It’s the same story every year. You treated your healthy diet and regular exercise like you treated your work emails in December, swearing to “circle back after the holidays.”
Now, it’s after the holidays. And as the new year rolls in, you diligently head to the gym seven days a week, going balls out like you’re about to fight Ivan Drago. After a month of hardcore workouts, you step on the scale, look down and see you’ve lost about three Christmas cookies.
Since you’re not making any progress, you get discouraged, and your goals go by the wayside. By the time deer season rolls around, you’re sucking wind just to walk to the blind, and your buddies, appropriately, make fun of you.
The thing is, you’re not the only person whose “no easy way out” New Year’s fitness plan fails. And the problem isn’t a lack of effort. So, if making your heart beat faster burns more calories, why do you look the same as you did watching the Rose Bowl?
“People think that the harder they work, the more weight they’ll lose. And that’s not it,” says fitness pro and personal trainer Eric McCormack, who in his 30 years has trained the likes of Cam Hanes, David Goggins, and Colby Covington. “You don’t have to beat yourself up; you just have to be consistent. And I think zone training can open up some doors.”
So, what exactly is zone training? And how is it going to help you shed fat before summer? McCormack sat down with Hook & Barrel from his home in Phoenix, Arizona, and explained that sweat is not, in fact, fat cells crying.
The Gears of Zone Training
“I like to use the analogy of a car shifting through its gears,” McCormack says. “There’s a gear for uphill climbing, a gear for performance, and each one has a purpose. Just start in first gear, see how it feels and move to different gears.”
First gear is Zone 1. That’s about 50-60% of your max heart rate, or 220 minus your age. Getting to Zone 1 just means moving your body, like walking, gardening or playing with your kids.
Zone 2, or about 60-70% of your max heart rate, is where your body starts burning fat. A Zone 2 workout would be taking a light jog, using the elliptical machine or briskly walking up hills. And if you want to burn fat, it’s where you want to devote most of your workout time.
“That’s the sweet spot,” McCormack says. “People need to back down the intensity. And if they need to lose 10 pounds of fat, they’re going to want to be working in that 60-70% range.”
Zone 3 kicks things up a notch, taking you to 70-80% of your max. “That’s where you’re pumping, you’re not overexerting and you’re getting into some real aerobic activity,” McCormack says.
He suggests those looking to burn fat move into Zone 3 for some stretches, if their body feels ready, but not making it the focus.
Zone 4 is where athletes train, at around 80-90% of their max. And while you might still think of yourself as an athlete because you play pickup soccer on Tuesdays, unless you’ve got a competition and/or a sponsorship deal, you don’t need to be working this hard.
Zone 5 is full-out wind sprints, which can be effective for elite athletes but won’t be nearly as effective as Zone 2 for burning fat.
“That’s building a lot of other lactic acids in your body, and it’s just using muscle tissue as energy other than using the fat cells,” McCormack says.
How To Structure Your Zone Training
Generally, most of your workout should be spent in Zone 2. Three or four half-hour sessions a week are good for beginners, and you can progress from there. Again, you may not feel like you’re working hard enough, but your body’s furnace will be burning fat cells while you leisurely watch the NFL playoffs on the elliptical.
“A big chunk needs to be spent in Zone 2 training, and it needs to be consistent over time,” he says. “You’re going to have bits and pieces you do in 3 and 4—Cam (Hanes) spends most of his time there, but he’s an ultra-runner. Then Zone 5, you’re going to want to do those very sparingly and do those at the end.”
He also warns of potential injuries if you don’t work your way through each gear, and also to always listen to your body.
“The idea is that, when you’re working through these gears, you have to listen to your body. How are your joints, your ligaments and your tendons working?” he says. “And if you’re trying to work your heart and take away the impact, use a cycle or a bike so you can let it out and get some of that high-end training.”
He adds that zone training is especially useful for hunters because consistently moving your body from high exertion to low and back again trains your heart rate to rise and drop quickly. That’s a big help when you’re chasing an animal and then have to immediately line up for a shot.
“The most important thing is fine-tuning your training for a purpose,” he says. “And then be consistent. If you make it your lifestyle, and you continually take care of your body, you’ll be ready for anything.”
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