Many runners assume you have to train fast to get faster, and while speedwork is an essential component of becoming a faster runner, it’s equally important to build your aerobic base with easy running.
That’s right—you actually have to run slow to run fast.
Heart rate zones denote different effort levels or exercise intensities, ranging from zone 1—very light effort—to zone 5, all-out, maximal intensity. Zone 2 training should be integral to any distance runner’s workout program.
Unlock next-level performance with Zone 2 training! Discover the science, benefits, and how to master this game-changing technique in your running plan.
What Is Zone 2 Training?
In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in the benefits of Zone 2 training inspired partly by the achievements of Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar and recent discussions on various podcasts by his trainer, Dr. Iñigo San Millán.
Nevertheless, zone 2 training isn’t just for cyclists but for all endurance athletes, especially runners.
Zone 2 cardio, or zone 2 training, refers to workouts at an intensity level that raises one’s heart rate to zone 2.
Heart rate zones are intensity levels stratified by specific percentages of your maximum heart rate. They are measured during training with a heart rate monitor like a Garmin or Apple Watch.
Because heart rate increases with the effort or intensity level of a workout and correlates with the percentage of your VO2 max, training by heart rate zones is a practical and feasible way to quantify effort level precisely and specifically.
The five heart rate zones are as follows:
Heart Rate Zones
| Zone | Percentage of Maximum Heart Rate | Feels Like | Training Goals and Uses |
| Zone 1 | 50-60% | Very easy recovery, barely jogging | Complete recovery, getting the body moving without stressing it |
| Zone 2 | 60-70% | Easy recovery jogging, conversational pace, should be able to pass a talk test. | Recovery runs, long runs, aerobic cross training, building endurance |
| Zone 3 | 70-80% | Challenging, but doable, sustainable for longer distance races (10k-marathon) | Build up aerobic fitness, getting a challenging aerobic workout |
| Zone 4 | 80-90% | Uncomfortable: around 84% of your max heart rate, you hit your ventilatory threshold, so your body starts relying on anaerobic metabolism to produce energy. | Tempo runs, interval training, shorter races, boosting performance |
| Zone 5 | 90-100% | All-out effort, like HIIT, usually only sustainable for 30-60 seconds | Increasing speed, strides, finishing kick, short intervals, hill repeats, plyometrics |
Related: What’s a Good VO2 Max? Average VO2 Max By Age And Sex
Zone 2 training involves running or cross-training at a pace that keeps your heart rate within 60-70% of your maximal heart rate.
At first, this low-intensity running may feel painfully slow—at times, almost impossible, particularly if you hit a hill. However, over time, your body will adapt, and you’ll be able to run faster paces while maintaining a Zone 2 heart rate.
Even though it’s at the low end of the effort scale and can feel “too easy” to be beneficial to some runners, if you’re looking to run faster and improve your performance, you should actually be spending the bulk of your training time and mileage in your Zone 2 heart rate.
In fact, if you look at the training logs of any elite athletes or professional distance runners, you’ll find that the fastest runners do a significant percentage of their volume at paces slower than mid-pack finishers.
This is because they are capitalizing on the benefits of Zone 2 training.
How Do You Calculate Heart Rate Zones?
Of course, you must calculate your heart rate ranges to ensure you’re running in Zone 2.
Zone 2 is defined by a 60-70% heart rate range of your maximum heart rate, which will be linked to your fitness level. If you already know your maximum heart rate, you can use that to calculate your Zone 2 heart rate zone; otherwise, you can estimate your maximum heart rate using the following formula:
- Maximum Heart Rate for Males = 208.609-0.716 x age
- Maximum Heart Rate for Females = 209.273-0.804 x age
For example, if you’re a 36-year-old male, you will calculate your heart rate: 208.609-0.716 x 36 = 183 bpm.
If you’re a 36-year-old female, you will calculate your heart rate: 209.273-0.804 x 36 = 180 bpm.
Once you have your maximum heart rate, you need to calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR) metrics, which are your maximum heart rate minus your resting heart rate (HRR = Maximum heart rate—Resting heart rate).
Measure your resting heart rate first thing in the morning while lying in bed. For example, if your max hr is 180 bpm and your resting heart rate is 60, your heart rate reserve is 120 bpm.
From there, you can determine your zone 2 heart rate with the following formula:
- Lower end of the heart rate range = 0.60 x HRR + resting heart rate
- Upper end of the heart rate range = 0.70 x HRR + resting heart rate
With an HRR of 120 bpm, for example, you would end up with the following:
- Lower end of the heart rate range = 0.60 x 120 + 60 = 132 bpm
- Upper end of the heart rate range = 0.70 x 120 + 60 = 144 bpm
This means the runner’s Zone 2 heart rate is 132-144 bpm.
Why Slowing Down Can Actually Make You Faster
Competitive runners may worry that spending too much time training in Zone 2 will make them slower, not faster, as the Zone 2 heart rate is so low that running at that pace is typically much slower than their race pace.
However, research1Kenneally, M., Casado, A., & Santos-Concejero, J. (2018). The Effect of Periodization and Training Intensity Distribution on Middle- and Long-Distance Running Performance: A Systematic Review. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13(9), 1114–1121. https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2017-0327 shows that the most successful approach to getting faster involves what is known as polarized training—running both very slow and very fast rather than just sticking at one constant pace day in and out.
In other words, it’s more effective to vary your intensity from workout to workout rather than mindlessly lace up the sneakers and plod along at the same pace every day.
Incorporate different types of workouts into your training program to reap the benefits of low-intensity and high-intensity workouts and training sessions.
Some top endurance athletes like Rich Roll credit their peak performance and athletic success to Zone 2 training.2Lactate Testing & Training Zones – Rich Roll. (2009, July 10). https://www.richroll.com/blog/lactate-testing-training-zones/
What Are The Benefits Of Zone 2 Training?
#1: Reduces the Risk of Musculoskeletal Injuries and Overtraining
Many runners fall into the trap of running almost every run at the same pace, landing somewhere in the moderately difficult intensity level.
This can lead to overtraining and overuse injuries because the same stresses and intensities are placed on the body stride after stride, run after run.
In contrast, when runners constantly change paces—running speedwork and slow runs—they introduce more stride variability and shift stresses on bones, muscles, and connective tissues. This can reduce the risk of injury and increase overall strength.
As a side note, if you are concerned about injury risk, be sure to include strength training in your routine.
#2: Cardiovascular Benefits
Cardiovascular adaptations are among the top benefits. Because this type of training training takes place squarely in the aerobic zone, Zone 2 cardio strengthens the heart and lungs.
As the heart gets stronger, stroke volume increases, which means it can pump more blood—and thus oxygen—out to the body every time it beats. This can effectively reduce heart rate because the heart becomes more efficient.
Capillary density increases, allowing for better perfusion of working muscles.
Additionally, training in Zone 2 increases blood plasma over time. This, in turn, also increases stroke volume, cardiac output, oxygen transport and delivery, and, ultimately, VO2 max.3Filipas, L., Bonato, M., Gallo, G., & Codella, R. (2021). Effects of 16 weeks of pyramidal and polarized training intensity distributions in well‐trained endurance runners. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 32(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.14101
#3: Improves Metabolic Health
In addition to cardiovascular adaptations, Zone 2 training induces metabolic benefits. Running at the same pace every day limits improvement because the body experiences the same physiological stresses with every run.
From a metabolic standpoint, the intensity level of a workout significantly impacts the energy production pathways utilized.
Training too much at the same mid-range effort level, rather than capitalizing on the vastly different effort levels of polarized training, minimizes the potential training adaptations and metabolic improvements that can be gained by varying your paces and spending a lot of time running in Zone 2.
Running in Zone 2 increases the mitochondrial density in skeletal muscles, particularly in Type I muscle fibers.
Mitochondria are cellular organelles, or the powerhouse of the cell, that produce adenosine triphosphate, ATP, (energy) aerobically (in the presence of oxygen).
The greater your muscles’ mitochondrial density, the more energy they can produce to fuel your activity, delaying fatigue.
Zone 2 relies on aerobic metabolism (Krebs cycle and electron transport chain). In contrast, speed work and effort levels in zones 4 and 5 utilize anaerobic energy pathways (glycolysis and the phosphocreatine (PC) system).
Again, by spending time training in zone 2 as well as in higher intensity zones such as zones 4 and 5 with polarized training, the body is forced to rely on different pathways of energy generation.
This induces favorable adaptations in each pathway, better equipping your body to handle the metabolic demands of running without your muscles producing painful byproducts such as lactic acid.
For this reason, polarized training involves metabolic flexibility, meaning your body can easily produce energy through any of the metabolic pathways and seamlessly flux between the reliance on different energy systems.
Finally, the metabolic adaptations allow the body to become more efficient at using fat rather than glycogen as a fuel source.
When your body gets better at meeting its energy needs by fat burning rather than using stored carbohydrates, you delay potential “bonking” or “hitting the wall.”
Seasoned marathoners may be aware of the dreaded onset of significant fatigue that may creep in around the 20-23 mile mark of a marathon; this is often when you’re body has used up any available glucose and depleted the body’s glycogen stores.
Our bodies have a limited capacity to store carbohydrates in the form of glycogen, whereas even the leanest runners have enough body fat to fuel hours upon hours of exercise.
Zone 2 training causes favorable adaptations in fat metabolism, allowing you to run faster while still burning fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates. Ultimately, this can be hugely beneficial for marathoners as well as those looking to burn body fat.
#4: Recovery Benefits
Because Zone 2 training is quite easy, it fully allows your body to recover from hard workouts. This reduces the risk of injury and allows you to be ready to attack the next speed workout with more energy and intensity.
If you run a high-intensity interval training workout on the track on Monday and head out for a moderately intense zone 3 distance run on Tuesday, your body will carry over more accumulated fatigue to Wednesday than if you have taken your Tuesday recovery run as a true recovery workout in Zone 2.
As a result, your performance on Wednesday’s effort may suffer, and your risk of overtraining increases. In this way, training in Zone 2 helps your body bounce back and recover after hard workouts.
How Much Time Should You Train In Zone 2 For Improvements In Endurance?
As a UESCA-certified running and triathlon coach, I recommend that at least 60-75% of your weekly running volume be Zone 2 cardio.
To reap the benefits of Zone 2, long runs, recovery runs, and easy runs should all be run in Zone 2.
For more information on heart rate training, check out:
Thank you very much for the useful information on Zone 2 training for long distance runners.
I’m confused about calculating my maximum heart rate:
– First, I subtract 0.804 from 209.73 = 208.926
– Then I multiply 59 (my age) by 208.926 = 12,326.634(?)
I’m not sure what I’m doing incorrectly. Thank you for any help you can offer!
Hi Jodi!
You want to follow the order of operations (remember the dreaded PEMDAS from math class?).
So, you do the multiplication first, then subtract that product.
For you: Maximum Heart Rate for Females = 209.273-0.804 x age
= 209.273 – (.804 x 59)
= 209.273 – 47.436 = 161.8 or 162 bpm.
Does that make sense to you?