Explanation of Training Zones

Lactate is constantly being produced by the body. At rest and in light exercise, the level of lactate produced is small enough that you can effectively remove it without a problem. With increasing exercise intensity, lactate production increases and reaches levels that become problematic and that are associated with fatigue. Lactate threshold (LT) is defined as "the initial increase in blood lactate levels above resting/steady state levels". Anaerobic threshold (AT) is defined as "an exponential shift in blood lactate levels". In terms of performance, improving the speed at which you can perform before blood lactate levels rise, will improve performance since fatigue will be delayed.

Following is an explanation of various training zones along with their purpose, duration, and rest period. If you are following a different training program that uses terminology not listed, please refer to the table titled "Summary of Various Training Zones in Current Literature" to see how they equate. Included with each training zone is your Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), a scale developed by Dr. Bunnar Borg in the early 70's to determine perceived exertion. The scale ranges from 7 to 20 with the lower number being a very, very light effort and 20 being a maximum effort:

Ratings of Perceived Effort (RPE)
6
7	Very, Very Easy
8
9	Very Easy
10
11	Fairly Easy
12
13	Somewhat Hard
14
15	Hard
16
17	Very Hard
18
19	Very, Very Hard
20

1. Extensive Endurance/Aerobic Training (RPE 8-11)

   • Purpose: Teach body to conserve glycogen and burn fat as well as increase your aerobic capacity. These efforts are used for warm up/cool down, easy days, aerobic workouts and long distance workouts. Ideally, the body should not produce any lactic acid, or very little, in the aerobic zone to conserve glycogen. A recovery zone HR assists in flushing by products from your system following an intense exercise bout.
   • Duration: May be short (1-10 minutes) or long (up to 6 hours)
   • Rest Period: May be none. If anything, should be very short and your heart rate or pace should not fall below or rise above the specified range for any significant amounts of time.

2. Intensive Endurance/Aerobic Training (RPE 11-13)

   • Purpose: Important in training your metabolic efficiency and ability to maximize the burning of fats at the pace at which you will compete for longer events. Most aerobic training is best performed at well below this level to prevent burning out. This pace equates well with longer and ultra distance races or events such as the Ironman triathlon.
   • Duration: May be short (1-10 minutes) or long (up to 3 hours)
   • Rest Period: May be none. If anything, should be very short and your heart rate or pace should not fall below or rise above the specified range for any significant amounts of time.

3. Steady State/Lactate Threshold Training (RPE 13-14)

4. Purpose: This pace equates well with marathon race pace or 1/2 ironman race pace. Teaches the body to get used to race pace.
5. Duration: May be short (1-10 minutes) or long (up to 1-2 hours).
6. Rest Period: May be none. If anything, should be very short and your heart rate or pace should not fall below or rise above the specified range for any significant amounts of time.

7. Tempo/Anaerobic Threshold Training (RPE 14-17)

8. Purpose: Most commonly, anaerobic threshold is defined as the maximum heart rate, lactate concentration and pace that can be maintained for approximately one hour in a race or 20-30 minutes in a training workout. Above this point your muscles start to burn and you eventually are forced to slow down. Ideally, you want to raise this heart rate and pace so that you can go faster for longer races. The two main types of anaerobic threshold workouts are tempo and anaerobic threshold intervals. In all cases, anaerobic threshold workouts should feel "comfortably hard". If you are overly sore and stiff the day after an anaerobic threshold workout, you've gone too hard.
9. Number and duration of repetitions: The classic workout to improve your anaerobic threshold is a tempo or continuous workout of 20-40 minutes at anaerobic threshold pace/heart rate. Rather than do a continuous tempo workout, you can gain a similar benefit by breaking the tempo run/ride into 2-4 intervals. For example, four repetitions of 10 minutes each at anaerobic threshold pace/HR with a 5 minute active recovery between repetitions.

10. VO₂ Max Training (RPE 17-19)

11. Purpose: To train your body to utilize more oxygen and consequently, raise your VO2 Max or aerobic capacity which is the maximum amount of oxygen you can take in and actually use during exercise. The higher your VO2 Max, the higher your aerobic capacity and the more you have to work with. The pace that corresponds with VO2 Max pace is usually your 3 to 5K running race pace. You should perform these workouts more by pace/RPE's vs. heart rate as your heart rate will take 3-5 minutes to reach appropriate levels and should remain several beats under your maximum by the end of the interval during this type of training. Otherwise, you will risk working too intensely, which will shorten the workout and tend to provide less stimulus to improving V02Max.
12. Number and duration of repetitions: You'll improve V02Max most rapidly by running 3 to 5 miles of intervals per workout. The duration of each interval should be of 2-6 minutes duration. For most runners, this means intervals of approximately 600-1600meters. A sample cycling workout might be 8X3 min. at your VO2 Max HR or corresponding power output level with a 2 min. active recovery.
13. Rest Period: The duration of recovery between intervals should be long enough to allow your heart rate to go down to 65% of your maximum HR. The amount of time to reach that heart rate will depend on the length of the interval. As a general guideline, the rest between intervals should be from 50-90% of the time it takes to complete the interval. It is better to perform an active (i.e. walk/jog, spin easy) vs. passive recovery to help clear lactic acid from your blood.

14. Repetition, Economy, Anaerobic Capacity Training (T1-T2, RPE 19-20)

15. T1 = Swim: 400-1000 yard/meter TT, RUN: 1.5-3K race pace, BIKE: 3-6 mile TT pace
    T2 = maximum steady output for 45-90 seconds
16. Purpose: This type of training teaches you to tolerate more lactic acid and oxygen debt. It will also improve your sense of race pace and your economy (how efficient your body will be with your fuel). While intervals improve your aerobic capacity, repetitions will improve your anaerobic capacity. Although endurance events like the Ironman or marathon are aerobic", there are still times during any even, long and short, where it is necessary to utilize your anaerobic energy systems. Climbing hills, transitions in a triathlon, starting a race, etc., all may require anaerobic muscle fibers and energy systems. The pace will be faster than AT but your heart rate may not reach the specified range during shorter efforts so don't kill yourself trying to get there. Go more by feel and actual speed on these sets. At the higher end of this type of training (T2), anaerobic capacity efforts should be the fastest pace maintainable for 45-90 seconds and are associated with higher lactate levels and will develop both your ability to generate lactate and your ability to tolerate it. Do not try this zone of training every day and be careful to incorporate plenty of recovery and easy days with these intense training days.
17. Number and duration of repetitions: The number of repetitions will typically be 3 to 8 but may be more. The length of each effort will be short (30 seconds to 2 minutes).
18. Rest Period: The rest periods will be 2-4 times longer than the actual effort depending on the sport (shorter for swimming, longer for running). The recovery should be complete so that each effort is consistent.

19. Speed, Sprint, Anaerobic Power Training (T2-T3, RPE 19-20)

    • T2 = maximum steady output for 45-90 seconds T3 = Sprints at 95-100% effort
    • Purpose: To build anaerobic power and strength by recruiting any and or all of the fast twitch muscle fibers that you have available.
    • Number and duration of repetitions: The number of repetitions will be 4-8 or more and the length of each effort will be very short (5-45 seconds). Don't be concerned with HR during these efforts since the interval is so short.
    • Rest Period: The rest periods will be 3-4 times longer than the actual efforts for maximum recovery.

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