Saltire Strong

Ever think a run or spin on the Peloton means having to push yourself until you’re dripping in sweat, lungs are on fire, and your legs shaking?

In the cardio and boot camp-style world, the “no pain, no gain” mentality looms large--because high intensity workouts have to be better, right?

Thankfully, that’s not always the case! Usually, a combination of long-slow and short-fast workouts, based on intensity and time spent per session, is where the real magic happens.

By Zone training--purposefully doing cardio at different intensities for varying lengths of time--you can get all sorts of incredible benefits, which may include:

▫️reducing your 5k race time
▫️improving your sleep and stress management
▫️perhaps even helping to control your hunger

Instead of grinding out the most difficult, fast-paced run every time you go out the door, training at different Zone levels helps you develop a more well-rounded, balanced level of fitness. It can also reduce excess stress on your body, keep appetite in check (as long bouts of intense cardio can cause us to overeat later on), and simply help you make faster progress toward your goals.

Zone training ensures you exercise at different exertion levels--with each level promoting a different benefit. For instance:

▫️Zone 2 improves your energy efficiency enabling you train for longer periods of time before becoming fatigued
▫️Zone 4 training helps you to run, spin, paddle, and swim faster

An effective way to be sure you hit the correct training Zone is by using Rate of Perceived Exertion, commonly known as RPE. There are many versions of RPE, but we use a scale from 1-10 (1 = no effort at all, 10 = maximum all out effort).

The below chart is the version we use with our clients.

Zone 1️⃣ = RPE 1-3 (easy)
Zone 2️⃣ = RPE 4-5 (moderate)
Zone 3️⃣ = RPE 6-7 (challenging)
Zone 4️⃣ = RPE 8-9 (hard)
Zone 5️⃣ = RPE 10 (maximum effort)

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