Do You NEED A Sports Watch? | The Importance Of Zone 2 Training
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Zone 2 running, why it's important and is it possible WITHOUT a watch?
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#Running #Zone2 #marklewis
For me it’s not just the long term improvement in my pace when doing Zone 2 training, it’s that I actually just enjoy it. Going out on a Sunday morning, popping on a podcast or audio book and just running. Knocking out 30/35km and not feeling dead after. Amazing feeling
Zone 2 is too slow and hard to do. Most of my easy runs are in zone 3
@@T59-j7k you just gotta go where you're uncomfortable and train a bit more in zone 2 I promise it'll get easier in a few months mate
@@T59-j7kI find the same with running you're just shuffling your feet. Zone 2 is easier on a bike for me
For me the main point of a watch is to gamify running/sports. It motivates me to see the numbers.
Mark I stopped watching your videos for a while but have gotten back into them since I'm attempting my first half marathon in under 2 hours in a few months and I just wanted to let you know what a huge source of motivation you are. Coming back I realised that last time I had been watching your videos regularly I ran 6 half marathons in 6 weeks and how much you played a part in me finding the motivation to do that. All the Best from NYC!
Good luck:)
Zone 2/MAF training is undoubtedly awesome for reducing fatigue, preventing injuries and enjoying running. I've been doing a 'MAF test' every month since Jan and my spluts have been tumbling. However, running in zone 2 without a HRM feels harder than running in zone 3, where we find that flow/cruising state. I did a full 4-month marathon training programme 'naked' to see if it helped, and while it got rid of my obsession with PBs, I also found that my natural tendency is always to run too fast, especially when doing long slow runs. 99% of my running now is done with only my heart rate on the watch screen, and it works really well.
I'm the same. I only ever look at my heart rate on my watch.
I'll re watch for your views, mate. Love your comedy take on fitness. A breath of fresh air.
Hi Mark. Been following for a few months and I love the content! A bit silly that youtube took the other video down (I assume that's the case, anyway). I'll watch again for the views! Finding the videos really entertaining and motivating as I cruise through my own fitness journey. Thanks a lot and cheers from Canada!
🙏
Thought I was going mad for a while there. Couldn't understand how I'd seen the video when it was uploaded 40 minutes ago!
This one doesn’t have a thumbnail that breaks the adult content rules 🙄
Great video, Mark. Again, balanced, nuanced and very educational. In a fun way. Legend.
Thanks for this. When I started running, I had a mechanical pedometer type thingy you would clip to your belt, and it would give you the miles run just by multiplying your estimated stride length and the number of steps. It felt fab to have a handle on distance, but pace was always just about feeling comfortable. Then after some time away from running, I found I had no more feel for race pace, and in a race, would panic after every mile marker. Then 10 years ago, I got my first GPS watch, and never looked back. Something the tech does help you with re heart rate zones is effort across a run where there may be hills or if it is windy (like today). I know recording effort in a journal would be ideal, but the tech makes this easy. And not everyone has access to a track.
I recently made a device to auto adjust the speed on my treadmill to keep me in zone 2. it works like a charm. Otherwise I have many issues wanting to run to fast!
Starting out too fast is due to the different energy systems that come into play. As those energy systems start to deplete (ATP, Muscle Glycogen, Liver Glycogen, etc...) performance slowly drops off and or fat oxidation increases to maximum aerobic threshold to help keep performance up. Of course, this is an overall simplistic explanation, but is why many people end up starting out fast saying "this is easy" when 5, 10, 60 minutes later they have slowed down and their heart rate has shot up. IMO, to find the correct Zone 2 training pace for long durations, one needs to go into the session with depleted energy and then target the pace that puts their HR that is appropriate. This is not ideal for short duration events, but it is for really long stuff. The way I see it, you can always supplement with glucose during a hard effort and that system simply becomes available as the energy is available, you don't really get better at burning glucose so that isn't a system that needs to be trained extensively. To give an example: I wake up in the morning having been fed extremely well. Zone 2 for me under those conditions of 30 minutes of exercise is going to be way faster (more energy expended) than if I decided to reduce carbohydrate intakes for every days to deplete those stores. This means that trying to stay in a specific zone while having glycogen stores topped off means you will need to slow your pace as your deplete glycogen, all just to stay in the target zone. When well fed, the heart rate takes a really long time to settle and figure out where it will end up after 30 minutes. You can start at 120bpm and within 30 minutes you can be at max HR. That isn't the case if you enter a workout fairly depleted. The high rate goes up almost immediately because the only real energy system in use (primary, as you can never completely run out of glycogen) is fat oxidation. So you can easily find your Zone 2 within a few minutes and generally keep the same or similar pace indefinitely.
It was for this exact reason why I bought myself a commercial treadmill. Previously on my easy-run days I'd either go out too fast or I'd speed up during the run. Now I can set my easy-run pace and I can be confident I'm getting all the benefits of the easy run. Better still, I can set a steady pace, a tempo pace or even better, I can do a hard progressive run. One of my sessions is a 16km progressive run dialing up to a new pace every 4km and by the end (especially when I've dialed up for the last sector), I'm completely hammered. I truly hate this workout but I know it's hugely beneficial, so I tolerate it.
Interesting. I have picked up from a couple of other training channels that I am not taking "easy runs" as easy as I should.
My main problem is that having set off at a steady plod I find myself gradually accelerating without realising it. I think I need to use my Forerunner to stay in the correct zone. Blast! I do struggle with IT.
Whatever: thanks. Checking into your advice is always worth it.
As Ben says on his channel This Messy Happy in reference to the easy run, "you should feel guilty at how slow you're running".
Also, it's why I bought a commercial treadmill. I also found I was going out too fast or speeding up during the run. Having a commercial treadmill allows me to set my easy pace and stick to it for the entire run.
I run 95 per cent of my runs in zone two. I run 30 miles / 50km a week. I subtract 50 (my age) from 180 to give me a target of 130bpm to run at. This is the MAF (or Maffetone) system of training. The idea being small changes in mitochondria take place over time while decreasing the risk of burn out or injury. Volume is everything.
The trouble with zone-2 training is that for most people, myself included, it's not actually running, it's barely more than a fast walk. Personally I absolutely hate suffling along and not actually running in the true sense. Not only that, many people simply don't have the time available to train at 80/20 yet still do enough mileage at race pace or beyond. If you only have 2-3 hours per week to train at 80/20 then it would leave just 25-35 minutes per week of quality running, which I doubt is sufficient to significantly push VO2 and LT. If you're extremely time limited then you will be better off using that short time running faster. If I have the time, which is rarely, I prefer to do the mind-numbing Z2 heart rate stuff on the bike turbo trainer while watching the telly. When I run, it's either an occasional social jog with the lad, a tempo/threshold run or speed intervals.
Tell me about it. When I brisk walk my heart rate does not get out of zone one, but as soon as I run it rockets up into zone 4/5. When HIIT cycling I can barely get into Zone 4 when going all out. Not sure whats going on.
@@stevetube1329 You don't say how long you've been cycling, but when I first started taking it more seriously (as opposed to the very occasional slow and short ride) I found that I couldn't get my heart rate up or even get out of breath. I think what was happening is that I simply didn't have the quad size and strength to demand much oxygen. I've now been cycling a lot more over the past 3 years and I can now very quickly hit max heart rate if I push on a bit. There's no doubt that my quads have significantly increased in size (still got chicken legs though LOL), and that's made the running better as well. I can now comfortably ride 100km in the hilly Peak District without being too exhausted. Three years ago a 30 km ride would have left my legs in bits.
Zone 2 training does take practice, but really works if you stick with it for a few months. The 80/20 method means you do 4 runs in zone 2 and the 5th run as a tempo run to build the speed.
Some suggestions for videos
- Beer mile, while Jen does wine mile. 4 beers/4 glasses of wine. How fast can you get it done!
- Jura fell race (hardest one day running event in the UK, 28km & 2370m). Plus you get to camp on a beautiful Island & there is a ceilidh (ps. It doesn't really kick off until 1130 when the locals come down from the pub).
- Two breweries race. Nice Scottish run (18 miles/1500m)
- cross country race ?? Give it's a go. Feels like those races are full of men in their 40s, 50s anyway 😂
Oh no, Ioved that thumbnail!
TH-cam explicit content team didn’t 🙄
@@MarkLewisfitness Aye! Massive shame though, great work on it.
I run with a Casio watch which doesn't tell me anything but the time and I can honestly say that I can guess my pace with 3-5 second accuracy but only in the pace range which I run often and have experience in, so from 4:50 to 5:40 per km. It comes down to experience, I know what a particular pace in that range feels like. It gets messed up when I run outside of paved roads, on hilly course etc. It is way harder to guess my pace in these conditions.
Same with me. I run with a standard digital watch. I map my run beforehand and I know what time I should be hitting at each km based on my target pace for the day. Having run for many years naturally I became better at knowing my paces anyway, but after buying a commercial treadmill years ago, which allows me to hold a given pace, this really has taught me to know my paces with a high degree of accuracy.
I don't seem to be able to run in zone 2, but I regularly run in zone 3 in the hope that as I get fitter at some point it will make zone 2 available as well (I do zone 2 training on the elliptical and the first km or so when I swim). I've found my Garmin watch invaluable in avoiding overtraining - I mostly have it with just heart rate and zone visible. Dropped in to give this version of the video a like as well.
Which model of Garmin do you have? Does it have an acoustic warning when your HR gets too high?
I’m trying to gather some information to get started myself….
@@messibeaucoup I have a forerunner 245, which works well for me. I think it can be made to give HR warnings, but I haven't experimented with that. When I am running to heart rate I just use a datascreen that just shows that and nothing else and look at it now and again and that seems sufficient. It gives an alert every km giving an indication of pace.
At first I didn’t want to watch because I myself am addicted to my fitness tracking on my Fenix 7 (and old school Fenix 3). But this was very insightful!
Such a great video. I constantly struggle with my pacing and try to run naked from time to time. I STILL go out way too fast every single race!
I see the TH-cam purity algorithm strikes again.
The algorithm I could understand, but this was a human review that didn’t like it!
@@MarkLewisfitness What? That’s just ridiculous. Just for that I’m gonna watch this one another time.
@@MarkLewisfitness Jens Dad
@@XanCrews was a bit insane.
@@MarkLewisfitness Thought Mary Whitehouse was dead!
Thank you! 🔥
We really appreciate your work 👍
Ah TH-cam, not wanting exercise out there haha
Funny old world!
I'm about to start with a coach for the first time in 10 days... running will be to RPE rather than pace or HR... scary new world!
i love the metaphors he uses
Run my first ultra last wkend finished 14th having the elevation profile and distance remaining on my wrist helped me make decisions near the end which were the difference between a top 15 finish and top 30.
Try to stay in zone 2 on long runs which I do once a week. I started parkrun 6 weeks ago. Got 25:13 and today ran 23:15. Nearly 2 minutes off in 6 weeks! Long runs 60-90 mins at talking pace in zone 2 once a week really do work folks!!
I switched to barefoot shoes. It causes me to do shorter strides, move more upward and slower. It's so nice to not be dead after jogging. Much better
Which shoes?
Leguano@@Nikki-tx1wd
You had me at
‘jens uncle Arnold’s wrist’
I am trying to do atleast one Zone 2 5k + per week as I am currently training for "Dalby Inferno and the 10 Circles of Suffering" 50km around Dalby Forrest.
Zone 2 is hard to maintain because I just want to pick up the pace so I switched it to a treadmil run and then it turns into a battle of wills not to up the speed.
Hey Mark, love your average guy athlete kind of content. Do you incorporate a lot of zone 2 training, like MAF/Maffetone style training? Would love to see a video on that if you do.
I don’t do enough but will be doing lots over the summer training for a 100k so will do content then 👍🏼
Will you be cutting to the 'never again' clip from the last 100k multiple times throughout the training updates?
Are u seriously so fast that jogging at a 6:26 mile pace is zone 2 for you? I must of misunderstood I’m assuming thats zone 4. The 9 min+ must of been zone 2.
That would be km not miles 😁. 6:26 miles pace is my 5km pace. A 5min mile is my max 1 mile effort.
No way cookbook man
Guess someone didn’t like the old thumbnail?
“Highly sexually explicit” apparently - I guess that makes the little mermaid hardcore 🙄
I guess I need to take care when changing my shirt after a Parkrun, not to ruin a TH-camr’s career.
I can't keep pace when running outdoors, so I do all of my running on a treadmill :p Keeps me in line
lol. i knew exactly what happened by just seeing the new thumbnail
You mentioned lactic acid but the body doesn't produce lactic acid, if it did it would burn through our blood vessels as acid would. Lactate is not lactic acid. Hope that helps.
Confirming once again that TH-cam are a bunch of withered nads. Have you considered uploading to somewhere like Rumble too?
It’s on my to do list. This might push that along!
I’d recommend my watch to anyone. It’s a COROS Pace 2.
Also, when I’m doing my easy runs I really struggle to stay slow. I can’t run much less than 5;30 when I know I should because I feel comfortable, but my heart rate is around 145 which is too high for east run pace
You can run less than 5:30, trust me. Try to shorten your stride and land midfoot directly under your body.
@@josephtobin4831 I’m gong for an easy run today so I’ll go as slow as possible!
When you are in a groove, a slow run is hard to do. I can keep mine around 9:15-10:15 by knowing how I feel
Are you guys both doing TPC this year? Hope to see you there if so.
Off topic question - do you experience any issues taking creatine and endurance training? I always hear negative feedback about bloat and cramps etc….
Again brilliant content
Hi Mark, I’m running a minute and a half slower than Marathon pace for my easy runs and can’t get in Zone 2 (10:15 pace) I’ve tried MAF and it’s not for me. I’ve recently started jeffing and walking the hills. Amazing recovery and I can get more volume. I wondered how you did this with Jen at her pace on the lap was 11:16 and still not Zone 2Did she just run as slow as she could or Jeff or set heart rate monitor alarm? Any tips to slow down are welcome.
Loved the video, one bit of constructive feedback, It would have been good to show on screen, the target, the actual and the delta (with a %) so you can see just how close or far the gaps where and how they increased (or not). Keep up the great content!
Also commenting to debunk the algorithm :)
I dont need a sports watch, i need some energy in my legs 😂
How much do those zones differ individually? I am 41 yo, and my max HR recorded was 196 when I was doing max effort 350-meter laps on my local track this summer. I first thought it was a glitch, but it recorded multiple times over 190 during that session. Personally zone 3 running feels like I don't really have to breathe at all and I don't have to push the pace and I run something like 5:30-5:45 pace. My 10K PB is a little over 50 min and my 5K is 24:05. I have run 2-3 times weekly last 2 years + biking, stairs exercise, and race-walking. I have tried a couple of times to run at zone 2 but it feels so stupidly slow, so I have rather race-walked with a 7:30ish pace. Then my HR is somewhat inside that zone 2. For example, my PB 10K walk was 1:10:30 and my avg HR was 150(somewhere middle of zone 3). I wonder how strict you should be with that zone 2 mantra, especially when it doesn't feel taxing to dip zone 3? I may try a half marathon someday, but my goals are 5K/10K, Cooper and I have tried to unlock the secrets of a 100m sprint. I just recently ran Cooper 2830m and I was super happy, couldn't have believed it before you could achieve it in your 40s.
My internal clock is soo off. If i guess my run time, I'd be lucky to get any bit accurate for distance and time.
It's like déjà vu all over again 😜
There are tribesmen in Africa who still practice persistence hunting. They will run after an antelope or gazelle, during the hottest part of the day, for hours on end, until the animal collapses from exhaustion. Do you think those guys would eat better if they had a fitness tracker telling them to slow down?
no, their watch would tell them that theyre going at the right pace. they have the watch in their heads because if they didnt, they would collapse of exhaustion
The biggest problem I have with maintaining heart rate, is the area I live in is extremely hilly. I can be running along and controlling things well then hit a quarter mile uphill and all the sudden I’m at 170 BPM.
dead serious. Walk the hills. Pro runners have said to do it on their easy runs keeps the hr in check.
I'm training for Chester Marathon and have a similar issue - I walk the hills. If you like, you can pause your tracker while you walk to ensure you get in the right running volume, or you can just walk them, depends on your goals really.
There is NO SHAME in walking hills, pro runners do it and it's central to ultrarunning. It took me a whole to get over my ego, but it's honestly transformed my training!
It helps if you can find a flattish area for your long run, I travel about 45 mins on bus to a nearby town and run there every weekend but it's not practical to do that during the week, so I just walk the hills.
As you get fitter you will find that you can run more of the hilly sections, especially if you reeeeeally slow your pace down, or you can try walking 20 strides / running 20 strides.
If you're going to try and run up hills, don't be afraid to run slower than you walk, if it gets the job done then who cares!
For the life of me I cant run in zone 2 ever. I've not long started running again after an injury and after around 1 minute 15 of running, i am in zone 4 where I remain for around 5 minutes then im into zone 5.
Zone 2 training for me is like a very very brisk walk, extremely slow jog where I look ridiculous
You'll get there eventually. Zone 2 tends to come after you have built up enough endurance where running a 10k your legs don't collapse beneath you. A lot of it has to do with core and leg strength, and good glutes that give you more efficient power so your feet don't have to do all of the work.
Can I ask what trainer Jen is using for her 50 & 100km races? I've always just done random training for races or followed what friends recommend. Now thinking a bit more education direction would be good
Brooks Ghost 15
Without a pulse monitor I train much too hard. Cant seem to regulate properly just by feel..
Garmin 24/7.
Déja vu.
Hi @mark can I ask where you for the Ultra training programme from for Jens Garmin? I can only find marathon distance
Trainings peaks 80/20 ultra pkan
@@MarkLewisfitness you sir, are a legend.
6:00min/km is a pace when you don't really enjoy running because you don't feel like running at all
Hey Mark, I know it's a re-upload but I'm never usually this early, so I just wanted to ask if you're still thinking of doing boxing or another combat sport for fitness, would love to see how you go at it.
Yes. Not sure when or what though. Will look at in the summer.
Video request - cross-over training session with Ben Parkes!
He can take you for a run then you can take him to a hyrox comp or training session!
I took heart rate off my cycling computer display and I didnt even notice it
although my bike has a power meter which as far as I know runners dont have
the thumbnail is different from what i remember
Is this based off max heart rate paces or heart rate reserve paces?
Either. We use % of threshold
@@MarkLewisfitness awesome and thank you. My MHR percentage is lower than my HRR percentage, so wasn’t sure if I should go with the lower or higher HR. I’ve been using the HRR as it seems pretty accurate near the middle to lower end of my Zone 2. I can nose breathe until about 141-143, but as I near Zone 3 (145-147) I pretty much need to breathe out through my mouth to keep my heart rate from spiking.
@@jefejeffwell1113 makes sense 👍🏼
Sometimes taking off the HRM and The Watch and just simply going out side for a run . Truly is LIBERATING. Takes you back when you were a kid simply "going outside to play". EVERY ONE DESERVES that moment in their life.
that was not a zone 2 run! In a zone 2 run, you don't breathe so heavily at all. You're at least zone 3 or 4.
dependent on heart rate, not vo2
My jogs are Zone 4 🤔
💪💪💪
Mark, I can see an armed forces crest over your left shoulder. I’m new to the channel so forgive me. Where did you serve?
Never served. Tried to get in Fleet Air Arm but too tall 😂
@@MarkLewisfitness 🤙. I’ve had another look. I was mistaken. Too tall. lol. Those blasted ejection seats. Great content though Mark. You have a new sub.
Do you live in RG42 or RG12
No
That's my local athletic track. I love your content, it makes me laugh and inspires me in my 50's to keep on training.
Dejavu
Men of culture
We meet again
Seb coe never needed a smart watch
No. But he did 99% of his training on a track with a stop watch. He would have had as much data as a smart earth owner
Maybe he didn't need a clock at all, because he had the task to just beat either Steve Ovett or Steve Cram. That reduces to simply beat Steve.
your thumbnail looks a lot like an ad
An ad for what? 😂
@@MarkLewisfitness not my point. I wasn't going to click on your video until I realized it wasn't an ad
@@soodless4159 I think a advert saying run without tech would be rejected by the tech company pretty quick 😁
@@MarkLewisfitness yeah but it would look like another fitness ad. look man im just trying to say that your thumbnail might deter viewers idk what your making a big deal about.
@@soodless4159 I think it’s a beautiful thumbnail that would not deter anyone 👌
To all the avocado toast eating latte drinking runners I am starting the Lands End to John O Groats run in 4 weeks time. 1000 miles in 70 days. 21-40km per day, no rest days and NO SPORTS WATCH.........I will run at 6min kms the whole way. Running is meant to be enjoyed, its not about teaching you how to collect and analyse data for egotistical reasons, or teaching you when to hit RECORD on the go pro 🙂
I can do conversions and kinda follow your avoidance of mile standards, but this whole "park run" thing just loses me. If you like metric, fine, but don't expect anyone to convert park runs to metric to standard numbers. It's a step too far.
Metric is "standard numbers".
According to Matt Parker, famous inventer of the parker square, the vasa sank, because different people used different inches. So be careful when entering a 🚢.
I thought a park run was always a 5K (3.1mi).
It's not very effective.
First thing, we teach the children,do not place fancy things like stuff and your body on lane one. There might be a fast runner competing. So I liked your video until I saw all this lots of room and you blocking the lane.
We were the only people that had booked the track 😂
Well, I really like that challenge. It will be part of my birthday party. You pick a time by chance and it is a fair competition between my friends, me and my children and nephews.
i usualy run without care with HR zone, as long as i'm comfortable.. anything else secondary..
Came by just to give it another like!
🙏
Zone 2 is NOT 60% max hr !
What is then?