“Zone 2” training has become incredibly popular in endurance sports, but most athletes misunderstand what it actually does and why it feels so frustratingly slow. In this episode, we debunk the misconceptions to explain how this training intensity establishes your aerobic infrastructure, why comparing yourself to professional athletes derails your progress, and how to embrace slow work now so you can do harder and more effective training later. You'll learn about the physiological adaptations that happen at this intensity, why a monoculture approach to training never works, and how years of consistent aerobic conditioning create the physiological infrastructure that supports faster racing. If your “Zone 2” pace feels slow, this episode explains exactly why that is and what to do about it.

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Frontiers in Physiology Article