Tip #5 Walking after your meal!
The benefits of zone 2 cardio, like walking, are amazing! Today, we are going to get into the benefits of walking in zone 2 and what it looks like. Just to be clear, it is still important that you incorporate weight bearing exercises for longevity to help keep muscle and bone mass as you continue with zone 2 activity. But for today, I’ll be covering what zone 2 cardio looks like and the incredible benefits it brings.
Walking is easy for most people to do and can add years to your life, help keep blood sugar in control, can help you improve your waistline and reduce inflammation. In fact, walking can improve mitochondrial function, increase your metabolic flexability (burn fat for fuel), reduce blood pressure, improve insulin resistance, improve A1C, help with diabetes, lowers your risk of injury and more. Studies show that just walking for 20-30 minutes after eating your largest meal (typically dinner) has shown to help people lose weight.
Zone 2 exercise can be different for everyone, depending on their fitness level. If you are a marathon runner, zone 2 may be running flat surfaces at a slow pace or if you are a biker it may be riding your bike at a much more leisurely pace with no hills. For most people, though, zone 2 cardio can be found in just WALKING! Yes, walking, not running, not doing a High Intensity Interval workout or spin class! Zone 2 cardio is described as low-intensity heart rate zone on a lower scale of breathing intensity. This means you are walking or maybe riding a bike but still able to carry on a conversation without losing your breath, but still having a somewhat elevated heart rate.
When you are in zone 2 cardio (somewhere around 65%-75% of your maximum heart rate if you are using a heart rate monitor) your body burns fat for fuel. The goal is to workout at a lower intensity for a longer period of time. Typically, walking 45 minutes can give you great weight loss benefits. You can break this up into two 20+ minute sessions, or do it all at once. When you have healthy mitochondria (powerhouse of the cell), your body is easily able to burn fat for fuel in zone 2. However, if you are metabolically inflexible, you will find yourself burning glucose over fat. As you continue to consistenly walk in zone 2 you can improve your mitochondrial health where your body can start burning fat as fuel.
Walking is a great way to get into zone 2 cardio, without sustaining injuries that can give you incredible benefits, even if you can only walk for 20 minutes a day.
Let me know if you are going to start incorporating walking into your week and how many days a week you are going to do it!
Son WH, Park HT, Jeon BH, Ha MS. Moderate intensity walking exercises reduce the body mass index and vascular inflammatory factors in postmenopausal women with obesity: a randomized controlled trial. Sci Rep. 2023 Nov 17;13(1):20172. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-47403-2. PMID: 37978254; PMCID: PMC10656478.
Hijikata Y, Yamada S. Walking just after a meal seems to be more effective for weight loss than waiting for one hour to walk after a meal. Int J Gen Med. 2011;4:447-50. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S18837. Epub 2011 Jun 9. PMID: 21731896; PMCID: PMC3119587.
“What Is Zone 2 Training and How Often Should You Do It? - Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC.” http://Drruscio.com , 18 Mar. 2023, What is Zone 2 Training and How Often Should You Do It? - Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC . Accessed 11 Mar. 2024.
“Zone 2 Heart Rate Training for Longevity and Performance.” Howard J. Luks, MD, 14 Dec. 2020, Zone 2 Heart Rate Training For Longevity and Performance .