm 70 years old and my max heart rate is 185.

[aquamarine]

I've been doing Zone 2 training (3x 1 hr sessions per week) for a couple of years now. I have to emphasize, 1x weekly HIIT training is still essential in terms of cardiovascular fitness. When I don't do it, my HR in Zone 2 averages around 115 bpm. But after three weeks of getting back to HIIT training, my average HR for an hour of Zone 2 last night was 125 bpm - i.e. 80% of my theoretical HR max (as a guy in his 60s). And I could have gone on forever.

Bottom line - don't let Attia's 80%-20% breakdown fool you. That 20% of HIIT training is VERY important. Also, ignore the HR max formula. Assuming you don't have a lactate meter, just use subjective aspects to figure out if you're in Zone 2.

[quiklife]

Use the Karvonen Formula to calculate your Zone 2 HR. It's more accurate than just 200-age.

[lalonkarim]

These heart rate zones do not work in warm or hot weather. Your heart rate will be higher for the same intensity activity in hot and humid weather - sometimes significantly higher.

[jcdenton]

Just a warning. I was able to nose breath on the stationary bike to 168bpm and I had heart palpitations for a month after that session. It might be abnormal to have that efficient of nose breathing but it makes a point that being able to nose breathe doesn't mean you aren't past zone 2.

[AustinOllar]

Excellent video! Been looking for content on Zone 2 like this for a while. Thanks for sharing 💪

[YShiishening]

Attia recommends 45-90 mins of z2 in accordance with Inigo San Millan afaik and I think he personally would put 3 sessions of that on the lower end of the spectrum. There’s a lot to it and I’m personally not convinced many of the arguments around the space are actually all that well founded. But it’s certainly a great and important base.

[LowHangingFruitForest]

I wear a 45lb pack and hike 3 hours every day and it gets me nowhere near zone 2, but if I use hiking poles and chew gum it gets me just into zone 2.

[robrackstraw]

Would love for you to look into a protocol called REHIT. Thanks to Peter Attia, I'm aware that a high VO2 Max correlates very well with longevity. Using REHIT (2 x 20 second supramaximal sprints separated by 3 mins rest, 3 times per week) I've got my VO2 Max from 80th percentile to 95th percentile for my age (58) in 20 weeks. My max heart rate is 195. What I would like to know is why Zone 2 is considered so important, when I've managed to get my VO2 Max pretty high doing no Zone 2 at all. Surely Zone 2 is training mostly improving Zone 2, and there are much more time efficient ways to increase VO2 Max? If VO2 Max is the important metric for longevity and you can get it to a high level using only sprint training, why would one need Zone 2 at all?

[swites]

HRmax differs between individuals due to genetics(heart size rel to body, stroke volume etc etc) more so than age. 220 minus age is just a general guide and doesn't really apply to individuals. Mine was 191bpm 10yrs ago(from actual cycle race data) but now at 50 its 187bpm as of a few months ago. Doing a max effort up a 3min steep climb in a fun competition between friends. Top cyclists/endurance athletes have been doing good Z2 training for years which is the foundation for mitochondrial efficiency.

[jamesgilmore]

With zone 2, keep in mind that going by heart rate alone doesn't necessarily tell you how the muscle in working. For example in cycling zone 2 is best defined as the muscles working continuously at a constant power, rather than having high and low power sections through a pedal stroke. As I remember using weighted vests has this high power/low power cycle and using them doesn't emphasise the type 1 fibres. Just something to think about for specificity of training.

[markjonz]

I think zone 2 is great advice for basically everyone. As you mention even elite athletes do it for the majority of their training. It’s less intimidating for beginners, more enjoyable and low risk of injury. We don’t need to strain ourselves, just do zone 2 consistently and plus maybe one short speed session a week.

[SidSub]

It's interesting that you changed your zone 2 range as you got fitter, i would imagine that instead of the hr range changing, your speed and exertion levels for the same hr is what would vary?

[СемчукАндрій-фж]

Vo2max from 53 to 66 for 3 month is increasing only when you lose some weight. In average increasing VO2 by 1 takes about 4 month for the same weight.( in terms of increasing mitochondria mass)

[wildcsgotactics]

What do you say to Michael Lustgarten's recent video about vo2max that claims that the benefits of vo2max aren't actually that crazy? Seems to me like vo2max is just the latest trendy topic...