[HALx86]

I'm practing for my first long race. I've never been a runner. Lots of videos have pointed me to "Zone 2 Training" where the goal is to keep your heart rate at the 70% level for long periods of time. Do these long, slow runs for 2/3 workouts and do interval training for the last 1/3.
Problem is that even by slow jogging my heart rate blows past my Zone 2 maximum and goes up to Zone 4. Has anyone here done Zone 2 training? If so, did you have the same issues? How long did it take you to get where you were running long distances?

[Charlie Sheen]

I'm practing for my first long race. I've never been a runner. Lots of videos have pointed me to "Zone 2 Training" where the goal is to keep your heart rate at the 70% level for long periods of time. Do these long, slow runs for 2/3 workouts and do interval training for the last 1/3.
Problem is that even by slow jogging my heart rate blows past my Zone 2 maximum and goes up to Zone 4. Has anyone here done Zone 2 training? If so, did you have the same issues? How long did it take you to get where you were running long distances?

How long have you been training for? Some people no matter how in shape and fit they are have high heart rates when they work out. I've seen quite a few people I've worked out with who were in much much better shape and worked out a lot more than I did. Their heart rate was much higher than mine. Go at a pace that is comfortable for you. This is your first one, winning isn't the goal yet, finishing is.

[Bastille]

Hello,

First of all you should be sure that you don't have health issues. Best for it to ask to a doctor if you are able to do sport (that sounds dumb to go to the doctor for this, but the more you grow up the more you could encounter health issues).

Regarding the heart, maybe our friend Komodo could give us more information but as far as I know :

The problem is not the fact that your heart goes up to zone 4, the problem is IF your heart rate doesn't slow down in a short period of time.

If your heart rate is zone 4 even if you do a slow jogging maybe you're not in a good condition ? Are you overweight ? Do you smoke ? Do you drink alcohol ? Do you eat healthy or not ? Does your job involves you to move all day long or instead to sit on a chair for 8 hours ? Do you check your arterial pressure ? Do you have the same issues with other sports such as swimming ?

There are lot of parameters to be aware of and I doubt that HF is the right place for health advice.

I highly recommend you to check with a doctor who will be able to do some tests IRL that we can't do here

[Komodo]

Hello,

First of all you should be sure that you don't have health issues. Best for it to ask to a doctor if you are able to do sport (that sounds dumb to go to the doctor for this, but the more you grow up the more you could encounter health issues).

Regarding the heart, maybe our friend Komodo could give us more information but as far as I know :

The problem is not the fact that your heart goes up to zone 4, the problem is IF your heart rate doesn't slow down in a short period of time.

If your heart rate is zone 4 even if you do a slow jogging maybe you're not in a good condition ? Are you overweight ? Do you smoke ? Do you drink alcohol ? Do you eat healthy or not ? Does your job involves you to move all day long or instead to sit on a chair for 8 hours ? Do you check your arterial pressure ? Do you have the same issues with other sports such as swimming ?

There are lot of parameters to be aware of and I doubt that HF is the right place for health advice.

I highly recommend you to check with a doctor who will be able to do some tests IRL that we can't do here

Pretty much this.

Heart rate is dependent on a shit ton of things. Medical issues, family history, stroke volume, cardiac output, literally endless shit I can name.

Biggest one I’d say is how healthy you are. You said you’re beginning to train I’m gonna take that as you haven’t done it in a while even though I know nothing of your capabilities running. You just have to stay consistent with your workouts and you’ll eventually start having a lower and lower heart rate.

It’s the same reason very good runners have a resting heart rate of 40 when they check into my ER, the heart is a muscle. The more you workout and condition the muscle, the better it’s going to preform.

[blackrose_x0x0]

I'm practing for my first long race. I've never been a runner. Lots of videos have pointed me to "Zone 2 Training" where the goal is to keep your heart rate at the 70% level for long periods of time. Do these long, slow runs for 2/3 workouts and do interval training for the last 1/3.
Problem is that even by slow jogging my heart rate blows past my Zone 2 maximum and goes up to Zone 4. Has anyone here done Zone 2 training? If so, did you have the same issues? How long did it take you to get where you were running long distances?

I'll just tell you from my own experience when I started running again a few years ago. My resting heart rate was around 65BPM at the time and my heart rate would skyrocket up to zone 4-5 every single time I ran, even if it was a short 400m run or something. I was really out of shape, plain and simple. Even walking up stairs my heart rate would go up to 120. This was part of what made me start running again in the first place.

After consistent running for a while, my resting heart rate is now around 40-45BPM and I no longer rocket up to zone 5 unless I'm absolutely pushing it to the max. This took me about 4 months of regular running until I was able to get into the "zone" of choice. My normal runs are usually around zone 3 now and that has worked best for me where I'm not pushing too hard but I'm also not taking it easy if that makes sense.

Take it slow. Run even slower if you have to and don't go overboard in the beginning. Your body will start getting used to the running and you will notice your heart rate not getting as high as fast. Best of luck to you on your running journey and first long race!

[Jamika]

You may at first check a doctor to ensure every thing is good, then u may need another training if u dont feel compitable with this one

[Dirty]

I'll just tell you from my own experience when I started running again a few years ago. My resting heart rate was around 65BPM at the time and my heart rate would skyrocket up to zone 4-5 every single time I ran, even if it was a short 400m run or something. I was really out of shape, plain and simple. Even walking up stairs my heart rate would go up to 120. This was part of what made me start running again in the first place.

After consistent running for a while, my resting heart rate is now around 40-45BPM and I no longer rocket up to zone 5 unless I'm absolutely pushing it to the max. This took me about 4 months of regular running until I was able to get into the "zone" of choice. My normal runs are usually around zone 3 now and that has worked best for me where I'm not pushing too hard but I'm also not taking it easy if that makes sense.

Take it slow. Run even slower if you have to and don't go overboard in the beginning. Your body will start getting used to the running and you will notice your heart rate not getting as high as fast. Best of luck to you on your running journey and first long race!

about a decade at this point before an injury I was a quite competitive swimmer, and my resting heartrate was incredibly low. At times with highschool we would do running tests with a heartrate monitor, and at first the PE teacher didn't want to believe my heartrate at rest. As mentioned above the heart is a muscle and it needs to be trained and this is the purpose of cardiovascular training. Most people see cardio as a means to losing weight, which is not and should not be the goal. Its weight training for your most important muscle.

[InspectorGadget]

I'll just tell you from my own experience when I started running again a few years ago. My resting heart rate was around 65BPM at the time and my heart rate would skyrocket up to zone 4-5 every single time I ran, even if it was a short 400m run or something. I was really out of shape, plain and simple. Even walking up stairs my heart rate would go up to 120. This was part of what made me start running again in the first place.

After consistent running for a while, my resting heart rate is now around 40-45BPM and I no longer rocket up to zone 5 unless I'm absolutely pushing it to the max. This took me about 4 months of regular running until I was able to get into the "zone" of choice. My normal runs are usually around zone 3 now and that has worked best for me where I'm not pushing too hard but I'm also not taking it easy if that makes sense.

Take it slow. Run even slower if you have to and don't go overboard in the beginning. Your body will start getting used to the running and you will notice your heart rate not getting as high as fast. Best of luck to you on your running journey and first long race!

This is fantastc to read - currently very concious that when im running my heart skyrockets to close to it's maximum beats per minute for my age. Good to hear that if i stick at it, it will eventually get better.

[blackrose_x0x0]

about a decade at this point before an injury I was a quite competitive swimmer, and my resting heartrate was incredibly low. At times with highschool we would do running tests with a heartrate monitor, and at first the PE teacher didn't want to believe my heartrate at rest. As mentioned above the heart is a muscle and it needs to be trained and this is the purpose of cardiovascular training. Most people see cardio as a means to losing weight, which is not and should not be the goal. Its weight training for your most important muscle.

Nailed it! I couldn't agree more.

Funny you mention that story about your PE teacher lol I had a similar experience with a friend last year. We were lifting weights and he accused me of not going 'hard' enough because my heart rate would barely crack over 100BPM when he was near max, and I had to explain a lot to him. (My heart rate gets pretty damn high when I'm doing deadlifts and squats though hah)

This is fantastc to read - currently very concious that when im running my heart skyrockets to close to it's maximum beats per minute for my age. Good to hear that if i stick at it, it will eventually get better.

Thanks, I'm glad you got something out of it :)
Yes, if you stick with it and keep it consistent, you will notice your heart rate not maxing out as fast and eventually will start taking much longer to get to higher heart rate zones. I can't recommend slower long runs enough though. ✌

Huberman does a great job explaining zone 2 training: