What Zone Do You Do Cardio In?

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OldAssDude
OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
edited May 2017 in Fitness and Exercise
I have a motto...

If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating... you ain't doing it right.

I like to stay in zone 4 (80 - 90 % of MHR) and zone 5 (90 - 100 % of MHR) on my intense workouts, and have been known to be in zone 5 for up to an hour total during these workouts.

I have read that it is not recommended to stay in zone 5 for long periods of time, so I asked my cardiologist about it when I went there to go over the results of a stress test I had done recently.

He told me it is absolutely fine to do this and it is probably the reason that my stress test turned out so good, and my heart is so strong.

If I am going to spend time doing cardio, I want to get a good workout because I feel that anything less is pretty much just wasting time.

I do workouts where I only stay in zone 3 or lower, but those are only for recovery in between the intense ones.

So... how do you roll?
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Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    I'm half marathon training (once I shake off an injury) so it's mainly lots of slow miles for me.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    I run mainly in Zone 4. When I do Orange Theory or spinning, I go back and forth between 3, 4 and 5 depending on what I'm doing.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    All of them.
  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
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    Pretty much as hard as I can go. My heart is over 170 bpm for any run
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    richardpkennedy1 wrote: »
    Pretty much as hard as I can go. My heart is over 170 bpm for any run

    Aren't you training for a marathon?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    rybo wrote: »
    It depends on the desired training stimulus. One isn't inherently better than another.

    This.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    All of them.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    For me, I don't target HR though I track it. I target perceived exertion. I end up roughly in zone 1-2 for long runs, zone 3-4 for regular runs and zone 4 for tempo runs.

    The few times I've done sprint intervals or a max HR test, those get me up to zone 5. Sprint intervals aren't much use for my goals at the moment.
  • Macy9336
    Macy9336 Posts: 694 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Macy9336 wrote: »
    I mainly do cardio in the British Time Zone. I don't have a HRM so I just go and get sweaty. I'm sort of a low tech Luddite.

    LOL! Me too, well... in a different time zone but the same idea! Honestly, I use up all my love for numbers on my food log. If I started trying to hit specific HRs while exercising I would probably get overwhelmed and just sit on the couch. I just try to mix it up - usually slow or moderate paced, and every once and awhile I try to throw in something that seriously kicks my *kitten*. I've read so many different things about which is optimal for what. The only thing I'm sure of is doing something is better than nothing :neutral:

    Nice to know I'm not the only one. ;)
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Whatever I need to do to support the objectives of my session.

    Aerobic capacity Vs threshold training Vs VO2MAX improvement all have different approaches.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    my cardio is walking. I do huff and puff cigarettes on occasion, does that count?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I don't huff and puff and sweat on my runs...jeez that doesn't sound like fun at all...and as far as I can tell I am doing them correctly.

    I do a 5k in under 30mins so it's all good.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    scorpio516 wrote: »
    bcalvanese wrote: »
    I have a motto...

    If you ain't huffing and puffing and sweating... you ain't doing it right.

    I like to stay in zone 4 (80 - 90 % of MHR) and zone 5 (90 - 100 % of MHR) on my intense workouts, and have been known to be in zone 5 for up to an hour total during these workouts.

    I have read that it is not recommended to stay in zone 5 for long periods of time

    Its not a recommendation, it's a fact that you can't stay there for more than a few minutes at a time. Z5 is RPE 9.5 - 10. A mile flat out, 5 to 6 minutes is all you can hold z5 for. If you can stay there longer, your zones aren't right. Its anerobic.


    Last week, I spent about 50% of the time in z3, 30% z4, 20% z2

    The OPs profile pic suggests that he's of an age where the traditional HR based zones begin to become invalid for healthy active people.

    BUT!!! I agree he's not actually in Z5.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    I don't know what the zones are, but I would imagine 'all of them' applies for me.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    stanmann571 wrote: »
    The OPs profile pic suggests that he's of an age where the traditional HR based zones begin to become invalid for healthy active people.

    No matter what age you are, 9 or 90, you can set your zones up however you like. At any age, basing your zones on your lactate threshold heart rate makes a lot more sense than basing them on a guess (no matter how it was derived) at what your max heart rate might be.

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