Zone 1 exercises for functional fitness

Why are Zone 1 exercises most recommended for functional fitness?

You spend more than 90% of your life in heart rate zone 1, maybe some part of zone 2. Your heart rate is a very good indicator of the intensity of exercise. Learning to recognize the subtle shifts in your breathing can be useful and rewarding.

This is often referred to as a “conversational pace.” You will be able to speak in complete sentences. The pace should feel relaxed and easy. To find the upper end of this zone, start by exercising slowly while breathing through your nose only. As you increase the intensity/speed gradually, note the point at which this nose breathing becomes noisy and laboured. That is the upper end of Zone 1.

Some of the activities that can be done in Z1 are slow walks, Z1 and stair climbing. Establishing mind body connection along with paying attention to breathing, will enable you to gain more functional fitness in long term. For Z1, the preferred fuel for the body is fat fuel, which provides slow and continuous energy, helping you to stay thoughtful and mindful throughout the day.

The idea is to get more blood to the legs without adding any stress. Your body should feel better off doing it, if it feels worse, then you either went too hard or need to take some more rest and correct something in your lifestyle and food first.

Spending more time in Zone 1 heart rate improves endurance resulting in increase in mitochondrial mass which is basically increase in size and number of mitochondria within the trained muscle hence preparing you to have more energy.

Even the world’s elite endurance athletes spend more than three-quarters of their training volume at this low intensity, so do not let its ease fool you into thinking that it does not offer significant benefits.