Zone 2 training is all over the internet these days, but not everyone is sold on it. Are you wasting your time by focusing too much on zone 2? And is it real...
Thanks for the video. This is exactly what I have " preached" here for soon a decade. High mileage mostly at zone 2 is not the smartest and effective way to go. You can realy over the years reach your optimum possible results on just as low as 6-8 hours per week if you just know and make the very best mix of low, medium and high intensity. This is golden and the majority of runners here at the forum should start to try understand this is the "new age" of proper smart effective training. It functions great to all levels of runners, just to train optimal effective and avoid overtraining and injury. Does it function even at the marathon? Of course! The demand of the marathon is just to last the time you are possible to do up to your shape, nothing less and nothing more. Good luck with your running!🇸🇪🧙🏼♂️🇸🇪Coach J.S
"I've seen no indication you can win the TDF with all zone 2 training" - surely the worst hot take I've ever seen. No. S**t. Sherlock. Who tf has ever suggested that. Like ever?
Any sensible training plan will also have zone 2. I've seen one example here of someone who did all zone 2 on the bike. One of the guys in the Norwegian thread on limited time. Even he said it was dumb. Although it worked, it was a horrific use of his time and could have been achieved on probably half the time on bike. Even a time crunched cyclist on 6-8 hours a week will be doing some zone 2.
Thanks for the video. This is exactly what I have " preached" here for soon a decade. High mileage mostly at zone 2 is not the smartest and effective way to go. You can realy over the years reach your optimum possible results on just as low as 6-8 hours per week if you just know and make the very best mix of low, medium and high intensity. This is golden and the majority of runners here at the forum should start to try understand this is the "new age" of proper smart effective training. It functions great to all levels of runners, just to train optimal effective and avoid overtraining and injury. Does it function even at the marathon? Of course! The demand of the marathon is just to last the time you are possible to do up to your shape, nothing less and nothing more. Good luck with your running!🇸🇪🧙🏼♂️🇸🇪Coach J.S
"I've seen no indication you can win the TDF with all zone 2 training" - surely the worst hot take I've ever seen. No. S**t. Sherlock. Who tf has ever suggested that. Like ever?
Any sensible training plan will also have zone 2. I've seen one example here of someone who did all zone 2 on the bike. One of the guys in the Norwegian thread on limited time. Even he said it was dumb. Although it worked, it was a horrific use of his time and could have been achieved on probably half the time on bike. Even a time crunched cyclist on 6-8 hours a week will be doing some zone 2.
Shows how broken the whole discussion about training is. I (some) of those involved, may come from a good place, but when their thoughts and messages are delivered through the media algorithm its just headlines left. Seems like people/the discourse only have room for one thought, and one take home messages. "Oh zone 2 is cool, lets train only zone 2" and here "zone 2 is overrated!!". While reality is something else. As you say, if you are going to work out for some hours throughout the week you will end up doing some zone 2.
In fairness, he's talking about the bike where you're logging far more hours in triathlon compared to running. Makes sense to get in high intensity & do a lot of easy work to recover from it. He doesn't like the grey zone training & there's not a lot of room for it, in his opinion, when you're trying to be great at 3 sports. The Norwegians do a ton of work at LT1, just above Z2. A lot of runners will aggressively push their threshold paces for their T sessions. Norwegians differentiate LT1 + LT2 & do a good amount of work @ LT1 which equates to something around marathon pace. Pretty close to Z2.
In fairness, he's talking about the bike where you're logging far more hours in triathlon compared to running. Makes sense to get in high intensity & do a lot of easy work to recover from it. He doesn't like the grey zone training & there's not a lot of room for it, in his opinion, when you're trying to be great at 3 sports. The Norwegians do a ton of work at LT1, just above Z2. A lot of runners will aggressively push their threshold paces for their T sessions. Norwegians differentiate LT1 + LT2 & do a good amount of work @ LT1 which equates to something around marathon pace. Pretty close to Z2.
I find this stuff confusing. What is meant by high intensity? - V02 max and above? Whenever I trained like this (V02 max workouts 1X or 2x week plus easy jogging on days in between) my performances plummeted quite dramatically, and I saw the same sort of thing happen with a lot of other runners. I therefore never really understood how Stephen Seiler came to the conclusion of 80/20 training being the best way to train as he is a respected scientist.
Do the Norwegians consider LT training as "intense"? From listening to Stephen Seiler's talks I thought there were considered as "moderate" or in that "grey zone".
My High School Coach in 1982: "Welcome to cross country! I utilize the principles of Arthur Lydiard in my training. We will do some intense running, some time trials at 7/8 effort, and hills but, most days will be longer, gentle mileage to build endurance and to recover from the hard running."
Coaches in the 2020s: "I use an 80/20 approach based on the latest science. 20% of our training will be fast running, threshold sessions, and hills. 80% will be Zone 2 runs - easy running to build aerobic endurance and to recover from the hard running. This is cutting edge stuff!"