[deester]

Hey there, I just purchased the 16 week Big Mountain program and I have a couple of zone 2 questions that I couldn’t find answers to:

For Zone 2 workouts in general:
When using a treadmill or stair master for zone 2 workouts, should the speed/incline be reduced in order to stay below my AeT and to compensate for cardiac drift?

16 week HR-based Big Mountain programming specifically:
The zone 2 workouts have the active portions of the workout in Zone 3: Aerobic. Although the prescribed upper limit is well below my previously determined AnT, it is also well (18 bpm) above my AeT. Is this too allow for the cardiac drift in my first question?

I guess I’ve always thought that AeT was the upper limit for a Zone 2 workout, is that wrong?

Thanks for setting me straight!

Topic

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on April 2, 2024 at 1:15 am #86176

Hi deester,

Q1. For Z2 workouts you want to do whatever’s necessary to keep your HR in Z2. In the outdoors, that usually means reducing your pace bc you can’t change the terrain. Indoors you have the choice to reduce either pace or incline or a combo of the two.

Q2. I’ll ask one of the coaches about this.

Jane

[Alyssa Clark]

Alyssa Clark on April 5, 2024 at 7:30 pm #86239

Hi Deester,
So unfortunately with the structured workouts, we have to give general guidelines for the percentage of HR zones. It looks like how your zone hits, its bumping up to zone 3 so if you just click the active portion, you can choose the correct zone from the drop down menu. Hope this helps!