Zone 2 Is Overrated Says Norwegian Super Coach

Are you a fan of Zone 2 training? 🚴

Olav kept reinforcing a point that is the problem of all competitive people - "don't go bonkers (over exertion)". When we are feeling good in our training regiment, we want to push ourselves to the limit. The wear and tare this has on the body demands a lot of recovery, opens us up for injury and keeps the body in a repair state instead of a build state. I fought this tendency to max out until I had an injury serious enough to teach me otherwise. I really liked the whole conversation and it all hit home for me.

The ridiculous clickbait title seems a disservice to Si’s excellent interview and GCN’s otherwise high standards. It would also appear to be rather insulting to your guest. He categorically does NOT say that zone 2 is a waste of time but provides a high level of nuance.

In Norway you learn this when you’re ten and start cycling, cross country skiing or running. Do one session of intervals (zone 3-5) a week and the rest of sessions is zone 1-2. Also best recovery is sleeping enough. Unless you’re aiming for pro your training plan doesn’t need to be more advanced than this for the average Joe with family, work and the occasional grand fondo. I tried many of these workouts plans of different apps like Zwift, but most of them drains you in a few weeks because the load is too high when you have a normal lifestyle.

Key take home from both coaches: consistency is king.

So basically he doesn't disagree. He is talking about high high performance where 99.99% is cycling population is not. Basically, zone 2 still valid, specially for amateur like the rest of us. The 80/20 or 90/10 still valid.

Thanks for keeping things simple Olav!

The format is great. Really, any content from you to get my mind off the rest of the burning world is great. The longer the better.

I love every interview I get to watch with Olav. To see how he thinks about the approach is amazing and eye-opening. Thanks so much, top-notch content.

The thumbnail and the title are 100% clickbait! Obviously, nobody ever said «Replace all your training with Z2 ». You don’t need to be a Norwegian to know it wouldn’t be efficient 😂 Still, the video is very informative, and I appreciate seeing a different take on Zone 2 training and hearing different way of thoughts on the topic!

Great interview. Thanks Si. What a treat to be a GCN subscriber.

@gcn please keep on with content like this. Keep them coming. The quality of this channel keeps improving. It's a pleasure to watch you and to learn from you. I just love it 🙏!

@gcnm please keep on with content like this. Keep them coming. The quality of this channel keeps improving. It's a pleasure to watch you and to learn from you. I just love it 🙏!

Excellent information. Thank you GCN!

Really appreciating the multiple perspectives! Well done GCN!

This all sounds like scientific support for Eddie Merckx's training suggestion: "Ride a lot, sometimes ride hard". It all makes total sense. I'm glad this research has been done. Thanks for the great video!

Great video guys. The title got me to watch, but the discussion surely didn’t disappoint.

This is one of the most informative knowledge about this particular subject. Thank you for this!!!

Information light discussion. 30 minutes to say: 1. Consistency over the long term is good 2. Alternate easy and hard days 3. Don't dig yourself into a hole by overdoing.

Great interview! Thanks!