Zone 2 - The boredom that give results

There has been years of debate and discussion regarding the pros and cons to zone 2 training. The fat burn zone, the ability to build you base strong for what all other performance is based upon. But what is it and does it work? This is my findings from winter months of sitting at zone 2.

What is Zone 2 Training?

Endurance zone – sitting between the active recovery zone 1 and tempo zone 3, Endurance zone 2 is riding between 55% and 75% of a riders FTP. And as the name suggests this is the zone that you would sit in for an endurance ride of 90+ Mins.

Utilizing the bodies type 1 slow twitch muscle fibres, zone 2 training is associated with the longer and slower rides and a rider can last pretty much endlessly in this zone with the correct fuelling due to the muscles just “ticking” over. Riding at this intensity is fairly low-fatigue but does stimulate the muscles and body more than active recovery would.

Also as the endurance zone is low fatigue and fully aerobic, it means that the muscles feed off the fat in the body rather than carbohydrate, making it beneficial for refining the body and also fat burning.

What are the benefits to training in zone 2?

Beside the fat burning aspect of Zone 2 training, this low fatigue training is super beneficial for the body in that being almost fully aerobic means that it improves a riders aerobic conditioning and the most aerobic benefit comes from developing the bodies mitochondrial density, also improving the enzyme production in the body and the fact that Zone 2 burns fat for fuel means that with reptation of riding in this zone is only going to make the benefits even bigger the more you do it.

How long do you need to ride in Zone 2 to get the benefits?

Now, riding for 3-4 hours in zone 2 is not practical for everyone. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on the benefits of zone 2. Incorporating sweet spot training can get some of the same benefits of zone 2 but for a much shorter amount of time.

However, this being said, for the most benefits for your riding and performance its best to ( If you can ) stick to the traditional zone 2 training, low and slow – low intensity meaning its naturally going to be a slower pace. Because it is so low intensity, it does mean to get the full effects of endurance training you will have to commit to those 2-3+ Hour rides.

The benefits are not just inside the body, riding Zone 2 and the long hours in the saddle, helps you as a rider to be more confident on the bike for long periods of time and also being comfortable in the saddle, getting used to where you can sit without discomfort or if you need to be thinking about moving your position on the bike. It means you will naturally be working and focussing on your pedal pattern and body movement patterns and you will be able to notice any changes that are needed. Also it means you can use this time to focus and work on the logistics of cycling without taking massive risks such as drinking from a bottle whilst riding, riding with one or no hands on the bike, feeding and fuelling techniques like taking a gel or a bar, and the chances of something going wrong are a lower risk.

Should I be using Zone 2 Training?

If you see your training as a pyramid, Zone 2 is your base layer, and the bigger your base the bigger everything else can be. This also depends on the type of rider you are – If like me you love the endurance rides, big days out on the bike, ultra-distance events then zone 2 will become your best friend. If you are a crit racer then your high end power is going to be more you friend, but even at this sort of intensity there will be times when you are sat in Zone 2 when you are in a group of dropped out the back.

If you are just a general cyclist who does a bit of anything and wants to just ride, then you may find that most of your riding is in zone 2 anyway – Group rides and social rides are 90% going to be in a comfortable Zone 2 or Tempo.

In general, if you want to improve your endurance rides and improve how fast you can sustain for a long ride, then riding more zone 2 into you training is going to be key. And riding Zone 2 through the winter months is going to be the best time to do it – mainly because it is off season from events so building your base over winter is going to help you more than trying to build a base during summer. Also in winter for most cyclists, we have the joys of Zwift and indoor riding. And that is what I did all winter, 8-10 Hours a week of steady Zone 2 on zwift.

Fuelling for Zone 2…..

The best way to fuel for Zone 2 training is to keep the body topped up with Carbohydrate like you would on most riding anyway. Even though the body will be burning fat during endurance training, keeping the carbs topped up will keep the muscles working steadily and prevent muscle damage and the long rides will mean that you can play, practise and nail down your nutritional strategy.

My experiences of Zone 2 and what did I do and learn.

So with having more personal time due to a change of life circumstances – it means that I had more time to focus on me and heading into winter it meant that I was able to change my training.

So from October – when I reinstalled Zwift for the winter – I headed in with the idea to have a constant and consistent amount of Zone 2. I hadn’t done much Zone 2 in the past and with the help from Andy at ATP Performance it was time to start bringing structure into my bike riding. Also I put my indoor training bike up on some books after listening to the GCN Tilt Training video with Wahoo.

Numbers – Heading into winter I was weighing in at 96kg with a FTP of 358. And the main focus points until end of February was Zone 2 2-4 times a week for 2-3 Hours a time, eating balanced meals and cutting out processed frozen foods and have the bike at a 8% incline for all indoor riding. Starting the winter off with my Zone 2 being 145-185 watts.

After a couple months, I began to notice a big amount of stomach fat loss, also muscle definition in the legs had really refined especially the glutes, and this was due to the incline on the bike, naturally working those “Climbing” muscles. This was something I wanted because of the events I have coming up, and climbing game was the main aspect I wanted to improve.

I Kept this game strong over the winter and at the end of Feb it was time to test and to see if the numbers matched how I was feeling. Weighing now 83kg, I hit the FTP test and I managed 355 watts. Meaning my FTP W/KG is now 4.3w/kg whereas at the start of this experiment it was at 3.7w/kg. So despite loosing 13kg the power was the same for the FTP which is all the numbers I could have asked for. ( Since this test, my weight has gone to 81kg and FTP is 362 watts, 4.4 w/kg ).

The only changes were diet, tilt training and zone 2. Diet and zone 2 will be the reason for the weight loss, Zone 2 will be the reason for the sustained power and the tilt training just helped with maintain a slightly higher power as I am always climbing but also made my leg game strong.

So with my Zone 2 now being 201-272 watts, it means that Zone 2 is constantly only getting harder, the more you do it, the more you push that zone and the more power you can maintain. Meaning that to start with Zone 2 may be slow and boring, but after time once you build that base, it becomes a real workout to sit inside that zone and to maintain it, and I have found social rides and group rides, I am using zone 1 a lot more, just because my Zone 2 has been ramped up.

Also my top end power has taken a hit of about 10%, My max sprint effort power is down and I think this is due to working to my strengths of endurance, and if I incorporated more Zone 5 and 6 training with the Zone 2 over this coming winter, then I will be able to have a strong top end as well as the endurance, but for me, my endurance will be my focus and the stronger that can be the better.

So does Zone 2 work? Yes it does. At first it may seem boring and pointless riding within that zone, and the thing I found hardest was holding myself back if riding outside. Not pushing hard on the climbs and just chilling, which is why I then moved to Zwift for zone 2. But the benefits of training this have really hit hard, and it was worth getting into the swing of it because now my Zone 2 is higher than my Threshold was back in 2019.

Hard work pays off!!