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ZONE 2 Cardio Benefits | Aerobic Exercise for FAT LOSS / Body Recomposition

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ZONE 2 Cardio Benefits | Aerobic Exercise for FAT LOSS / Body Recomposition

how much cardio is best for fat 
loss and or body recomposition   is hit training better or steady state cardio 
have you heard about heart rate training or   zone 2 cardio but you really don't know what 
that means or have you always just done cardio   thinking the more intense and the more calories 
you burn the more sweaty you get the better   kind of like a hit junkie don't really know if 
that's effective in helping you on your fat loss   journey don't worry in today's video i'm going to 
talk all about zone 2 cardio what are the benefits   of zone 2 cardio when it comes to fat loss body 
recomposition and so many other health benefits   how to calculate your zone 2 heart rate range 
and how to track your zone 2 heart rate cardio   sessions even if you don't have a smart watch and 
make sure you watch all the way to the end because   i'm going to give you a plan of approximately how 
many minutes of zone 2 cardio you should be doing   for fat loss and body weight composition benefits 
but also major health benefits okay we're going to   get right into it but of course if you're new here 
make sure you subscribe to my channel and hit that   bell so you get a notification when i release a 
new video every single week just like this one   my name's michelle roots kinesiologist personal 
trainer nutrition coach and fitness and fat loss   motivation specialist and mom of two baby boys 
and this channel is all about helping you on   your fitness and fat loss journey by taking all 
of the information and breaking it down for you   in the simplest way to understand so of course if 
you find this video helpful make sure you give it   a like if you have any questions leave them 
in the comments below or feel free to shoot   me a dm on instagram i'm always happy to help you 
guys out let's start out by talking about what is   zone 2 cardio what does that even mean so 
when we are looking at heart rate training   or when you are actually doing cardiovascular 
exercises you're usually in one of five heart   rate zones with zone one being warm up or cool 
down very low intensity about 50 to 60 of your   max heart rate don't worry in a minute i'm gonna 
show you exactly how to calculate your max heart   rate so that you can figure out these training 
zones for you and then we have zone two which is   working at a comfortable pace where you can kind 
of hold a conversation but you might get a little   bit out of breath and that's in a range of about 
60 to 70 percent of your max heart rate and then   we have zone 3 which is a little bit more intense 
you're looking at 70 to 80 of your max heart rate   so you might not be able to hold a conversation 
maybe a few words here and there definitely out   of breath then we have zone four which is eighty 
to ninety percent of your max heart rate so it's   pretty intense consider it like a sprint and then 
we have zone five which is your max heart rate   pretty much you're about ninety percent of your 
max heart rate usually you can only last in zone   five for about 60 to 90 seconds depending on your 
fitness level but zone five is the maximal effort   so looking at all of these different training 
zones what's so great about zone two so without   getting too scientific in this video because i 
want to keep it simple to understand during zone   2 cardio so when you're about 60 to 70 of your max 
heart rate your body's primary fuel source is fat   you are going to be using a little bit of stored 
carbs but the primary go-to fuel source is fat   and then once you get a little bit more intense so 
again you're pushing yourself a little bit harder   eighty percent of your max heart rate you're 
moving into zone three and that's when your body   switches over from using fat as its fuel source 
to carbohydrates so glucose that's stored in the   muscles so zone three zone four zone five your 
body is primarily using carbohydrates to fuel you   through those zones hence why marathon runners 
or athletes who are going to be doing a long   period of intense exercise or cardiovascular work 
you hear about carb loading so they're going to   be eating a lot of carbs the night before a run in 
order to increase the amount of stored glucose in   their muscles but when you're working in what's 
called zone 2 you were under what's called your   lactate threshold and zone 2 cardio is often 
overlooked because it seems too easy the whole   world we live in right now is hit classes crazy 
intense cardio spin classes and bodyweight hit and   all of these things where as much as you can go as 
hard as you possibly can destroy yourself which is   good it has its place in your training program but 
i think because walking or something simple like   zone 2 cardio seems almost too easy and you're not 
burning a lot of calories while you're doing it   it definitely gets overlooked but it does have a 
huge role in both body fat loss body recomposition   and overall general health which i'm going 
to talk about now so what are the benefits   of zone 2 cardio so there are so many benefits 
when doing zone 2 cardio and i'm going to give   you a quick little simple science lesson so 
mitochondria they are known as the powerhouse   of the cell so all of your cells have these little 
powerhouses called mitochondria and it's very   important that they are working properly because 
they are responsible for your overall health so   if your mitochondria aren't working correctly 
you are at higher risk for things like cancer   heart disease type 2 diabetes insulin resistance 
and metabolic syndrome and mitochondria in your   cells are also responsible for something called 
metabolic flexibility meaning your body's ability   to use fat as its main fuel source during low 
intensity exercise so doing regular zone 2 cardio   can not only increase the amount of mitochondria 
you have but also improve the effectiveness of   the mitochondria you do have so when we were 
looking at not only fat loss we were looking   at overall general health and living a longer 
life zone two cardio can definitely help you   live a healthier longer life and boost your immune 
system which we all really need right now it can   also help lower your resting heart rate decrease 
your blood pressure improve insulin resistance   zone 2 cardio is also great for fat loss so when 
you are doing zone 2 cardio you are recruiting   your slow twitch type 1 muscle fibers and these 
muscle fibers have lots of mitochondria in them   and they use fat oxidation so fat as their primary 
fuel source to make them work so if you're looking   to decrease your overall body fat percentage 
zone 2 cardio can definitely help you with   that as well as improve your aerobic base and your 
cardiovascular fitness a lot of athletes will use   zone 2 cardio to help them improve in their 
zone 4 zone 5 cardiovascular because of its   lower intensity you can work for a longer period 
of time meaning increase your calorie burn and you   don't necessarily need as much recovery that's 
why zone 2 cardio is great you are not running   your body into the ground you don't need a huge 
amount of time to recover from zone 2 cardio like   you would from an intense crazy hit workout you 
don't have to worry as much about over training so   if you are working at an intense zone four zone 
five you're doing sprints it's gonna break down   your body a lot faster and you are at a risk of 
over training especially if your goal is to build   more lean muscle you don't want to be doing too 
much hit cardio like every single day hit intense   hit cardio after or before a strength session 
because you're almost going to counterbalance and   you could actually over train whereas when you are 
doing your zone two cardio you're still gonna get   the benefits of the fat loss the cardiovascular 
the heart health all of the things the calorie   burn but you're not necessarily running your body 
into the ground and you can do it every single day   if you want i can actually 100 vouch for this 
prior to having kids i was one of those hit   maniacs i always had that mentality of i just 
want to sweat i want to burn as many calories i   want my watch to say as many calories as i've 
burned i want to run myself into the ground   every single day six days a week seven days 
a week sometimes because the calorie burn   calorie burn and i want to work really hard but 
i wasn't able to build as much lean muscle even   though i was strength training i was almost 
over training on the hit cardio side versus   now i'm the leanest i've ever been after two kids 
and now i do about one hit cardio session a week   i strength train three to four times a week and 
then the rest of my workouts are zone two cardio   two to three times a week and that means probably 
taking my kids for a walk or going for a walk   myself or doing light cardio on the rowing machine 
at my studio anything like that where i'm in   this zone two range and i have definitely seen 
the change in just my own body and my own body   recomposition i talk all about my transformation 
especially after having my second baby in this   video i just posted last week if you want 
to know more about how i transform my body   after having my second kid i'll link that video in 
the description below if you want to check it out   next i also keep talking about body recomposition 
in this video if you're not actually sure what   body recomposition is and you don't know what 
i'm talking about check out this video right   here i break down body recomposition put briefly 
decreasing body fat increasing lean muscle to   appear more lean but i'll link that video in the 
description below for you as well so now that we   know zone 2 cardio is great we know everything 
that'll do for us how do we calculate what our   zone two is so everybody is different remember 
your zone two is not the same as your best friend   zone two your husband's zone two everybody is 
different but i'm gonna show you exactly how   to calculate it the first thing you want to do 
is figure out your max heart rate so that means   basically the amount of times your heart can beat 
in one minute when it's under extreme stress now   there are two ways to do this there is the basic 
way that i actually learned in university about   15 16 years ago and it still works but since then 
there's been more research that have come out so   i'm going to give you both ways you can decide 
which one you want to do the most basic way to   find your max heart rate is 220 minus your age so 
for example i am 39 years old so i would do 220   minus 39 that gives me a max heart rate of 181. 
now the thing is is with this calculation if you   are just looking to start zone 2 training and 
you're not really an extreme athlete and you're   looking to really dial it in this calculation is 
perfectly fine and a great place to start but if   you're looking for a more detailed formula i'll 
put the formula in the description below as to how   you can get them way more detailed max heart rate 
calculation if that's what you're looking for but   again if you're just a beginner and you're looking 
to start getting into zone 2 heart rate training   220 minus your age will be a perfect starting 
block so now all we're going to do we know that   zone 2 training is 60 to 70 percent of your max 
heart rate so with my calculation i'm going to go   181 times 0.6 and 181 times 0.7 so for me that 
gives me a rate of 108 beats per minute to 126   beats per minute so when i go out to do my zone 
cardio i want to keep my heart rate within that   zone so if your heart rate's at 100 you're gonna 
push a little bit harder to get your heart rate up   if your heart rate's at 140 you need to pump 
the brakes and slow it down and go at a more   steady pace so again these numbers aren't set in 
stone these are all just estimations but a great   place to start but now that we know our numbers 
how are we going to track that during our zone   2 workout so one if you have an apple watch a 
fitbit a garmin any kind of smart watch that   you use to track your workouts it is probably 
most likely going to tell you your heart rate   right on your screen right on your wrist as you're 
working out that is probably the simplest way to   do it but if you don't have a smart watch or you 
don't wear one there are two other ways that you   can make sure that you are in zone two during your 
workout first way is simply just checking your   pulse so if you've been exercising exercise for 
about 10 minutes and then you're gonna stop what   you're doing you're gonna take your two fingers 
and put it right on this is called the radial side   so remember thumbs up you're going to go on your 
thumbs up side right in here and you're just going   to press down once you feel your pulse you're 
going to time yourself for 15 seconds and time   how many pulses you feel in 15 seconds and you're 
gonna times that by four that's going to give you   your heart rate at that moment in time the 
second way is what we call the talk test or   rate of perceived exertion so with the rate 
of perceived exertion basically what it is   scale of one to ten ten being i literally am 
working the hardest i've ever worked in my   life i can't breathe i can't talk to you we're 
in that zone five one being i'm sitting here   right there not really doing anything i literally 
got up got to went to the fridge and came back so   that's your one that's your ten if you're in zone 
two cardio you wanna be at about a five or six   so again like i said before you were able to hold 
a conversation but you might not be able to sing   a song now beyonce probably can sing a song 
while she's doing zone 2 cardio because she's   the queen and we've all seen her on stage but 
the average person probably hold a conversation   but you might be a little bit out of breath but 
not too much out of breath that you can't hold   a conversation but those are just two other ways 
i feel like the majority of people have um apple   watches or fitbits or whatever now but if you 
don't don't worry about it you don't have to run   out and get one of course best case scenario you 
do have one because it's going to give you direct   feedback right on your wrist as to what your 
heart rate is but if you don't you can use   these two other factors and last but not least as 
promised how much of this should you do a week if   your goal is fat loss or body recomposition or 
just longevity of life and decreasing your risk   for type 2 diabetes heart disease cancers all 
of these things and just boosting your immune   system again that's why we all exercise in the 
first place right fat loss is great but in turn   it's going to overall help your health the general 
prescription is about 150 minutes of week of zone   2 cardio to get the best benefits these are all 
just estimations but a great goal and something   to think about so for example if you strength 
train monday wednesday friday maybe tuesday and   thursday or your zone two cardio days you go for 
an hour at that steady pace or you could break   it down to 45 minutes 30 minutes whatever you 
have but just keep in mind 150 minutes a week   minimum and let's see how you feel again i'm 
not hating on hit cardio i do it myself i teach   metabolic hit cardio classes down at my fitness 
studio so i hope in this video i've kind of helped   you understand the benefits of zone 2 cardio if 
you're on a fat loss journey and you're not really   seeing results you're doing your strength training 
workouts but you're not really hitting your 10k   steps every day and you might not be doing this 
zone 2 cardio it might be something you want to   try out again i speak from experience as to how 
zone 2 cardio and just focusing on slowing things   down and not being so intense all the time and 
just going for longer cardio sessions how much   it has helped me in my own body recomposition and 
sustainable fat loss so leave your questions in   the comments below i always do my best to answer 
every single question or again you can shoot   me a dm on instagram but if you're interested 
in personalized nutrition coaching or fitness   and nutrition coaching i'll leave a link in the 
description below as to where you can find out   more about working with me one-on-one to really 
reach your fitness and fat loss goals of course   i hope this video was helpful today guys thank you 
so much for all of you who subscribe to my channel   and keep telling me how much these videos are 
helping you it's motivating me to keep bringing   the videos for you guys and keep educating thanks 
again for watching and i'll see you next week you

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