Zone 2 Training
Lose weight without vigorous exercise
Sounds too good to be true. But there is a way and it’s not by vigorous exercise. In fact, quite the opposite. It’s by reprogramming your mitochondria to utilise fat for energy. To achieve this we need to adopt zone 2 training 3 times per week.
Zone 2 training is exercise at an intensity that utilises the highest amount of fat oxidisation for energy (aerobic metabolism). It does this by stimulating all the slow-twitch muscle fibres to their fullest. If the exercise increases in intensity the body will start using fast-twitch muscle fibres and switch to glucose for fuel (Anaerobic metabolism). We want to stick to the fat-burning aerobic metabolism.
Zone 2 training is at a low intensity.
This low intensity will vary from person to person, athlete to athlete. But a good guide would be an intensity where one could carry on a conversation whilst exercise. Not getting out of breath.
This low-intensity workout increases our mitochondria and makes them more efficient in utilising fat for energy.
A well-trained athlete typically has 3-4 times the size and amount of mitochondria in the muscle compared to a normal person.
Zone 2 training is not training for fitness or muscle growth, though these are a by product. The primary goal is to re-programme the mitochondria to be more efficient in fat oxidisation for energy rather than switching to glucose.
People with type 2 diabetes have a poor ability to oxidise fuels. They use more glucose than fat at low intensity or even resting. These points to mitochondria dysfunction. In these cases, the mitochondria is just not efficient in using fat for fuel but instead opting for glucose. This is why many people struggle to lose weight no matter how hard they train. Hard training increases blood sugar levels but doesn’t burn fat.
The best treatment for Mitochondria functionality is zone 2 training. It has the biggest improvement in fat burning and lactose clearing capacity.
Exercise alone can work without diet in losing weight if you train the mitochondria to be more efficient.
Zone 2 training protocol
3 times 60-90 minutes per week at low intensity (being able to converse)
Or
40 mins cool down after the intense workout.
TRAINING ZONES
ZONE 1 TRAINING
- Minimum stimulation of muscle using fat for energy.
- walking upstairs
- Jog for fitter person
- 7 minute mile for an athlete
ZONE 2 TRAINING
- Exercise intensity that uses the highest amount of fat before utilising glucose.
- Slow twitch muscle fibres only
ZONE 3 TRAINING
- Transition zone
- Fast twitch muscle fibres convert fuel into lactate for the slow twitch to use
ZONE 4 TRAINING
- Zero fat oxidation for energy
- Lactate threshold before burning out
- Max power for 60 mins
ZONE 5 TRAINING
- Utilising lactate only as fuel
- Zero oxygen muscle uptake
- Short bursts of max heart rates
