Zone 2 cardio
Easy aerobic work you can hold a conversation through, 3+ hours a week
Jogging, cycling, rucking or rowing, held steady at a low intensity where you could still speak in full sentences. The goal is mitochondrial and metabolic: better fat oxidation and a bigger aerobic base, which supports basically everything else. Common targets are three to four hours a week, spread over several sessions. It is the least glamorous item in most of these stacks and the one they defend most stubbornly.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Bryan JohnsonDoes it
Founder · Blueprint longevity protocol
150 minutes a week of moderate zone 2 work goes in alongside strength and harder sessions, at a pace where he can still hold a conversation.
Source: Blueprint protocol site - Lex FridmanDoes it
AI researcher · Lex Fridman Podcast
10 to 15 miles at a slow pace, often over two hours, doubling as conditioning and unstructured thinking time.
Source: Lex Fridman Podcast: 1984 book episode transcript - Peter AttiaDoes it
Physician · The Drive · author of Outlive
Several hours of steady aerobic work a week form the base layer he says everything else sits on.
Source: Outlive (official book page)“I think for zone two, we think minimum effective dose. … Then I think we start to get into three hours being the MED. That might be three 60-minute sessions or four 45-minute sessions.”
The Tim Ferriss Show #661 transcript (opens in a new tab) · 17 Mar 2023 - Rhonda PatrickDoes it
Biomedical scientist · FoundMyFitness
Easy zone 2 running two days a week is the base under the harder interval sessions she is better known for.
Source: FoundMyFitness: her strength training and cardio - Rich RollDoes it
Ultra-endurance athlete · The Rich Roll Podcast
Very large volumes of easy aerobic work built an ultra-endurance career, and he still trains predominantly at low intensity.
Source: The Rich Roll Podcast - Chris BumsteadRecommends
Bodybuilder · Six-time Classic Physique Mr. Olympia
Asked whether extra cardio can offset holiday eating, he says cardio should never be a punishment for food. What he does suggest is a walk after dinner, a 20-minute zone 2 session or light conditioning on off days, to keep digestion and energy moving rather than to burn off a cookie.
Source: The Standard newsletter: Build Muscle + Mobility That Lasts - Jeff NippardRecommends
Natural bodybuilder · Science-based lifting
Depending on the client, he writes, he may prescribe anywhere from zero to five low-intensity steady-state sessions a week, 20 to 40 minutes each, watching strength and recovery in the gym. Pavement running is not his first pick. He generally favors walking, cycling, swimming or the elliptical; they interfere less with lifting. Cardio in the same session, he says, should come after the weights.
Source: jeffnippard.com blog: The Worst Cardio Mistakes Most People Make For Fat Loss (Avoid These) - Matthew WalkerRecommends
Sleep scientist · author of Why We Sleep
Regular aerobic exercise is one of the most reliable non-drug improvements to sleep quality, he says, provided it is not too close to bedtime.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #650 transcript - Nick BareRecommends
Hybrid athlete · Bare Performance Nutrition founder
Running the easy runs too hard was, in his words, the biggest mistake he made as a hybrid athlete, and one he thinks plenty of people repeat. His rule of thumb: 80 percent of running at low, steady heart rate, the remaining 20 at threshold or full capacity.
Source: InsideHook: How Nick Bare Pioneered the Hybrid Athlete Revolution“The biggest mistake I made pursuing the hybrid athlete life was running my easy runs too hard. It’s a mistake that I’ve learned that a lot of people make. Our body benefits tremendously from Zone 2 aerobic conditioning, which is when your heart rate is low and your pace is steady. Eighty percent of your running should be done in that state, with that last 20 percent left for your max threshold, full capacity runs.”
InsideHook: How Nick Bare Pioneered the Hybrid Athlete Revolution (opens in a new tab) · 7 Jul 2023 - Pavel TsatsoulineRecommends
Strength coach · StrongFirst
He leans on the talk test, taken from a pre-war Oxford professor who told mountaineers to climb no faster than they could talk. Running just under the lactic threshold, where short sentences are still possible, is in his account the most useful pace for building endurance.
Source: StrongFirst: Lift No Faster Than You Can Talk, an excerpt from S&S 2.0 - Chris WilliamsonDiscusses
Host · Modern Wisdom
Repeats weekly aerobic targets from guests, with no settled easy-cardio routine of his own.
Source: chriswillx.com: 3 Minute Monday, Dreamers, Buttons & Orgasms - Stacy SimsDiscusses
Exercise physiologist · Women Are Not Small Men
Low-intensity work barely shifts the lactate transporters in women, on her reading of the MCT1 and MCT4 data, so she argues against zone 2 as the default prescription. She is careful to add that she is not calling long slow training pointless, only misplaced as the priority.
Source: Dr Stacy Sims: What Women Need to Prioritize Instead of Zone 2
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under fitness, longevity or energy.
- Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Resistance training
Lifting weights 2-4 times a week to build and hold muscle
On record from 43 of 62 tracked people: 37 do it, 4 recommend it, 2 have discussed it - Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Cycling
Steady riding, outdoors or on a stationary bike, as daily low-intensity cardio
On record from 9 of 62 tracked people: 9 do it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
High-intensity interval training
Short all-out efforts with full recovery in between, a few times a week
On record from 6 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it, 1 has discussed it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Daily cardio
Around half an hour of aerobic work most days, at any pace you can sustain
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 4 do it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Polarized training
Most sessions easy, a few genuinely hard, almost nothing in the middle
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Protocol$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Protein-forward eating
Roughly 1g of protein per pound of target bodyweight, spread across meals
On record from 21 of 62 tracked people: 15 do it, 5 recommend it, 1 has discussed it
Protocol entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.