zone 2 cardio

Zone 2 cardio is sustained, moderate-intensity exercise: your breathing and heart rate rise, but you can still hold a conversation without pausing to catch your breath. 1

• Activities: Jogging, rowing, cycling, swimming, and hiking can all work; brisk walking can also count when it raises your breathing and heart rate to the conversational-effort level. 2 3
• Session duration: A 60–75-minute continuous session is one suggested endurance workout. Another cited approach is 30–60 minutes, three to four times weekly, which can improve blood-sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity. 4 5
• Weekly activity: A target of about 200 minutes per week is suggested, and the time can be accumulated through everyday movement such as brisk walks and pacing during calls. 6 7
• Brain health: One long, slow-distance workout per week—about 45–75 minutes—is recommended as a way to support brain health through effects on cerebral blood flow and cardiovascular health. 8
• Overall fitness: The recommendations include both long, slow-distance cardio and high-intensity interval training, alongside resistance training. 9 10