I tried zone 2 training for 30 days (what I learned)

0:00 If you want to live a long life, health experts [music] recommend you get 150

0:03 minutes of zone two training per week.

0:05 And for the past 38 years of my life,

0:07 I've done approximately [music] zero minutes.

0:11 [sighs and gasps] Oh god, just give me a minute.

0:12 Some call it hype, the new 10,000 steps,

0:15 jogging rebranded, a complete waste of time.

0:18 Others [snorts] call it one

0:18 of the foundational principles for longevity and health.

0:21 There's no question that discussions around the importance of zone

0:24 two training have exploded over the past few years.

0:27 Zone two.

0:27 [music] Zone two.

0:28 Zone two.

0:29 Zone two training.

0:30 If you missed it, zone two is a low to moderate intensity

0:33 cardio effort where you're working hard enough to raise your heart rate,

0:36 but not so much that you can't hold a conversation.

0:39 It's roughly 60 to 70% of your max heart rate.

0:42 So, if your max heart rate is 190 beats per minute,

0:45 zone two is between 114 [music] and 133 beats per minute.

0:49 So, I'm in zone two right now.

0:51 My heart rate is 140 beats per minute.

0:54 You can have a conversation, but it is winded.

0:57 Does zone two training unlock the secrets

0:59 to a long life and [music] optimal performance,

1:02 or is it just another self-development trend?

1:04 Let's find out.

1:05 I think your Huberman is wrong.

1:07 He was wrong.

1:08 This video is sponsored by Squarespace.

1:10 I'll share more about how they helped me build all my websites later.

1:15 One of the biggest surprises after just one day of zone

1:17 two training has been how slow the pace really is when jogging.

1:20 I almost have to hold myself back, remind myself not to go too fast.

1:25 I think that is the appeal of zone two.

1:27 It's that it's not this really intense cardio workout.

1:31 It's not SoulCycle or a hit program or any one of these things

1:33 that leave you feeling destroyed at the end of the day.

1:35 And so, if you're able to get the health benefits

1:38 of cardio without killing yourself every single day, I see the appeal.

1:44 [music]

1:43 So, I'm starting out just doing 10 minutes of zone two per training session,

1:48 but my goal is that by the end of the month,

1:51 I would have averaged about 150 minutes of zone two training per week.

1:56 This is what that means, eventually I'm going to have to start picking it up.

2:00 Zone two has become a staple in health

2:02 circles because it supposedly helps improve your aerobic base,

2:05 boost your metabolic health, and strengthen your heart.

2:08 But, it's not so intense that it gets you injured or kills your recovery.

2:12 Oh god, I feel like my lungs on fire.

2:14 According to one of the world's leading experts in zone two training, Dr.

2:17 Peter Attia, [music] one of the biggest fact Sorry, what's that?

2:20 There are over 1,700 mentions of Peter Attia in the Epstein files.

2:26 I mean, I'm sure that's just some kind of misunderstanding.

2:29 He refers to women's genitals as low-carb.

2:32 Oh yeah, that that doesn't sound very good.

2:33 Here's another email he sent to Epstein.

2:35 I would really love to add five years or more to your life,

2:38 even if the only reason to do so is to have more sex.

2:42 He also wrote to Epstein's assistant,

2:44 I go into JE withdrawal when I don't see him.

2:48 [sighs and gasps] He had been meeting with Epstein while his son,

2:51 who had just been born, was in the ICU.

2:54 This is not going to be good for the zone two movement.

2:57 As I looked more into the health benefits of zone

2:59 two and tried to avoid any of Peter Attia, which was honestly quite difficult,

3:03 I realized the story is a little more complicated than I thought.

3:06 A pretty damning analysis on zone two training was just published,

3:09 and it concluded that the current evidence does not support zone two

3:12 training as optimal intensity for improving

3:15 mitochondrial or fatty acid oxidative capacity.

3:18 A 2025 review, brilliantly titled Much Ado About Zone Two,

3:21 argued that a lot of the hype around

3:23 zone two comes from [music] studying elite athletes.

3:26 But, that might not be the best group to study

3:28 when applying the lessons to the general [music] population.

3:30 The authors raise two worries about this type of thinking.

3:33 First, elite athletes, they also incorporate some high-intensity exercise,

3:36 so it isn't clear that their low or high-intensity training is more important

3:40 for the benefits that we're interested in here when it comes to our own health.

3:43 And the second worry is that most of us aren't elite athletes.

3:46 So, those elite athletes, they might be training for over 20 hours a week,

3:49 while many of us, we struggle to fit in two hours a week.

3:52 That difference has a huge impact in terms of the type

3:55 of exercise strategies that make the most sense to maximize our gains.

3:59 That's not to say zone two is a waste of time or isn't effective.

4:03 It's just that if you don't have a lot of time,

4:04 high-intensity training is probably a more efficient

4:07 way to get the health [music] benefits.

4:09 But, there are perfectly good reasons to keep training

4:11 in zone two if it helps you stay consistent, if it helps you avoid injury,

4:15 or if you simply enjoy it more than high-intensity training.

4:18 The exercise that you keep doing is more

4:20 important than finding the [music] technically optimal one.

4:23 And since I've avoided cardio my entire life,

4:25 zone two has been a great way to introduce it into my daily routine.

4:29 So, I have found that jogging, specifically outside,

4:33 has been quite challenging in terms of staying in zone two consistently.

4:38 It's easy to get distracted, and there are stops, turns,

4:41 and hills that make it difficult to keep a steady pace.

4:44 So, to try to be more consistent,

4:45 I decided to bring my cardio onto the treadmill.

4:48 Instead of jogging, I increased the incline and aimed for more of a brisk

4:51 walk so I could keep my heart rate in zone two the entire time.

4:55 It ended up basically being that awkward place between walking and jogging

4:58 where it looks like you're rushing home so you don't your pants.

5:01 So, you guys might have noticed something about self-development content lately.

5:04 It's getting more and more extreme,

5:07 and I'm trying to push back against that trend.

5:10 That's why this year, with all the 30-day experiments I'm doing,

5:14 I'm trying to make small, meaningful progress forward.

5:17 I'm trying to do things that are actually

5:19 sustainable for my life as a busy [music] dad.

5:22 While that might not get the most views, to me it feels the best.

5:25 And so, if you want to help support the work that I'm doing,

5:28 one of the best ways that you can do that is to hit subscribe [music]

5:31 and turn on notifications on this video.

5:33 Thanks so much for considering.

5:35 Hey, how's it going?

5:36 Hi, I'm Matt, yeah.

5:38 Nice to meet you.

5:38 Have you guys seen the place yet?

5:40 No.

5:40 No.

5:40 So, this is our main little gym area.

5:42 So, couple different treatment rooms, main little rehab gym space.

5:45 That's the treadmill you're actually going to be completing your VO2 max on.

5:48 It's staring at you, and it's in your face.

5:51 [laughter] I decided to go to a performance center to get a physical assessment.

5:55 I'm working with Everlab and their partner facility, Power Potential.

5:58 Everlab is a performance testing and longevity company based in Australia.

6:02 Full disclosure, I told them about the video that I was making,

6:05 and they set me up on their platform for free.

6:07 Just one of the many perks of being a YouTuber.

6:09 Today, they're running me through a battery of tests, including a DEXA scan.

6:13 Main purpose of today [music] from this machine, full body composition scan,

6:17 identifying fat mass, muscle mass, and full bone density.

6:20 They measured my grip strength.

6:21 Push, push, push, push, push, push, push, and relax.

6:24 Hold on, best one yet.

6:26 Vertical jump.

6:26 Uh 40.2 [music] cm jump height.

6:29 Apparently, I have really good balance.

6:30 Best single leg balance I've seen with eyes closed.

6:32 Really?

6:33 Yeah.

6:33 Holy Very, very good.

6:35 Wow, thank you.

6:35 I think that's all the karate that I did when I was in high school.

6:38 I can see it.

6:39 But, the big things that I'm looking to walk

6:40 away with for the purposes of this 30-day experiment is

6:43 my max heart rate to better determine my zone two

6:46 range and my VO2 max to better understand my cardiovascular health.

6:50 Your actual cardiovascular fitness.

6:52 So, it's how efficiently your body is

6:55 um consuming [music] and supplying those muscles,

6:57 the working muscles, with oxygen.

6:59 Higher VO2 max levels have been

7:00 strongly linked to better long-term health outcomes.

7:03 [music] Is the VO2 max like is like is like intense?

7:05 Uh no, it starts off quite easy,

7:07 and then it sort of ramps up to that point where you either

7:09 can't keep up with the treadmill or you physically can't keep up yourself, yeah.

7:13 You fall off, and then you're like, okay, this test is over.

7:15 Exactly, exactly.

7:15 Feeling good?

7:16 Yep.

7:16 All right.

7:17 And at 5.5.

7:20 And up in incline.

7:31 Going up.

7:37 [snorts] Time.

7:38 Good, well done.

7:39 Catch your breath, catch your breath.

7:41 Well done.

7:42 Nice, deep breaths, that's it.

7:44 VO2 max 43.2.

7:46 So, honestly, not a bad score.

7:48 You said you were training about 122 129 for a heart rate for a zone two.

7:52 You should be between 138 and 145.

7:55 little bit more.

7:55 Yeah, yeah, definitely.

7:56 So, actually see some sort of fat burning change in terms of that zone two.

8:00 Equipped with a more accurate zone two range,

8:03 I was ready to get back to training.

8:04 Okay, maybe after a day's rest.

8:06 Holy that was crazy.

8:08 Oh my god.

8:09 So, I haven't been as consistent as I would like,

8:12 especially in the the first two weeks of doing zone two.

8:15 I've really just been struggling to find the time to train.

8:18 And so, I've been trying to think of ways to make it more effortless.

8:27 That's our Peloton that has completely taken over our sunroom.

8:30 The Peloton made a lot of sense for us

8:31 because Nat really loves the studio cycling classes,

8:35 and that's something that they do exceptionally well.

8:38 For me, personally, it's a little bit overkill.

8:46 Life with two kids is a little bit busy these days.

8:49 I've got less time than ever before.

8:51 So, being able to fit in workouts after my kids go to bed,

8:54 or even during the weekend when the timing works out, has just been so helpful.

8:57 So, Nat's watching both the kids right now,

9:00 squeezing in hopefully an hour session.

9:03 Then, I'll give her an hour break.

9:05 Let's go.

9:06 Since getting the bike,

9:07 my training sessions started to get longer and more consistent,

9:09 [music] and I was getting closer and closer

9:11 to my goal of hitting 150 minutes per week on average.

9:14 So, my total training volume per day has increased a bit over [music] time.

9:18 So, now I'm at the point where I'm

9:19 doing 45-minute training sessions each time I work out.

9:22 Now, I'm getting to the point where, while it's not entirely enjoyable,

9:26 I am finding it less painful to hit that 45-minute goal.

9:33 This video is sponsored by Squarespace.

9:35 I've been using Squarespace for over 15 years,

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10:00 And that's really good because I am terrible at all of those things.

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11:01 your first purchase of a website or domain.

11:03 Thanks so much [music] for considering.

11:10 Got to say, I don't love riding on the bike.

11:13 I find that for the first 10 to 15 minutes of my workout,

11:16 my legs are just on fire and my butt is uncomfortable for the entire ride.

11:21 That might just be because I haven't built up

11:23 my leg muscles or my my butt muscles enough,

11:26 and I just need to put more time on the bike.

11:28 Definitely for me, it's definitely a lot more difficult riding on the bike

11:32 than it has been going for a walk on the treadmill.

11:34 You might be wondering right now, you're like,

11:35 "Matt, you must be getting into zone four,

11:38 zone five." I'm like 142 beats per minute right now,

11:43 which is like kind of at the top end of zone two.

11:46 So, man.

11:49 [panting and sighs] Andrew Huberman was wrong.

11:51 He was wrong.

11:52 Okay, for context here, I came across a podcast where Andrew Huberman said

11:55 that you can get into zone two by watching your kids.

11:58 Zone two cardio can be meshed throughout the daily

12:00 activities that I and everybody else generally have to do.

12:03 Running around with the kids,

12:05 taking a walk with a coworker while having a work discussion,

12:07 taking your calls for work while pacing in the office or going outside.

12:11 I just [music] don't see how this could possibly be true.

12:14 Going for a casual walk or watching Bluey with my kids hasn't gotten me

12:18 anywhere close to the kind of effort I put in when I'm actually training.

12:21 Sorry, Andrew.

12:22 I started hitting more sessions each week,

12:24 a few during the day, but most after the kids were asleep.

12:27 I turned the baby monitor on, lace up,

12:29 put on my headphones, play an audiobook, and start pedaling.

12:33 One thing that sucks about training

12:34 in the sunroom is that there's no air conditioning,

12:37 and so this just turns into a sweat lodge.

12:40 Since I got off to a slow start,

12:41 I extended this one a little bit past the 30-day mark.

12:44 I ended up training for 22 days over 42 [music] days

12:47 in total for a grand total of 793 minutes of zone two,

12:51 or an average of 132 minutes per week.

12:54 Just a bit short of my goal, but [music] still way more cardio than

12:57 I've done over the past 20 years combined, so I was pretty happy about that.

13:02 My longest streak was six days straight.

13:04 By the end of that run, [music] I could feel my energy was dipping.

13:07 I wasn't recovering enough,

13:09 and that was a good reminder for me that more isn't always better.

13:13 Two big lessons that I've learned that might help you if

13:16 you're looking to get started on a practice like this yourself.

13:18 First, having an at-home solution was just like such a game-changer for me.

13:23 It made consistency more realistic,

13:26 and I'm even considering getting a small weight set

13:29 at [music] home as well to help me lift because again,

13:32 with parenting, it's like I just I just never have time.

13:36 Second, while I'm sure that this is good for me,

13:40 outside of my actual training sessions,

13:43 I haven't felt any kind of like knock-on effect.

13:46 During my sessions themselves, as I kind of like get into a flow [music] state,

13:50 I feel a lot better.

13:52 Like just my heart rate getting up, moving around a lot more.

13:55 [music] Like I definitely like that feeling, but again,

13:58 it hasn't really translated outside of those workouts.

14:02 I think the lesson you can take away from that, [music] and this is

14:04 something that I've learned through a lot

14:05 of the 30-day experiments that I've done,

14:07 is that 30 days is a great starting [music] point.

14:09 It helps to build the the routine and the habit.

14:12 It helps you to understand whether [music]

14:14 it's something that you might enjoy going forward,

14:16 how to squeeze it in and find that extra time in your day to make it work.

14:20 But if you really want to see the health

14:22 benefits of something [music] like zone two every day,

14:25 it's probably going to take a little bit more time.

14:27 Zone two was the perfect way to introduce cardio into my life,

14:30 but since [music] I don't have a whole lot of time,

14:32 I'm planning to dial up my intensity

14:33 going forward with some new 30-day experiments.

14:36 Next up, I'm going to run 1 mile a day for 30 days.