Zone 2 training, trendy or true?

Zone 2 training - trendy or true?

Now that running is trending, running lingo is getting thrown around left, right and centre. But for many, it makes no sense. It is a whole new language that, unless you chatGPT it, it is hard to understand how it relates to you. ‘Zone training’ is one of the terms that you may have seen pop up on social media, perhaps on your garmin watch or maybe heard the gym bro talking about.

Especially with the new obsession around Zone 2 training.

The Science of zone 2 training

So let’s get into the science of Zone training and why Zone 2 is apparently the one that matters most. Running at different intensities has always been a part of training, but the idea of “zones” offers a clearer, more structured way to approach those varying effort levels. These zones are typically based on heart rate - not pace - so they provide a personalized guide that helps runners train smarter, not harder.

As someone who’s been in the fitness industry for over a decade, I’ve seen trends come and go. The recent rise of Zone 2 training feels like a direct response to the high-intensity craze we all lived through in the 2010s and early 2020s. Many of us - especially women - burnt out chasing HIIT workouts day after day, without enough recovery.

Zone 2 training is almost the antithesis of that. It prioritizes consistency, endurance, and recovery. And from a health and performance perspective, it just makes more sense - especially when we talk about training over the long term and syncing with our bodies rather than fighting against them.

Zone 2 deep dive

Zone 2 corresponds to a heart rate that’s roughly 60–70% of your maximum. It’s the zone where movement feels comfortable - you could carry on a conversation, breathe through your nose, and keep going for a while without feeling wrecked.

To give some perspective:

• Zone 1 is very light movement - think walking or mobility work.
• Zone 3 and above starts to push your cardiovascular system harder, typically above 70% of your max heart rate.

Zone 2 sits in the sweet spot where your body builds aerobic capacity, promotes fat metabolism, and enhances recovery, all without the wear and tear that comes from pushing too hard.

Zone 2 vs Easy Pace

We speak about running ‘easy pace’ at Femmi all the time, and this is in reference to Zone 2 training. Easy running is the unsung hero of most training plans.

Firstly, easy running gives us the ability to continue to build a strong aerobic base without asking too much of our legs. It helps with recovery, aiding blood flow to your muscles without pushing the intensity. By focusing on ‘Zone 2’ or ‘easy pace’ between our harder efforts, it gives us a better chance of reaching the intensities required when it matters eg on your speed run day or long run day.

Why at Femmi we speak to pace over HR or Zones

While heart rate can be a helpful tool, it’s not always the most reliable guide. Factors like genetics, hydration, sleep, stress, and yes, your menstrual cycle, can all affect heart rate. That’s why at Femmi, we encourage our runners to tune into feel over data.

We provide pace ranges instead of rigid zones, so you can learn what “easy” or “steady” feels like on any given day. This approach helps you build intuition around your training, so you can adapt based on where you’re at - mentally, physically, and hormonally.