Training Zone Descriptions And Benefits

Training zones below is brief description and the benefits of each zone. Training zones are an essential aspect of any fitness routine and offer a quantifiable method of guiding workouts and determining intensity. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced athlete, understanding your training zones can help you tailor your workouts to your fitness goals and maximize your results. In this blog post, we will explore a brief description and the benefits of each zone.

Zone 1

This is known as Active Recovery where average power is below 55% of FTP and heart rate is below 68% of LTHR or below 72% of MHR.

• Duration: 45 to 90 minutes

• Perceived exertion: Very easy, RPE below 2

• What it should feel like: Easy spin, low sensation of leg fatigue (like a slow walk), resting/normal breathing rate, able to hold a conversation.

• Benefits: Training at this intensity will boost your recovery.

Zone 2

This is known as Aerobic Base training where the target average power is 56% to 75% of FTP and heart rate is 69% to 83% of LTHR or 72% to 82% of MHR.

• Duration: 1 to 6 hours

• Perceived exertion: Easy to moderate, RPE 2-4

• What it should feel like: All day effort, low to moderate sensations of leg fatigue, easy breathing, able to hold a conversation but sometimes sounding slightly out of breath when talking.

• Benefits: Basic cardiovascular training, training at this intensity improves aerobic capacity; in other words, stamina. Your body will get better at burning fat (improve mitochondrial flexibility, which is the ability to burn fat versus glucose for low demand activities.) and your muscular fitness will increase along with your capillary density. The benefits extend beyond athletic performance, positively impacting everyday health factors too.

Zone 3

This is known as Tempo training where the target average power is 76% to 91% of FTP and heart rate is 84% to 94% of LTHR or 83% to 87% of MHR.

• Duration: 1 to 4 hours

• Perceived exertion: Moderately hard, RPE 5-6

• What it should feel like: Comfortably hard, moderately high to strong sensations of leg fatigue, breathing heavily, challenging to hold a conversation.

• Benefits: Training in this zone will make moderate efforts easier and improve your efficiency.

Zone 4

This is known as Lactate Threshold training where the target average power is 92% to 105% of FTP and heart rate 95% to 100% of LTHR or 88% to 93% of MHR.

• Duration: 10 to 30 minutes

• Perceived exertion: Hard, RPE 7-8

• What it should feel like: Race pace, steady, strong sensation of leg fatigue, breathing heavily to being short of breath, able to speak a sentence.

• Benefit: You’ll be able to withstand higher levels of lactic acid in your blood for longer - improve your ability to maintain high intensities for long periods. Blood plasma increases which significantly improve your endurance performance.

Zone 5

This is known as VO2max training where the target average power is 106% to 120% of FTP and heart rate above 106% of LTHR or 94% to 100% of MHR.

• Duration: 3 to 8 minutes

• Perceived exertion: Very Hard, RPE 8-9

• What it should feel like: Vigorous and forceful, strong to severe sensations of leg fatigue, breathing is ragged, able to speak a few words.

• Benefits: Training in this zone will increase your anaerobic and muscular endurance, power and cardiovascular levels. Other promising health benefits include increased lifespan, reduced risk for stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

"The benefits are simple: The greater your VO2max, the more oxygen your body can consume, and the more effectively your body can use that oxygen to generate the maximum amount of energy."

Zone 6

This is known as Anaerobic Capacity training where the target average power is 121% to 150% of FTP and heart rate is generally not used as a guide.

• Duration: 30 seconds to 3 minutes

• Perceived exertion: Submaximal, RPE 9-10

• What it should feel like: Explosive and forceful, severe sensation of leg fatigue, can barely breathe, able to speak 1 to 2 short words.

• Benefits: Training in this zone can increase the amount of power produced over a short period.

Zone 7

This is known as Neuromuscular Power training where target power/effort is maximal, way above 150% of FTP and heart rate is generally not used as a guide. Power is useful as a guide but only in reference to similar efforts.

• Duration: Less than 30 seconds.

• Perceived exertion: Maximal, RPE 10

• What it should feel like: Explosive and forceful, severe sensation of leg fatigue, out of breath, unable to speak.

• Benefits: Sprint training forces the physiological adaptations to increase neuromuscular power, recruit more motor units, hypertrophy of more type II muscle fibres, and improve recruitment synchronicity (Linossier, 1997; Lucía, 2000).

• Tip: All you need to do is to commit to the maximum effort for the required duration.

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That is it. Thank you for reading. I hope you found it to be a useful resource.