A Different Kind of Zone 2 Training
A Different Kind of Zone 2 Training
Spice up your Zone 2 - CrossFit style!
Team! We have been talking a lot about recovery and making a friend of your cortisol system. Today's workout helps you do just that! Enjoy this CrossFit-style active recovery, heart rate zone 2 workout that has you moving well, breathing more easily and giving your endocrine system the love it needs and deserves! ...and don't forget to check out the housekeeping items! -Carla
When most people think about CrossFit, they think of super-human athletes and soul-crushing workouts. You will certainly find these in this space, but what is often lost is the notion that CrossFit workouts are infinitely scalable to achieve a desired intensity and/or movement pattern. This is the reason why CrossFit has an adaptive athlete division and a wide range of competitive age categories (teens to 65+ divisions). The workouts can be scaled to accommodate any skill level or physical limitation.
A fantastic way to use CrossFit training is for active recovery or “zone 2” training. This is a great way to incorporate a variety of movements into a workout designed for low intensity and just moving and feeling good, head to toe! Zone 2 training is typically within 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, with the “maximum heart rate” being 220 minus your age. There are many ways of calculating “maximum heart rate” and in women, these estimates may not always be accurate. Your Zone 2 estimate can also be calculated by subtracting your age from 180. Your wearable technology can be helpful and these general estimates will suffice if you do not have access to wearable technology.
Today’s workout is a modification of a zone 2 CrossFit-stye workout designed by Train FTW. It is 50 minutes long. Enjoy this active recovery day!
TIP! Some of these movements may elevate your heart rate more than you think! Slow the pace of the repetitions, use light weights, and take frequent short breaks if you sense that you are going beyond zone 2. Another great trick my amazing Coach, Erika Snyder, suggested was to do the workout with the mouth closed, breathing through the nose. But if your nostrils start flaring like a bull, slow it down!
Warm Up
5 minutes easy bike, run, brisk walk, or check out the “Chan Warm-Up” from Train FTW
Movement Practice
Take 5-10 minutes to select your options for the workout and practice 5-10 repetitions of each movement. Again, this is a lower-intensity workout so your options should feel relatively easy during practice.
Workout
3 rounds
4:00 ZONE 2 bike, run, row, or box step up on a low box
0:30 half-kneeling dumbbell (or kettlebell) shoulder press right arm (light-medium weight, easy pace)
0:30 half-kneeling dumbbell shoulder press left arm (light-medium weight, easy pace)
1:00 rest
3 rounds
4:00 ZONE 2 bike, run, row, or box step up on a low box
0:30 Oblique twist to the right side (Do not alternate. Starting from the middle using a light plate/dumbbell twist to the right, back to the middle, to the right, to the middle, and so on for 30 seconds).
0:30 Oblique twist to the left side (starting from the middle using a light plate/dumbbell)
1:00 rest
AMRAP 12:00 (As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes)
100 single under jump rope (easy zone 2-3 pace) or simulated jump rope
20 kettlebell swings - swing to EYE LEVEL (alternative: dumbbell swings) - light-medium weight
15 dumbbell shoulder press (light to medium weight - all repetitions confidently unbroken)
Cool Down
One thing that so often takes a back seat for busy people is cooling down. But not today! Warming up and cooling down is self-care for your body and mind. Round out today’s recovery workout with a stress-relieving cool-down! #dontskiptheyoga
15-minute yoga for stress relief!
Housekeeping…..
This just dropped last week! Check out my guest appearance on the Hit Play Not Pause Podcast discussing “What Menopausal Women Need to Know About Cortisol” with the awesome and amazing Selene Yeager!
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