The faster your heart beats, the harder you’re working.
Don’t worry too much about zones as a beginner
I’m going to start with ahugecaveat.
Pay more attention to how you feel.
A workout that’s meant to be hard should feel hard.
Your zones may not be properly calibrated.
You have more important things to do than stick to zones!
Your body needs to learn technique, pacing, and all kinds of physical and psychological skills.
There are dozens, if not hundreds.
Some have three zones, some four, some five, and some even more.
The different systems also don’t agree on what those percentages are of.
Less commonly, you might find zones based around other metrics like lactate threshold.
It’s not the best, but it is perhaps the simplest.
You cant sustain work in zone 5 for much longer than that.
Occasionally theyll use another formula.
Butthese formulas are often wrong, since they give a single number for everybody at the same age.
(Similar caveats apply to any age.)
Inzone 3, your breathing will get a bit heavier.
Zone 5is your absolute top speed, and you might only stand it for a few grueling seconds.
If you arent sure of your max heart rate, try using this effort-level guide for a while.
How do I stay in zone 2?
Zone 2 refers to an easy effort that you’re able to carry on basically forever.
If you’re a beginner, walking might be a zone 2 workout.
The more exercise you do, the more you have to pay attention to the intensity of it.
Athletes who are exercising 10 hours every week need to verify that some of those workouts are easy ones.
