Zone 2 vs Vo2 Max Training Results: I WASTED 12 MONTHS!!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

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[@squngy0]

Cardio is not just one thing! There are at least 3 categories: Vo2Max, Muscular endurance, Aerobic endurance. Any one of these three can be a bottle neck in a specific situation and in that is the case, training the others will not help that much. However, there is a limit to how far you can train one of these without training the others. If you only train Vo2max for example, you will hit a wall that you will not be able to pass until you raise the other two to a higher level. To reach the maximum at any one of them, you must train all 3. Traditionally, most training plans train aerobic endurance first, because it takes the longest to train and is the easiest to maintain, so it is seen as the "base" for the others to stand on (+ it is low intensity, which is easier for most people). After that, most of the time the focus will be on muscular endurance (or threshold) while Vo2 will be sprinkled in where possible, due to taking a lot of time to property recover from a hard Vo2 block (proper Vo2 sessions should be extremely hard). In terms of performance, Vo2 max is relevant for thing you do for up to about 2-10ish minutes. Aerobic endurance is what you can sustain for all day (if your joints don't give out first) Muscular endurance is relevant for the stuff in between those two, so for most endurance sports it is the thing that will be the most relevant during a race.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

so the question is, how do you attempt starting this WITHOUT overwwhelming the individual. Also, people need reasons. Who needs to sustain full day endurance? Or how we get people excited about this? and finally, which person with life, work, family, can fit ALL training in together? Something is better than nothing

[@squngy0]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin You are right, I am not disagreeing with you at all! The neat part is, just like you said, anything is better than nothing. When you start, literally anything should be a noticeable improvement. Eventually however, improvements will slow down, that is when a more concrete plan starts to become more important, all the more so if you have limited time. Side note: "Who needs to sustain full day endurance?" almost no one *needs* it, however, raising it also raises the other 2 and allows you to build them higher. Most people are looking for the middle duration, but unfortunately, if you only train that you eventually hit a wall. If you want to improve any 1 thing to the maximum, you need to train all 3.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@squngy0 I totally agree. I think a case could be made for people to do day long hikes as part of that full day endurance! That works for me. As long as I set those up with friends. I also agree about all the 3 different types. I would say that I don't like the stationary bike because my legs fatigue SOOOO quickly (no muscle endurance). I have been deep into zone 2 (mitochondrial adaptation due to aerobic respiration demand) and then I would say threshold training (blood lactate levels) would be a good addition too. I always keep finding time to be the biggest limiting factor. How do you get around that?

[@squngy0]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin >How do you get around that? If you figure that out, you will be a billionaire

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@squngy0 😂🙌

[@nate11a]

Peter Attia doesn't recommend ONLY Zone 2 training for longevity and nobody expects a to run a good 5k time on only Zone 2. Anybody in the endurance world will know that periodization between focusing on foundational (eg zone 2) and race specific training (speed or VO2 max) is how you train for fast times. (And yeah zone 2 on a treadmill or anything stationary is boring. Go outside.)

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

hey @nate11a, yeah I know he doesn't recommend just zone 2 (trust me, I've consumed LOADS of his content. AND there are people who talk about 5k times improving or at least running the same time but having a easier time with the 5k coz the HR is lower. I definitely saw the best improvements in my times when I was running minimum 3 times a week for a year, but RARELY was that fully zone 2 as my HR would kick into zone 3 at the 30 min mark all the time, no matter how much I slowed it down. I think at the end of the day, I just went into Peter Attia's Vo2 data with reduced risk to all cause mortality and thought "what am I optimizing for?". "What do I really want to do?" and so, now, I'll get outside but no more dedicating LOADS of time to cardio. I'd rather do a steady demanding lifting session to get the heart rate in zone 2. What about you? How much time do you dedicate to it? Also, do you want to be an endurance athlete? Passion always leads habits. I'm not too passionate about the endurance stuff coz the risk:reward ratio is no bueno in my opinion.

[@MiguelAugusto1982]

Just Netflix and Zone2 ✌🏻😁

[@InfiniteQuest86]

The truth is he might be iron deficient. Only zone 2 should definitely improve your 5k by a lot. I would get that checked.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@InfiniteQuest86 ooooo interesting, why do you think that? How does iron connect with zone 2? I'll see about getting it checked

[@InfiniteQuest86]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Yeah, it directly impacts the body's ability to move oxygen around to the muscles. I did zone 2 for a couple of months and wasn't seeing much improvement. Got checked, and added supplementation. Within a week or two, I started seeing major improvements. I started running much faster at the same heart rate. Poking around some running forums and stuff, it seems pretty common with athletes and you see the same story play out a lot.

[@xuchenglin6256]

LOL you can't really talk about this without mentioning the volume... What you did wrong is your volume is way toooooo low. You just won't see any benefit for a total of just 1.5 hr easy cardio PER WEEK -- that's shorter than many guys' single session PER DAY -- to see any improvement to fitness, unless you were in the recovery from a surgery of something. Just ask anyone if you can get so much fitter with just 1.5 hr easy cardio per week... Ask all those resources you mentioned. Use your common sense, now you see the problem. The idea of "zone 2" is to max your training volume (in a matter of "time") without burning out. Basically, how to train everyday but still be able to recover the next day so you can train everyday. Zone 2 is a compromise, if you could go harder but still be able to recover the next day to continue training, why not go harder? It's only that soon you'll find that you can't hit the same intensity in the consecutive days, however the workout is still doable but your pace will automatically falls into that zone 2 range. That's how it works -- zone 2 as a result, but not a cause! If you really want to boost your fitness, all you need to do is just try to run every day. Consistency beats everything. My fitness jumped when I just started run every day... 30-45 minutes per day, 7 days a week (life gets in, you'll have your natural "rest days"), all year around. That's about 7-10km/day, 30-50km/week, just about the minimum in the running community. Garmin puts my Vo2max est. at 60, I ran a HM last Oct for 1:30. My zone 2 pace is 4:40-4:50/km, in a cold day when it's good sometimes I can cruise at zone 2 HR at 4:30/km for easy pace. Sometimes a hard tempo/LT session will see 5k in 20 minutes. That's all achieved with only one training method: just run everyday, for the amount time I mentioned above... I want to train more but I just find this is the length that I feel comfortable in my schedule. You'll do every intensity this day or that day, but for most days you just run zone 2, because that's the only possible pace you can run if you train everyday. All those zone 2 stuff is the result of trying to max training volume. When you try it you'll know it. Just can't see you seems so serious about your fitness but just can't improve the correct way. 😉

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

so the zone 2 training I did the first year was exactly what you said, too low a volume. It sucked, hence I didn't do it. By the end of the second year, I was doing EXACTLY what you talk about (well, 3-4 days a week) of just running. I was running 20K a week easily and most of the runs were at least 40 mins. Longer 90 min runs on the weekend, etc. I think what changed is 2 things: 1) what am I optimizing for? Do I really want to create a fitness system where I need to put in SOOO many hours in order to get the benefits? and then 2) There is a perspective that humans are "Born to run" (if you have heard of the book). well, I think I initially agreed with this perspective, now I'm not so sure. Regardless, my training now (perhaps I didn't mention it in the video), is a sprint, a long run, and regular shorter runs. What would you answer for the 2 things?

[@xuchenglin6256]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Do you feel you are on the edge??? What I mean is do you always wonder if you are "overtrained"??? IF not, then you can safely up the intensity AND the volume, till the edge you start wondering "maybe this is what they called overtraining???" Every "trainiac" you saw on the internet forums, trainerroad, etc, etc... is exactly at that edge, if not, then you are "under-trained" -- you didn't max out your potential, and maybe didn't even max out the value of your time invested either. Before that there's little use to tweak the detailed "training method" like what form of workout to do or what intensity distribution yields the best results. Because when there are some very low hanging fruits out there -- the intensity AND the volume -- you should just pick them up first. Because they are the dominant factors and very little change in these will just easily offset any of the other minor factors' marginal effect. There's no magical workout that is easy, time-efficient, and yields huge results... All the researches and talks are all about how to maximize the stimulation without burning out. More stimulations -> better result, as long as you don't burn out. If you are not "at edge" yet, like where you probably are now, just either go harder or go longer, if you can do both, then do both, it's the best. Anyway you won't burn out (20km is not much), so why not? This may come at a surprise to you because it's sounds too simple to be true. But people sometimes are just too smart to overlook the most basic yet most influential factors (me included). For people in real life like us, there's probably another factor to consider that is our time. Then the problem becomes how to smartly overload ourselves within the time budget, to get near to that burn out point as much as possible. Now you see the problem, all those zone 2 stuff and complex structures are for that situation where you are at your burn out limit but still want to get even more stimulation within the same load. Sometimes to exchange some of the high intensity stuff for some easy but long stuff gives you a little more, sometimes the opposite. That's all these researches are for. But your problem is different: your problem actually is how to overload yourself to that burn out point as fast as possible within your limited time frame so you can have the biggest stimulus. Completely different 2 problems. To solve this real problem, you need to consider the diminished returns and how things can easily/hardly fit in your life. The benefit of exercise decreases as the session length increases. 15 minutes have a higher effect/time ratio than 20 minutes, 20 minutes higher than 30 minutes, 30 a little bit higher than 45, 45 maybe the same with 60. For you daily life, you can always find 15 minutes at any moment of your day, but 45 minutes? That needs some arrangement in the schedule. And a 60 minutes workout??? well that's the first thing to cancel when you have other commitment. So to answer your 1) question, I think all the system you need is just to "run everyday with any duration, go as hard as you feel good. if you can only run 5 minutes, then run 5 minutes, but you have to run every day". This will give you the most bang for the bucks just for the reason I said above. That's better than 2 or 3 complex workout per week. This is what they call "consistency" if you go to forums like "let's run" or reddit advance running. Everyone would tell you the same thing, for 20km, you only have one problem -- that is your mileage is way too low, and to increase your mileage the first thing to do is just to ensure your "consistency" and this is it. If you still have the time and passion, then you can try to fit in some speed work or long run if you like it. Consider the everyday run is the mileage "base" and all these other stuff as bonus points. You can go as hard as you feel good but first you have to ensure your everyday run is there and not jeopardized. Of course there's probably a minimum volume there. But I don't think that will be SOOOO many hours. For me actually 45 minutes/day, or just 5-6 hours per week will already put me into that over-training edge. That's about 10K/day and 50-60K per week. That's a lot of time or a little time depends on how you see it, but I believe 5K everyday (25-30 minutes) will put you in a very good place and is very feasible in any kind of schedule. As to your 2) question, yes and no. What I mean is "human are born to run, but not born to jog". Just watch any kids running, they run the perfect form right? But how long can they last? Maybe just 30 seconds. Why? because their cardio system just can't keep up. Then just try for yourself, try to run the natural way, not the sprint, but the most natural run "run" form, not your "learned" jog form, and check the pace and how long can you hold. See the problem? You can run pretty well but the problem is the natural run you just can't last. My perfect form "run" run pace naturally falls into around 4:15/km pace -- that's when I just run, without deliberately to "run fast" or "run slow". That equals to a 21:15 5K or a 42:30 10K. That's a speed I just can't hold even 2 years ago. I can't run the way I'm born to run because I don't have the cardio. But when your cardio catches up, in fact you'll find yourself you can and you can actually do it very well. That's what I mean by "yes and no". People and most animals are born to run short sprint but not a long slow grind. Run-recovery-run, that's the nature's design. To run a continuous run effort it needs some serious cardio-vascular capabilities. However this doesn't comes natural without training. The most ironic part is that in order to train your cardio system, you need to spend a lot of time at this continuous intensity. You see the deadlock situation here. Run naturally needs cardio -> to improve cardio you need to run continously -> run consinously need cardio ->.... How you solve this problem? You hack the system by inventing a new gait that's not natural but sustainable. You learn how to jog. You jog till your cardio catches up. For me the "run" form and "jog" form separates around 5:00/km pace. Before that, there's only faster jog and slower jog. Only when I can run some substantial time within this pace, I found myself that there's actually another more natural run form other than the "learned" jog. I see a huge efficiency improvement when I "switch gear" to the run form, usually with almost same HR but the pace will directly go from 5:00+/km to something like 4:45/km, with very little cardio cost. I think that's another significant difference between pros/faster runners and most of the recreational runners. If you see pros like Kipchoge training you'll see his very easy run (4:00/km - 4:30/km) is almost the same natural form as with the race form, because this speed is fast and requires a fast form, even if it's easy for him. You'll see human are indeed born to run. As long as your cardio can hold it. But for most of the amateurs it's just not possible. Unfortunately many of them have to train with learned jog but race with run form. Or even just faster jog and slower jog, without ever experience the feeling of the natural "run form" you born with (for those 6:00/km - 6:30/km runners, for example). That's a dillema. All you can do is to continue to jog till you have that cardio fitness then the run will just comes as natural. Along the way maybe shred some weight -- there's no fat monkeys like us in the wild -- we are not supposed to live this way while still be able to run as we supposed to. ======== All in all, just chill out and do more. Nail the consistency first, max yourself out either with intensity or volume, then to worry about other stuffs. The results will just come.

[@jrkob1156]

@@xuchenglin6256 You are miscontruing entirely the purpose of zone 2 training. Watch Peter Attia's podcast with Inigo San Milan for its true physiological purpose.

[@shantiescovedo4361]

@@xuchenglin6256That is a lot to read. You should make your own video. I wanted to comment about much of this same stuff, but you have said it all. To be fair, I really enjoy running. I am slow and heavy, but my favorite runs are in the two to three hour range.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@xuchenglin6256 I wanted to add 2 details here. On number 1: you mentioned running every day, how much you run, the solution is to run, etc. I couldn't recover from my runs enough to run that daily. That would be a long build up to a point where i would be able to do this. Not feasible for everyone, I like the message "do the thing, keep it simple" but the time is just soooo much. I have a business, a family, and then my needs, it's a lot. No complaints. That's where I started changing my approach. I have 4 training programs depending on time and energy. Lots of time and energy? Option 1. Lots of time, low energy? Option 2. etc. On number 2, the born to run but develop a hack of jogging point. If you look at the pros, there is a trade off of wellness for performance, so as a rule I'm always suspicious of any elite athlete. Like you mention Kipchoge, my thoughts here are that his visceral body fat level and his lean muscle mass are not at a great ratio if you consider the data on health. This is a question of cardio to support a longer, higher quality health span. If the approach is to do more so that the result is run longer, run faster, or run world class, then the result will have a price. In your answer, the price would be great an amount of time for me. But you seem to like it, and passion dictates more for health than optimizing time and numbers. Kudos. Do you put much stock in vo2 max for health? What are you thoughts there?

[@Jay-sd9ye]

Want to run distance, run more often and keep pushing the distance. Want to run faster, run faster more often. Your body gets used to it pretty quickly. I'm doing both speed and distance for races. my slow distance runs are 8 min per mile (able to hold for 13ish miles). My fast distance runs are 6 min per mile(held for 6 min per mile). It all matters on why you are doing cardio. Don't over complicate cardio. It's not hard

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

🙌👏 great advice

[@emmarunyeard6832]

Speedy , well deserved, it takes work and you have obviously put the work in .

[@Ravedave5]

Consistent training schedule and 1x 4x4 a week has shown me improvements in 3 weeks.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

🙌🙌🙌 Preach!

[@manamana6117]

looking good bro

[@Avianthro]

Excellent advice! Your channel deserves a lot more subscribers! Keep up the great work!

[@gjonesii]

Thanks for an interesting and informative video.

[@patricklachance6880]

Moral of the story is don't just do slow runs and don't just do intervals. DO BOTH!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

lol, I would agree in theory, but based on some of the pro's in these comments, I would say the cost-benefit for slow runs is 8-10 hours a week/ 100-120kms a week for 3 years to see adaptations, or else you seem to wasting time. That sounds like a bad idea. What recommendations would you make for people getting started?

[@esgee3829]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin "sounds like a bad idea"...really? if you say you're interested in optimizing for healthspan, is this a bad idea?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@esgee3829 If optimizing my healthspan is the only goal, then now, but everything for a price my friend, and all things in harmony, what good is healthspan with no friends nor meaning? you get the idea, not just a simple matter of singular goals and no harmonizing. I must confess I am more swayed into doing more cardio after this video. I suppose the trick is finding enjoyable cardio

[@michael1]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin What do you mean by wasting time? Like if Pogacar's coach had said "You will win the TdF in 2020" and he says "Nah I must win it in 2017...forget it"? And if your stated goal is longevity then that's going to take decades isn't it? By definition. You want to live longer this year? How can you do that? You'll live for about a year this year whether you run or not, unless you die this year. If you want to run to extend your life well you won't get the results for a long time - how can you be wasting your time? Time to waste is your stated goal. Plus, if you didn't do any exercise for those 3 years you think your performance would be the same? If not, then the exercise works doesn't it? You can't expect to just improve and improve, otherwise we'd all be running faster than Usain bolt eventually. Maybe you're as fast as you'll ever be, but you can certainly be slower.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@michael1, I think I understand you, I'll try to formulate my response, let me know if I am off the mark and misunderstood you. "wasting time" is very vague, I agree so let me define what my goals are. IF I want to be superhuman, then all other goals are put to the side to focus on a singular outcome (let's say in this case VO2 max, but equally we could say sports specific performance). My core value is harmony. By singularly focusing on vo2 max, strength training, flexibility training, language learning, spending time with friends and family, training my dogs, etc. all now get less time. So in order to accommodate my goals, I look at my budgets of time, energy and money to see what I have to dedicate to my goals. According to experts in this video's comments section, I am not spending enough time and energy to see a result. Fair enough, but my budget, or perhaps my willingness, to sacrifice other areas of my life, does not afford me to dedicate more time to it. IF studies are to be believed, there is arguably more evidence that optimal body composition does more for longevity than an elite vo2 max. I'm happy with incremental changes at the moment, and my overarching value of longevity expresses itself in more than just cardio. I don't drink, smoke, I get my gut microbiome tested annually, I eat whole foods and try to eat a variety of 50 different plant foods a week. I prioritize sleep, my resting heart rate, respiration rate and HRV all indicate I'm moving in a positive direction physically, so I don't see the trade-off of throwing more of my time, energy, money budgets at it. For now. I must say that other aspect of all of this is that I HATED cardio on the bike, so I forced it. Whereas the assault bike, I really enjoy, so I am naturally doing more sessions. I think this could grow with more enjoyment and more results being evident. Ok, I think I have addressed your question? Let me know if I totally missed the mark. What are your thoughts?

[@hnmotorider242]

I started HR training running in January 2024. Based on my Garmin Forerunner watch, my inital VO2 Max was 46, and I reached 50 in July. For my surprise, I reached a VO2 Max of 51 in early September. It works if you combine zone 2 with zone 4 workouts. Keep grinding!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

That is awesome! @hnmotorider242 super great work!

[@dghost3473]

I think your issue might have been to expect speed out of your longevity approach. Acquiring speed is a bit different.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

thats fair.

[@g_rr_tt]

When I enlisted in the US Army 12 years ago, I couldn't run a complete 2 miles... However, my 1-mile time was 7:30. We did something called 30-60s (30 seconds full-out sprint, 60 seconds walk) and eventually worked up to 60-120s. I swear by that and ruck marches to improve cardio and leg endurance. My fastest time at the end of basic training was 12:25 2-mile time, and even going to my unit where I could smoke, drink, and eat junk food I was able to maintain 14:00 2-mile with just our weekly group runs.

[@m.a.c1379]

I think your main point is, do what you find enjoyable, and I fully agree. I do plenty of Z2 work because it is easier on my ageing body, and because I can watch stuff I have to watch while doing Z2 work, which helps me gain time. If you just want to feel fine and get better in a general purpose way, HIIT is fine. If you are obsessed with endurance sports and want to get the maximum, and can spare the time, traditional periodization (long base in winter, progressively harder efforts toward the late spring season) works for most people. Quicker to gain, quicker to lose too, and HIIT is quickest. Also, you may reach higher heights if you have an ample aerobic base before the VO2Max block. This said, there are so many approaches and experiences, the main thing is doing what works for you.

[@SebastianTrii]

i got great v02max just of zone 2 training prparing for ironman... but i cant help it to do atleast one zone 4/5 session per week... you need intervals even when builidng base.... i do zone 2 base building for max 3/4 weeks and then add intervals and tempo runs

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@polski1986 this sounds great. how much time do you normally spend doing zone 2 per week?

[@davidlyness4751]

Strange video but glad you have something you enjoy and feel benefits from. Seriously, there is no Z2 v VO2max battle: they are both very potent and powerful if deployed well. The 80 / 20 is what works for most endurance sports. BJJ is more subtle- alot of players gas because they don't know how breathe, manage pace.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

hey @davidlyness, appreciate your comment, although I would respectfully disagree. When considering which could impact health MORE? I would say all the data suggest vo2 max. When considering time and effort inputs? Vo2 max can be a better investment. Especially when you look at all the endurance people in the comments here and online, they invest HOURS every week. Time I don't have. But I take your point. If one were more interested in increasing mitochondrial efficacy and aerobic respiration, then the more suitable for the specific case would be zone 2. Needs will dictate the training, as will sports specific needs too. However, can we say in general that vo2 max efforts can improve people's health and longevity more so? and that it is an easier habit to start up? I believe so. What would you say to a recommendation for health and longevity?

[@TomsPakulis]

amazing video! thanks for sharing this information. There are so many videos out there talking about the zone 2 training as the gold standard to improve cardio. but this changed my mind and hopefully will save me time aswell

[@georgibg]

Respecting the VO2Max from your watch, training for running on a bike, 'zone 2 sucks'. I mean, man, I just don't know where to start. Have you even read a single article on endurance training?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yeah, and I think it needs clarifying that I'm not trying to be an endurance athlete (I realize with comments like these that I needed to communicate better in my video, I will improve in future videos, I'm learning). I'm just an average guy who wanted to start improving cardio. I saw amazing benefits going from nothing to something, but finding a SUSTAINABLE something is important for me. What is a sustainable habit? How do I measure these habits? So my 5k times were the beginning metric along with HR measurements, in the second year it became time spent running (and miles covered) but it proved itself unsustainable. Hence I went with vo2 max as the measurement that best represents the goal of health, then I looked at how best to achieve that goal (HIIT training) so basically that was where it evolved to. How much was I able to stick to the habits? Vo2 max stuff? super easy and my score is pretty good. 50.8 as measured in a proper assessment. Whereas the running and zone 2 stuff, I saw very little encouragement in the way of results or feelings of "this is getting easier". You asked me the question about endurance running, suggesting you know a lot on this topic. what would you recommend to someone looking to get started with a cardio habit?

[@georgibg]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Don't worry, I've made these mistakes more times than I can count and I still do. I've had several different coaches, some of them elite (near olympic-level), and others - very accomplished runners. I've learned that experimenting has led me to the biggest breakthroughs. However, this is not to say that you shouldn't read books and listen to podcasts, just that soaking up knowledge from different sources, making sense if it and applying in the field are really different (and hard) things. I still find myself listening to podcasts I've listened before and finding gems and re-learning bits of knowledge I've forgotten or neglected. Improving your 5K time should be a matter of mostly aerobic capacity as the 5K distance is 99% aerobic in nature. Measuring your progress by looking at a VO2Max number on your watch that's calculated by some obscure algorithm makes no sense for me. While it has been proven that some fitness watch brands come surprisingly close to real VO2Max test measurements, I still wouldn't look at this number. Improving your lactate threshold is what you should be aiming before you aim at improving your VO2Max which also happens to be a less trainable physiological aspect. Also, doing base (capacity) building with only 'easy' runs is a common pitfall which I'm guilty of myself. Here's a great podcast episode that will help you avoid making these mistakes: www.listennotes.com/podcasts/performance/111-avoid-these-base-psAIW6-g_Sc/. I've found that running too easy has been unproductive for me, especially if I've been doing it for an extended period of time. Some time ago I bought a Stryd power meter and started testing my critical power and pace occasionally. This consists of a 30-minute all-out time trial. You may find more information on how to perform it here, it's quite simple : drwilloconnor.com/running-training-zones-calculator/. You don't need a power meter but you do need a chest strap in order to take an accurate heart rate reading. In fact, a chest strap or at least an accurate optical heart rate monitor such as Polar Verity Sense or the Coros Optical HRM is a must if you don't have one already! Relying on your watch's built-in HRM is something I would strongly advise you to avoid unless it's one of the latest Apple Watch models (they happen to be very accurate to anyone's surprise - check out TheQuantifiedScientist channel on KZbin for a detailed review). If you happen to be already running with Stryd, you may give coach Steve Palladino a follow on Facebook - he shares interesting stuff! To answer your last question - start running more. More regularly and more miles but increase the volume gradually. Do mostly easy runs and sometimes (once a week) run hard but not all out. Find you true zone 2 by doing the 30-minute time trial and spend a few weeks only in zone 2. I've been seeing very good progress by just increasing my zone 2 pace to the top of the zone. I was previously running at 75% of my critical power as measured by the 30-minute test and doing 110-130km per week. Now I'm running at 80% of critical power which is right at the top of my zone 2 and it has been anything but easy and I'm barely touching 100km per week. Quicker paces are now starting to feel much easier.

[@DonAlex37]

I’m a 38 years old , I used to compete in fitness / bodybuilding. I haven’t done lots of cardio in my carrier , as for now I’m a fitness instructor and shamefully my garmin watch states my vo2 max at 34-36 . I’ve started doing lots of zone two cardio , even HIIT , my watch still shows the same numbers . My endurance it’s high . I start to wonder how accurate it’s the garmin watch . I use the fenix 6 . Anybody with similar experience?

[@pikachupiano]

i totally agree that choosing sth u like is important, and then standard will elevate. I play badminton at quite a high intensity, heart rate usually goes up to 185… which is extremely exhausting. But I consistently play 8 hrs a week, and still want to improve by incorporating other workouts, like gym/vo2max/zone 2. I don’t need a training plan, my passion does it for me.

[@unknownKnownunknowns]

Appreciate your experience. you should have followed a 5k training plan if you wanted to show improvement there - a mix of speed and longer runs every week. 5o year old science!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Hey @steven871. You are absolutely right. I was just trying to figure out with what was available to me, what was good. Unfortunately, I didn't have a nice neighborhood to run in, just stationary bikes and treadmills. So that wouldn't have been the best for my situation. Also, after this journey, I realize I don't care too much about 5k times, just that I want to be heart fit. So with that, what can I do minimally, mediumly and maximally depending on time and energy budgets. Thankfully, I feel great about all of the above and I'm doing a mix now. ALSO, I really find it hard to follow plans coz life gets in the way, so just creating the habit is the focus. Do the thing. How much time do you dedicate to cardio? How often does life derail you?

[@danielnunez2525]

Zone 2 training is called "Base Training" for a reason, it helps you to build an aerobic base that will help you to recover better from your runs, and that will let you do more high intensity training or weekly milleage. For example, using the 80/20 rule Jakob Ingebrigtsen runs 30+ kms AT HIGH INTENSITY 1 year ago I was running 5k in 22:30 and my weekly milleage was about 20(32 km) but I was running without a plan or periodization. I started a 16 week plan to improve it, Im currently in week 10 and I did 8 weeks of base training where I was running 100% in zone 2 and adding around 10% of distance every week. Im running 70 km this week and I already added the intervals and tresholds and I noticed that I can do a very hard interval session, lets say 16x400 at 4:00 pace(1:36 per lap) and 2 min recovery and be ready for the next day(I run every day of the week) and that because of the base training that helps your recovery. Right now I can do a 5k in like 20:30 and that improve was all because of the zone 2 training because I did it two weeks ago(when I was doing 100% zone 2) My goal is to reach 5k sub 16 in two years and a weekly milleage of 80(125 km). What was your milleage during that year? Maybe it was too low or you didn't improved it every week. I think that if you don't have enough time it is better to do intervals 2 or even 3 of those 4 times per week and the improvement will be better, because zone 2 training needs at least 50+ km per week, and that number grows depending of your desired race pace, I mean, if I had to choose between running 20 km per week doing 15 in zone 4 and 5 in zone 2, or vice versa, I do choose 15 in zone 4, because if the distance is low, zone 4 pays better

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

First, let me say thank you for such a well-thought out and worded comment. I love talking about this stuff. ok, so let's talk about this. Running faster wasn't really my priority, it was a poor choice as a metric on my part. I just wanted overall fitness. So many people in the comments of this videos have mentioned how many hours of training per week and weekly distance you need to make zone 2 a success. I personally don't see it as a good trade off if I'm looking just to improve health. Funnily enough, I have found a training protocol that I'm doing now which is so similar to what you described! I will release a video on this soon once I get another assessment done. Hopefully my vo2 max has increased, otherwise it will be an embarrassing video. How does your body hold up with all that volume? Knees and ankles are ok? Congratulations on your progress and please share when you reach your goal!! good luck!!

[@danielnunez2525]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Thank you, Im still learning English and I appreciate your compliments. Well, to improve your VO2 max you have to do more high intensity intervals, because if you are running in zone 2 your body is not using enough oxigen to estimulate and overcompensate your VO2 max, remember that VO2 max is the maximun amount of oxigen that your body can metabolize in a certain period, and if you are at 60% of your max capacity you are not making an estimulus to improve that maximun amount. It is like weight lifting, if you do 40 reps with 5 kg you are improving your endurance, but not your strength, and if you do 8 reps with 20 kg you are improving your strength, in this case the strength is the equivalent of the VO2 max. About me, I feel better now than when I was running just 32 km(I remember that shin splits were my weakness, that is not the case right now) , and there are 3 major reasons: 1- Because I started the zone 2 training and focusing in my form(strides helps too), I have improved my technique and I run more relaxed now. Last year, without any plan or knowledge, I used to ran in zone 3 or 4 almost every time, and the days of intervals I was doing 6x800 running as fast as I could(in 2:40, like 3:20 min/km), that was very harmful. 2- I do 80% of my milleage in the treadmill(last year I was doing all of my milleage on road) 3- Im taking my time, I didn't go from 32 km to 70 in 2 weeks, it took me 10 weeks doing base training and continuous improving and I did it without pushing myself. Running every day helps a lot too, because I can distribute the effort, it is easier to run lets say 6 miles every day, and then you do 42 per week, than running 10.5 miles 4 days. In 6 weeks I will comment about my intent of 5k sub 20, and good luck to you too

[@SliZZn]

Hi i started cycling in july. My vo2max is at 52,5. Any advice how i will improve? At the moment i do just zone2 and races. Do i forget anything? And what is a good vo2max?

[@oliverallen5324]

Rhonda Patrick is providing evidence that more time in Zone 4/5 is needed to move the needle, and deep down we know if it doesn’t suck, it prob isn’t working.

[@st4331]

I completely disagree. There's tons of evidence that zone 2 moves the needle a lot. It took my V02 from 44 to 51 last year, I smashed my 5K PB with a 21.13, and then did my first 50K Ultra and came first in my age group (over 60). My son hated running until I introduced him to Z2 training. Now he loves it and last month did his first half marathon in 1hr 28m, all on Z2 training. I have now introduced one harder session into my training each week, as I'm targeting a sub 20m 5K, as well as another 50K Ultra this summer.

[@Rooster7six]

Peter Attias zone 2 is not zone 2 on a typical HR scale. His zone 2 is where is a little difficult to speak, so 140-150 bpm for me.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Hilarious that Attia says something that doesn't correspond to wearables and schmucks like me are wondering why it doesn't work. I have applied something different in my training that I'll go into in my next video coming at the end of the year. Basically, there are no zones and only a below and above lactate threshold. I have been training like this and if I think about Attia's recommendations, well my zone 2 would be my zone 4!

[@Rooster7six]

Lmao they make it so confusing 🤣. I just try to do days of everything. HIIT, fun try to beat my last time days and “zone 2” days. I’m only a couple months in though. I turn 48 this year and am trying to get the v02 max and health up. I enjoy your channel though! Keep up the great work!

[@Precisionpace]

Hey do you mind telling me what was your HR for your Zone 2 training? Also you said 3 sessions of about 30-40 minutes each? Did you do any other form of training during this time?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yo! sure no problem. My garmin told me my zone 2 was like 108-128. Ish. It was a while ago but I think I remember correctly. so apart from the running, I also did weight training. Mainly cable stuff, no programs, just general stuff. No other cardio either, I ran like 2 sessions during the week and one or two long ones on the weekend (well, longer, about 60 mins of running). Now that I know my lactate threshold, I would say I was running WAAAAAYYYY too slow and way to far under my capacity. Just like weight training, if the load is too light, there will be no adaptation really. I feel like the load was way too light. Although now, I'm doing 3x30mins per week but at greater intensities. I'll make a video about it and release it in a couple of months, but seeing some great results. Hopefully another metabolic assessment confirms the results.

[@azdhan]

Great video! Thanks for sharing.

[@Gowalkabout]

4x4 really improves your lactate threshold which makes you faster on the road. It really helps your body's ability to eliminate lactic acid from your muscles AND helps your body tolerate higher levels of lactic acid. Again, makes you faster. Glad to hear about other people's success.

[@vidnovoc9815]

It seems like your zone 2 training did its job. It built your base so you can now do things like Norwegian 4 by 4's. you quit smoking. I just started back running and I tried Norwegian 4 by 4's and my calves wouldn't let me, so now I am doing zone 2 training, and I am making surprisingly good progress. I think zone 2 is really the best place to start unless you are a young athlete. You can add speed stuff later if you want.

[@Cloppa2000]

So are you not doing any Z2 work now?? What do you think about short sprints of less than 20s with say 100s walking rests so you are working speed for your muscles but your HR stays in Z2? I'm trying to find information on this kind of Z2 training that apparently sprinters do, but not had any success yet!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

no zone 2 for me (except when I cut the grass in my yard, that is an hour and a half of zone 2). What you are talking about sounds close to what I'm currently doing. I do 2 cardio sessions per week. 1 of them I do 2:1 work to rest intervals, with HR about 130-140bpm for about 30 mins. The other day I do 1:10 work to rest intervals, sprint all out for 20s and then rest for 200s, and repeat for about 30 mins. My RHR has decreased by 6bpm in the last 2 months. I take that as a good adaptation. Check out this video for what inspired me. Maybe it'll help you? kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaCqnIt_ideEd68

[@Cloppa2000]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin That is awesome info! Thank you so much for this reply!

[@richardschofield2201]

So much of this was relatable it made it pretty funny to watch. I have my own version of the bus story. Doing pretty well at the moment. One long slow run, one zone 2 run and one hill sprint interval session a week. I felt a spread of activities was a good way to hedge my bets as I didn't know who or what to believe. I'm still slow but I surprise myself by the number of hours I can do on a long slow run.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

hahaa, glad it was relatable, I feel like we may all have one of those moments that help us determine priorities. very inspiring, I feel like I have to up my game on my long slow runs!

[@jimo50]

You seem too smart to have originally believed 30-40 minutes 3-4 days a week of zone 2 cycling alone-even for a year- would do anything for your 5K running time but ok.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

You underestimate my stupidity sir! :D nah, I have an issue with out-thinking a plan of action, so I decided to just do something for a year and see what happens. I know the video is a little scatter brained, I did the 80/20 method and just wanted to try see what would happen. Thanks to this experience, and the comments to this video, I'm more into HIIT and the Norwegian stuff than ever. What have you found?

[@jimo50]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Ha that’s great. Well you tried everything, and I find everything is good. Much like weightlifting, mixing it up bears the best results, it’s just a matter proportion and limits. I’m older, ex competitive middle distance runner, and I do believe a change in priorities has been very helpful. A ton of Zone 2, but definitely lots of balance mobility lifting etc and 4x4 Zone 5 at least once a week. Scheduled to appear at age 70 soon and never felt better or more fit. Great luck to you!

[@Edgycoo]

Saffas! Kiwi here. I totally agree with the sprints. Absolute max capacity for 40 seconds or so. I used to have shocking cardio. None. Then after school, around 28 years old i got into pushing light sleds and running hills. It absolutely changed me. I coached my nephews touch rugby team, id never played touch before, just rugby on the wing, but i was known for being unfit. I absolutely trounced my nephew and his friends. I could play and play and they would always gas out prior to me. I then read all these studies about zone 2 and also 2 min sled drags, i tried it all, just didnt work for me. My fitness went backwards. For me, 6-10 sub one minute all effort sprints is the way to go. You can start at 4 sprints in one session, and each week or so, as you progress, add in another sprint until you reach that point where recovery becomes an issue. Taper back. Hold there until your capacity catches up. For me, the double edge sword is i love weight training and weights plus max effort sub 1 min "sprints" eventually wrecks my sleep. So you must monitor yourself. You know you best. But its such a good stimulus and for me, results arw guaranteed.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

oooo, that sounds very interesting! 6-10 sub 1 minute all out sprints. very nice

[@jcrackerjcrack6401]

How did you determine your Zone.2? Attia is using inigo san milan's definition. Fat max

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Couple different ways. just the classic "let me wearable tell me what it is", then I also used the various formulas online, like the 220-age. And actually what I preferred was the "talk test". When I got my VO2 max tested, it turns out I was more or less in the range with all types.

[@jcrackerjcrack6401]

Thanks for the reply! I have been using fatmax from my vo2max test. For me, that was 107BPM with an AT of 135 and vo2max of 174. I've seen a jump from 37 to 43VO2max just working in fatmax for a few months. It seems to have stalled, so now I'm looking to add anaerobic threshold training and some Vo2 4X4, but I need to go slowly, my recovery isn't great yet

[@alfredkwok9239]

I did not smoke at all in my life and now I am 62 and ran over 75 Full Matathon and I had ran Boston Marathon by the age of 47. Now I still keep on riunning and my VO2Max in my Garmin Watch is around 48 and it does not rise for the whole year. I think I start to go for more Latice fast running to boost my VO2Max. I did a official VO2Max ib the Laboratery and the result is around 55 and that the year after the Boston Maratrhon in year 2009.

[@binarysun_]

Wait … your Garmin shows a vo2max of 48 and you do 30-40min 5ks? I do 25-30min 5ks and weekly zone 3 half-marathons and my Garmin barely shows 39 lol.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yeah, I'm not sure why my vo2 max was rated as this high. I feel like I'm still such a newbie with cardio training. Just check out other comments of people ripping my ideas and training to shreds. I will also say that I'm not sure how garmin or apple get their measurements. That's why I'll get another metabolic assessment in October and make a follow up to this video. My apple watch has started rating my cardio sessions in my current program at a vo2 max of 52! We'll see if that is accurate. I will say that 90% of my training is done nowadays on an assault bike, but I'll do another garmin 5k test a week before my assessment just to get a comparable number. Also what garmin do you have? Have you ever had a metabolic assessment? Maybe you'll find that the garmin number is waaaayyyy off if those are your times!

[@DM-jt4rh]

What was your vo2 doing steady state running 30-40min 5k?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

if you believe my garmin, it was 49. I didn't do a proper assessment to determine it. I'm doing some great protocols now and will test in 3 months and share it in a video coming soon.

[@DM-jt4rh]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin I don’t get how your vo2 was that high running 30-40min 5k?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@DM-jt4rh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@DM-jt4rh I don't think it was really that high, the garmin was probably overestimating.

[@jemand8462]

I read studies about the best training for recovery after a heart attack plus surgery on pubmed. The result was very clear, 4x4 HIIT with elderly heart desease patients was way more effective in increasing cardiovascular endurance then steady state long endurance traininf

[@omarb1337]

I think as you get better VO2 max, it becomes harder to improve further.. I'm 34 and just realized my VO2 max is 28.6 I will need to fix this.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yes it's true, those beginner gains, the higher you want to go, the more dialed in it needs to be! I may have some ideas for you when I release the follow up video to this in a couple of months. If you want these ideas earlier, check out the substack, I'll be released an audio next week

[@omarb1337]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Thank you Sir, I will definitely do.

[@zepho100]

Well the data for longevity is based on VO2 max, but those who have a high VO2 max also generally have a high endurance. I haven't seen any data that is exclusively for VO2 max training only? To get higher performance from VO2 max you'll need a solid foundation (endurance).

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

SO I have a newly formed opinion on this from various sources and I think it'll be seen soon enough in many ways. VO2 max is about heart max effort (kinda like lifting heavy and maxing out a muscle). So sprinting max effort = more VO2 max focussed. WHEREAS, the endurance based is correlated because frequent lifting, sub-optimally but frequent, will still impact VO2 max. Endurance is more about the cellular metabolism and aerobic respiration so yeah, they are connected to each other (people will high Vo2 max can have good endurance and vice versa). I do think you can bring one up directly. It will also bring one up, but the workload looks different, intervals vs. long hours of jogging (check out this video for an idea of what I'm talking about) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaCqnIt_ideEd68

[@brucelin5842]

Which cardio is best to burn fats? Since I can’t control my diet..😮‍💨

[@Boulevardfree]

The one you do when you get hungry instead of eating and that leaves your system so cranked up for 90min plus when you get back that the idea of food disgusts you. Ideally manage to fall asleep before the hunger comes creeping back. Diet's where it's at!

[@Foxtrottangoabc]

The saying you can't outrun ( cycle) a bad diet holds true from my experience . Outside of reducing your calorie intake then you really have to increase your training time volume . From personal experience , I like to cycle and if I can get to about 6hrs a week and over , 4hrs absolute minimum then my weight stabilises and I start to lose weight . Roughly roughly 600kcal an hour when cycling, so 6hrs is roughly 3600kcal a week ( not including the extra calorie burn after traing ) which if making an effort to cut calories during week I find I start to get results :)

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

​@@Foxtrottangoabc completely agree. Can't outwork a bad diet, or at least a diet where over consumption happens. Slay the dragon, get the rewards.

[@oliverallen5324]

Ignore the trolls. Telling a story takes time & care. Don’t rush to “get to the point.” Doing great; looking forward to new content

[@1waytoENGLISH]

thanks for sharing!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

My pleasure!

[@General1Cal]

I started walking 10k in steps per day, then went to one mile per day running, then 3-4 miles and from the start i was at 33 vo2 and now at 48. Pushing a 7:30 mile fastest 7:48, goal 5 min mile.

[@starlitshadows]

Yeah that low of volume on zone 2 won't do much. Inigo talks about at least an hour 5 days a week with some intervals on a couple days. I think it depends on your goals, if you are weight training and want a little cardio fitness and time crunched then I'd probably say you are better off doing intervals. If the volume is extremely low like 3 hrs or less a week then probably 3 sessions of intervals. You could do some Z2 and finish the last half off with some interval work. If the hours increase I'd probably stick with 2 intervals days and the rest zone 2. I'm focused on cycling fitness at the moment. Avg about 8 hrs a week. 2 interval days and the rest is zone 2 work. It's worked great but it's different goals.

[@pdp83]

This is a funny thing you mentioned seeing marginal gains from months of work. I too eventually kind of just hit a wall for years. Finally got into cycling when I turned 28 and the next year to my surprise I did a 5k on the treadmill and I ran my fastest 5k time ever after years of barely improving. The point is that once we plateau sometimes we need to switch things up with different kinds of workouts. For me the Vo2 intervals helped me level up my cycling, but cross-training is another way to improve health, performance, and longevity. IMO as you become a more well rounded athlete, you don't get injured as easily and that is what I think Peter is really trying to help people with... Becoming overall healthier folks who can enjoy their lives better! Ironically enough for me when I was 30 I developed bad food allergies and spent the next 3 years being sick not knowing the cause till I figured it out... Now I know so much more about the importance of food/nutrition and the value of good sleep. Peter's book does a really good job of shedding light on a lot of these topics as well as many other modern training/health books.

[@Foxtrottangoabc]

Ive recently added 4x4 weekly sessions to my garmin cycling 100miler training program as i decided thats gonna be more beneficial and better for my knees than a 2hr midweek z2 indoor session . I quite like it , 90% max at the moment. Now the weatherss nicerish and days longer in uk im back doing longer outdoor bike rides and i do find that once my rides get over 3hrs that really improves my fitness , i am conscious now to keep heart rate under 160 , currently trying to make sure under 150 , but theres several hills . If i go all out i suffer for days but if i make effort to go slow and steady i feel so much better 🙂 which is when i appreciate the principles of z2 training on long rides , so im trying to get slower on the longer rides and see what happens

[@jerryb.7021]

I get my VO2 Max number from an Apple Watch. Not sure how accurate the absolute number is, but I am looking more at the trend. When I started doing consistent zone 2 runs, my VO2 max diminished from 40 to 38 after a couple months. It was very frustrating. I was exercising a lot more consistently, a lot more miles per week, many more days per week, yet the VO2 max got worse. After 1.5 years, my VO2 max is now 42.3. But I don't just do zone 2. I do a super hard run every week where I'm sure my heart rate goes into zone 5 for part of it. I also do a long zone 3 run every week. So in my experience, zone 2 only will make you slower and lower your VO2 max.

[@weiwenng8096]

If I may, the video does conflate general fitness/longevity and sports performance. For general fitness, your advice to do what you can, do more of it as you're able, consider adding intervals after you've got some fitness - this is sound advice. To improve sports performance, especially once you're pretty fit: that's where you need to do some VO2max training (to hit your max, at least).

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

totally agree, appreciate this point! I think I am more aligned with general fitness and the transfer effect, hence my attempts are all over the board, from stationary bikes, to treadmills, from running outside to assault bikes

[@martinflo]

I recomend using chapters!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Done

[@evanhadkins5532]

Martin Gibala's One Minute Workout has several intense interval protocols that suit different preferences.

[@evanhadkins5532]

There's another test called the Rockport Walking Test - less demanding than the Cooper Test.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@evanhadkins5532 awesome, thank you. will check these out!

[@evanhadkins5532]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin hope it's useful

[@ranuelallencaabay6221]

Periodize the training based on specific goals and be a lilbit of a hibrid athlete. Experimenting on training and exercise makes us learn about ourselves better, but focusing on specifics provides faster results.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Totally agree! Mixing it up keeps things interesting, but having a clear goal in mind helps us stay on track. I do think that the "optimizer" attitude sometimes means you miss out on fulfilling things that are unmeasurable in conventional ways.

[@TripsonBudget]

I did zone 2 training for 6 months. I improve my 10k pb by 15 minutes: from 70 minutes to 55 minutes. Now I do also intervals tempo runs. I don't care about what VO2 my watch shows. Now I am about 50-51 minutes. Now it starts the real deal, to go to 40 min for 10k.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@TripsonBudget holy cow that's incredible. Congratulations! A 40min 10K is no joke! Good luck with that

[@hughjanus7354]

Is it noppe or is it yessa?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

🤣

[@BenWilsonuk1]

Running at 7km/h.. that is fast walking speed, surpise it is not a zone 1 heart rate session. When my vo2 max was 49 i could run 24 min 5km. Now it is 56 and im close to 20 mins. Im 80kg.

[@MichaelMiddletonTBH]

Nice job on the video. Keep up the good work. Many of the commenters aren't factoring in they age/healthspan/time considerations (and other goals) that you addressed in the video. I'm 54 and can't sustain the same volume and intensity as a 25 yo. I also want to add/retain muscle mass (and strength) so I do resistance training 3 days/week in addition to my running days AND, while I put as much (or more) emphasis on my nutrition, I don't want (or need) to be sub 10% body fat for optimal overall health. In short, I want to maximize my health as opposed to my 5k or 10k race times. That said, Vo2 Max is a critical part of that, and I think you addressed a problem that a lot of people have with that. I started my "program" about 13 months ago. I couldn't run a full mile. I started with some combination of walking, running, hiking and rucking 5K (in a single session) every day. It took over an hour every day. I progressively started running more than walking until, eventually, I could occasionally run the full distance. Then I started extending the distance (based on Garmin's daily recommendations for time/pace). Ultimately (based on reading Dr. Attia's book) I began mixing in resistance training and some sprint sessions (not as frequently as I'd like). My Vo2 Max improved significantly over the first several months (per my Apple/Garmin watch), but has been flat for the last six months. Honestly, the one thing that's been lacking during that time is the threshold (VO2 max) training. FWIW, I did run a local 5K a couple of weeks ago (a couple minutes faster than my PR at home) and followed that up with a 10K race last weekend (faster than 2x my previous 5K PR). From not being able to run a mile to being able to finish a 10K in a year is pretty good progress, IMO. One question I have for you. How did your actual VO2 Max test compare to the estimate from your Garmin and Apple watches?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Hey @MichaelMiddletonTBH, thanks for such a nice and encouraging response, you totally made my day. This program you are on sounds like a good one, you are making great progress here! Congrats on the 5k and 10k times!! Outstanding! Regarding your question, I found that the garmin was FAR more accurate than the apple watch in terms of guess-timating my vo2 max. I think they use a modification of the Cooper test that I mentioned because they require you to run for at least 10 mins to get a reading, and it has to be tracked by GPS, can't be on a treadmill. So they measure time and distance, makes me think they take that and add in some heart rate math, and viola, vo2 estimate. Apple watch (especially since I use an app called Athlytic) is wayyy under. Could be good for motivation?

[@zacsborntorunrunningadvent3441]

Norwegian 4x4 works for about 5 to 10wks because it stimulates the Anaerobic metabolism. Breathing heavily. The Anaerobic system can peak in 5wks. The Aerobic system can keep building for well over 3years. Hopefully this explains why your friend saw quick improvements with 4x4. Periodisation is key. If you can build up to 100-120km a wk for 2years youll be extremely fit. Cheers

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Yoooo, I think the biggest issue here is to relate healthy cardio to people who aren't bought into cardio. What is the "gateway drug" to get started? 100km a week? That isn't something a lot of people can do, just based on time commits. Let alone discussing energy or passion. What would be the beginning for people to get hooked on cardio in your opinion?

[@zacsborntorunrunningadvent3441]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin nice to hear back from you. 1st step is slowly building volume or time per week to a decent ish level. 60km a wk needs to be the minimum to really see the 80/20 style running with zone2 focus start to really flourish. Most people can find 30min 2x a day thats 8hrs a wk with a longrun on the Sunday early while the family sleeps etc. Beauty of accruing volume is the advantage of the 'Tanda Predictor'. The volume & pace you run in your 8wk lead up the marathon can predict it extremely accurately. Anyway, happy running. Cheers

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Maybe I'll start running when my family is asleep, so they won't see me struggling! ;)

[@ericbrown4667]

Awesome to see this! Well done amigo

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Thanks bro! So glad you enjoyed it

[@ZajkiVlog]

If you want to develop as a runner, you need to train both your aerobic base and VO2max. Many studies show that one of the most effective training methods is polarized or pyramidal training. Your experiment with attempting training is interesting, many people do it thinking they are actually training. However, this is not training in the literal sense. The best athletes do a lot of training in zone 2 (80-90%), but in addition to that, depending on the season, they also perform hard threshold and VO2max workouts. If you want to run faster, then train running; riding a stationary bike is ineffective for that. Good luck!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@ZajkiVlog I hear that. I have been trying to rather develop a non-sports specific cardio ability. Also I think there is a time budget variable that I contend with to get enough of that time. So many good comments like yours have opened my eyes to sooo much. Thanks for the comment

[@brucelin5842]

Do bodybuilder need cardio

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Absolutely, I would say that you should check out Mitchell Hooped (not a bodybuilder but a strongman competitor) and listen to what he says about cardio

[@CristobalAshton]

Train all zones and modes. I train using the hard/easy method of consecutive days

[@MikeJones-bg9vv]

Cant bike to run quicker....cant believe it took you a year to figure that out

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

🤣 yeah that wasn't the point, although I do feel stupid when you put it like that. Was trying to go for a transfer effect. Not running technique, just developing raw cardio that will benefit all areas of life. Wow @MikeJones-bg9vv, now I'm gonna go cry into my coffee for a while, don't mind me

[@tomaszsosnowski9279]

Great that you did succeed in giving up smoking, it's a terrible habit and teenagers are so prone to picking it up. I did smoke too from age 14 to 20, but quitting it was very easy for me. I just told myself that I quit and moved on to a better life without any cravings etc. Have you done any testing if it left any permanent damage in your lungs, respiratory system, mouth etc? My guess is that younger people have a chance to reverse a couple of years of smoking. If only cigs were so expensive as they are today, I would had smoked so much less of them, they were so cheap 15-20 years ago... They should be prohibitively expensive to dissuade young folks...

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Congrats on quitting to you too! I have not checked if it had an permanent damage 😳 although you got me worried now! Yeah, the systems around these bad habits are an issue. I used to smoke, drink and take drugs, now I'm so health-minded that people can't imagine me like this. I guess it is part of the growth. How did you quit? and are you more health-minded now?

[@tomaszsosnowski9279]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin i've become a gym/health-nut and did quit cold turkey. I was a social smoker, did enjoy smoking, even the taste of it, but I never felt once any sort of craving after quitting. Same with alcohol, like the taste of it, the buzz, but can live without it. Too busy with training.

[@jeredgines4197]

You built your aerobic base then you peaked then you did intervals. If you do this out of order you run a greater the risk of injury. He simply did things correct by accident.

[@rayperkperk]

Ruck w/good weight in a pack. And do 4x4 on a C2 Rowing Machine... Works wonders for me :)

[@Johan10683]

Excellent video with many practical tips. Liked and subscribed.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

Awesome, thank you!

[@gregorsobocan8833]

if you want ANY benefit from ZONE 2 you need to do it AT LEAST 70 minutes continious other then that it is a waste of time

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

I mean I'm open to that, the questions are: 1 - how do you define zone 2 (many comments here talking about this), 2 - how would you know that 70 mins is the time that shows benefit (how are we measuring aerobic respiration growth?)

[@AlteredState1123]

Hmm, the Norwegian VO2 max protocol is 4 minutes work followed by 3 minutes rest repeated four times. You have the rest at 4 minutes.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yeah, I have heard both. The study I discussed puts it at 1-1 in terms of rest to work intervals, Rhoda says 3 mins rest, others have said the same protocol for 4 mins. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I guess it depends who you listen to. What would you say would be the big difference between choosing 4 mins or 3 mins as your rest interval?

[@AlteredState1123]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Thanks! I am no expert, just going with my original source.

[@bmp713]

That you did not improve from Zone 2 seems to indicate that you already had decent heart and vascular conditioning, but likely poor oxygen utilization in your muscles. The fact that you could run a 5K at all without having to stop to walk shows very substantial aerobic fitness. After medical issues there was a time I could not even run a single mile without needing several walking breaks. Zone 2 helps more if you run out of breath first because you are limited by your heart, vascular system, and oxygen delivery. HIIT helps more if your muscles fatigue first because you are limited by oxygen utilization. To keep improving you need both.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

when I started trying to run 5ks at the beginning, I had to take breaks. My heart used to shoot sky high super fast. Pacing issue perhaps, but definitely also because of my stress response. Medical issues would definitely make things really difficult! I have a video coming out in a couple of months showing my current results from the routine I'm doing at the moment. Have seen some incredible results so far, let's see if they continue or if they are just short term adaptations.

[@yomama6461]

Are you Canadian?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

nope. My accent is not normal for where I come from. I have traveled a lot and I now live in the US

[@runnerup9786]

Get to the point man....

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@runnerup9786 you sound like my inner voice! Gotta learn to smell the roses or just chill with 14 min youtube video. ORRRRR you could install a video speed controller on your browser. It puts speed settings on everything. I watch everything on 2x speed, sometimes 2.5x. That's the point, responding to constructive criticism.

[@PoetWithPace]

There is a point to all videos? 🤩

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@PoetWithPace 🤣🤣

[@thuglaza4728]

Bro has TikTok brain 💀

[@morrisonmcqueen1364]

Oh Jesus!!

[@lowbarbillcraig3689]

... listened to Attia .. and never heard of VO2max and associated training methods? had to go to Patrick to learn about intervals? wut? serious?

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

ummm, yeah. So difficult to believe? I became aware of Vo2 thanks to him, Norwegian 4x4 research came out and Patrick was talking about it. I don't get it, why so surprised? What does it matter. anyway?

[@lowbarbillcraig3689]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Not difficult to believe, just surprised - I think PA discussed doing 4x4 even with Inigo in the famous z2 interviews, where Inigo says he does some HIIT at the end of z2. But yea, I've listened to 2 hour podcasts and realized at the end I missed 150 minutes.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@lowbarbillcraig3689 y'know I didn't mention that I actually stopped listening to him (well, almost all podcasts like this) a while ago, so I may have missed all of that. You know, I just reached a "science-based" podcast saturation between him, Rhonda, Huberman, and a few others. Just tuned outta that for a while and just asked "what can I do?" Hence the scatterbrained cardio attempts and less than scientific approach. Just tryin to find what works for me. Maybe its just me, I dunno, do you get to that point where you wanna delete all podcasts? What cardio do you find successful for you?

[@pmfith]

Attia is a Dunning-Kruger hack. I never pay any attention to his advice...

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@pmfith love this!!

[@angelovq]

zone 2 for 10 months? why would you do zone 2 for 10 months? this is like saying you will do base training for 10 months. also, zone 2 will help most on longer events (say marathons, 1/2 marathons, long endurance), not a 5k!! you were working with the wrong adaptation system. I would test lactate LT1, LT2 , recovery cyclist. otherwise running slow just great to learn to teach your body to be great at oxidizing fat utilization and creating a larger engine not a faster one.

[@OlieSimpson]

There is a lot of stuff in this that doesn't make much sense. First is that running solely in Zone 2 will have little to no effect on your VO2 Max as you are not running in an anaerobic state when in Zone 2, so you're not really challenging your body with how it can process oxygen. Second is Zone 2 runs need to be at least 45 mins per run (ideally longer) so if you're only doing 30 min 5 k's that will again not have much effect on your aerobic state. You need to be doing a mix of both if you want to improve, and most importantly be willing an able to put the time in.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yo @OlieSimpson. I agree. In the beginning, I didn't know that vo2 max wasn't really impacted by zone 2. When you listen to recommendations, people say it is, and I suppose to a degree, it can influence vo2 max, but indirectly. But I didn't mention vo2 max as a goal. I just started with zone 2 coz experts say that is where you build your foundation. Second, the recommendation is (as per Attia) is that zone 2 is done on a piece of equipment where you can monitor and regulate effort, not running. And online people talk about it as thought the time and distance doesn't matter, so long as you stay in zone 2, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I was very unsure how to proceed. As per people in the comments, and online, it seems that less than 3 years of 8 hours a week and one is wasting one's time invest in zone 2. For that alone I would say "f*ck it, no thanks". What would your recommendation be to people out there who want to invest in their health?

[@MrHaggyy]

😅 VO2 MAX wont improve if you stay in crouse control. Zone 2 makes you more efficient in the movement you are doing. So you won't have to open the throttle as much to keep a certain speed. But why should your body adapt to a bigger engine if you are not fully using the one you have. For a 5k race the engine couldn't be big enough, as you want to burn as much as possible. On longer distances you might run out of carbs as fuel. At that point getting more efficient is the best thing to do. And from a coaching point. If the training is boring as hell you wont see the effort and results you are hoping for. It needs to keep you on the toe without burning you down.

[@Hi-ov5nj]

Damn.. so many stingy comments here.. its almost like lowering your fitness age has your emotional maturation go down with it. Anyways! I enjoyed the video, Thanks mate!

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@Hi-ov5nj AMEN! I hope you weren't talking about some of my comments (I have to assume you are, and therefore will try and commit to making my comments as constructive as possible) but I'm hoping you are talking about some of the other comments here. Thank you for the comment and happy you enjoyed the video! I should be collabing with WOD Science for the follow up to this, so should be decent! www.youtube.com/@wod-science

[@Hi-ov5nj]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin Haha Not talking about your comments, don't worry! Sounds cool! I'll make sure to check it out!

[@xcskiing_universe]

You're spot on. Moderate intensity doesn't help Vo2 max. I have made videoes about this in the past. Not surprised at all of your results.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@xcskiing_universe, as a skier you are in the population with the BEST vo2 max!!! what advice would you have for people starting off?

[@edwin5419]

Respectfully, I think your idea of "a lot" of training is way off from reality. Your "a lot" of training seems to be a parkrun and sometimes another 15 minute run during the week. Even with our busy, hectic lives, that's so far from "a lot" as to almost be insulting and I hope I heard you wrong. That's not even enough to maintain as we age, let alone improve. Anything less than about 30km / week running and you're not going to be maintaining your speed / endurance through your 40s. Especially if you have a history of smoking to undo. I say this as a 41yo married father of two who runs his own business on top of everything else life throws at you. Zone 2 by itself never worked for me unless I was running 150km/wk. But throw in even 1 fast short run per week and I can get the same results from only 50km of zone 2. Also, many of us really do enjoy cardio 😊

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

yeah I hear that. some great points here Edwin. That is correct, indeed you misheard or perhaps (and this is probably the case) I wasn't clear. The first year I did the 80/20 protocol. approximately 4 hours per week. After that I was doing between 15km-20km per week for the second year. So I fail under your parameters. So here is my retort. 1 - if you are insulted by what I say, let me say you may consider yourself an exception to balancing all these things, not the rule. 2 - This DID NOT include my strength and mobility training. This was purely cardio. I dedicate 5 hours a week to strength and mobility currently. Do you also do this? As for the rest of it. It is all about finding what works for you, not making up rules. You seem to have found what works for you, kudos. So what advice can you offer people here beyond "do more"? Where can people improve? p.s. I don't believe in the "undo smoking" sentiment. There is no 'undoing' of anything.

[@edwin5419]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin sorry, I wasn't saying I was insulted. Merely hyperbole to emphasise a point. From your tone it's clear I upset you and I'm sorry for that. If you want to get better cardio results, 20km a week is barely enough to maintain what gains you've made. And your results bear that out. No one said you have to train a certain way or do certain things. But if you want to improve your aerobic fitness, you need to train at a level that does that. It's the same as eating your maintenance calories and complaining about not losing/gaining weight. Only you set your goal to gain/lose/maintain. My point is only, to use an equivalency, if you said you wanted to lose weight, but you kept eating daily deep dish pizza and a tub of ice cream, people might wonder why you're surprised you got the results you got. As for me, I'm currently running 100km a week and spent family time stretching or I'll throw around a few dumbells in front of the tv. I'm happy with where I'm at, and making gains to be where I want. I don't always train at this level. If I'm just doing maintenance I go for a few runs a week like you did. Nothing at all wrong with that.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@@edwin5419 nah man, no insult taken here. apologies if my tone was strong. you sound like you have it balanced. ultimately, I have found that when we say "cardio results", I'm not interested anymore with running long distances at a certain pace. I just want health for the long term. So to respond to your point about deep dish and wanted to lose weight, I'm really looking at 2 metrics: vo2 max and resting heart rate. And feeling capable too. 3 metrics. Getting them all met with my current training (which is also inspired by science) So i feel great. 100km a week?!?! You definitely are not the normal average Joe out there. well done sir!

[@edwin5419]

@@becomingresilientwithJustin good to hear you're making progress to your goals. Keep fighting the good fight.

[@vandrosia]

This ding-dong is an expert in his own mind.

[@marianarzoiu8958]

80-20 balance

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

80-20 balance is the way to go! Although I do question how effective this is specifically for vo2 max improvements. I always just wander if there is a more elegant solution

[@marianarzoiu8958]

@@becomingresilientwithJustinactually in the end the vo2max value is not really detrimental for max performance. After a point, you will not increase in vo2max, but will increase in performance

[@donaldkavanaugh7382]

If you improved your 5k time by 30 seconds you're probably 200 meters faster. That's really good I believe. I don't know. Ask an Olympic athlete.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

lawl, right? yeah, I was mixing my goals and measurements a lot. I wanted a faster 5km time that 32 mins. Especially for all the time in put in. In the end, I dropped the goal of a faster 5km time and went straight for the health goal of higher v02 max. Should've been focussed on that. I can tell you that in 3 years, it wen't from 46 in the first year, to 48 in the second year, and then 49 at the beginning of the 3rd, then I got the proper test done and was 51. But the difference between a hobby-ist like me and a pro athlete is like 20 points of v02 max, it's insane!

[@samvoeten]

Really waste of time (during my run luckily)

[@Disrupterds]

I like cardio... Who doesn't like cardio? If you don't like cardio you're doing boring cardio.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

I dunno, it's a sweaty commitment. Developing love for cardio is a time-consuming affair. Any suggestions for non-boring cardio?

[@cafetero7778]

Probably the intention of this video is to attack people to see it and make some money depending on the number of views. It is proven that Zone 2 training and VO2 Max is a very effective way to achieve a great improvement in fitness.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@cafetero7778 😂 your comment is initially hilarious until I thought about the mind that thinks this. Yes, youtube is full of sensationalism and the title of the video is sensational. welcome to youtube. But no, my channel at the time of replying to you is too small to get money from youtube (you need 3000 watch hours and 500 subs. Go look at my subscriber count, you'll see i make $0 at the moment). To address the second part of your comment about "proven", I'm happy to concede if you show me data, but the HR zones can't even be agreed on by definition! So no, zone 2 isn't a thing. And I wasn't contending that in the video, I just shared my journey and how I found a cardio style I enjoyed. If you like zone 2, do it. I don't. I don't agree with doing it, and no there isn't data to suggest for a non-sports person that doing vast amounts of zone is worthwhile. Sports specific, sure! But just for health? Nope. Unless you count walking. Share the data if you disagree.

[@anracingrsr1]

Tl; dr

[@humanitarkamkd]

Runners should DEFINITELY AVOID most of the things this guy is saying about running. He trained for 10 months @ zone2 and his 5K was worse than before training? Hahahaha, right! Also, he says he is running 7KM in one hour, 5K in 30-40 minutes... and then he shows a VO2 max of 50. That correlates to 5K in less than 20 minutes which he only attributes to his interval training and totally disregards the aerobic training he has done. In no way this guy is able o run a 5K in less than 20 minutes, I bet my life on it. Experts agree, runners should do 80/20 training, meaning 80% should be easy, conversational pace and 20% harder training (tresholds and interval). Most of the benefits come from the easy training not the interval training. If you only do interval training, you will have FAR LESS results than only doing easy training. Also in the beginning he is mixing the terms zone 2 and treshold which can create confusion in newer runners, and runners who didn't spend time reading about running from people who actually know what they are talking about, like Jack Danies, Matt Fitzegarld, Brad Hudson, Renato Canova...

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@humarnitarkamkd, you are right, this video is not advice, it is my journey and my exploration, and it definitely ain't for runners, read the comments. I ain't claiming i am the authority. I also have apologized for not being clear on EXACTLY wtf I used as protocols (coz I don't care about being exact like that, that isn't the point, the point is finding what works for you) this video was about longevity and what I wanted was a higher vo2 max. Which isn't universal across all sports. I built it up with the assault bike. I never claimed to run 5km in 20 mins, don't be a troll and say that crap. I used the 80/20 method. I researched Maffetone, Chris Hinshaw, experimented with Threshold training, and eventually settled on assault bike training coz of the low impact on my knees. Norwegian 4x4 protocol was what I preferred but yeah 1:1 ratio for sprinting. Vo2 max tested in the 50s, can't run 5km in 20 mins and don't care to. Find what you prefer and stick to it. And the next time you wanna troll, get your facts straight man.

[@diegocesar9699]

Your Measure is Garmin Watch? Sorry man , i dont know the results of this N=1 , is the only measure is a Garmin Watch = Joke

[@st4331]

Wrong. All that matters is the differential gain, so it doesn't matter what is used to measure, as long as the same method is used. There have also been tests that show the Garmin V02 measurement is quite accurate.

[@diegocesar9699]

@@st4331 i got your point , but you taliking about improvement of a metric X - First you evaluate in long term bc of variability , in this case even golden standard have a variability (less but have) . Then.. is accurate? based on calculations i doubt (never see this study you mention) .

[@st4331]

@@diegocesar9699 I think it was on the running channel. They took VO2 measurements on Gamin then did lab tests. Garmin wasn't perfect but was surprising close. But the key for me is just having a base reading and seeing improvement. Whether you get 50 on Garmin or 52 in the lab, a 4 point improvement is a 54 point improvement

[@diegocesar9699]

@@st4331 i got your point, But this is not a study so ok.

[@becomingresilientwithJustin]

@diegocesar9699 did you watch the video? I got my vo2 max tested via metabolic assessment. I used the garmin watch as a "guess-timate" before I decided I need to be more precise with the vo2 max. AND this wasn't an experiment, more an experience. Want a study? Find the channels that do this. This was just me sharing my experience and I'll be the first to admit it wasn't a perfect experience, you are correct, loads of flaws. How would you have set this up so that it would be more accurate? What recommendations do you think are best for people starting off?