# Zone 2 Training - The Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast of Cycling #Well-Being *Last Updated: May, 2026* Cycling has taken me deep into rabbit holes I never thought I would explore. Nutrition timing. Sleep tracking. Saddle geometry. One of which that has fascinated me the most in terms of how our body works is Zone 2 Training. It sounds almost too simple to be worth obsessing over. Ride easy. Do it consistently. Trust the process. Zone 2 is the effort level where you can hold a full conversation but wouldn't want to. Approximately speaking, it is 60 to 70% of your max heart rate. On the cycle, it feels too easy. You will feel like you are not training. Most people won't be able to resist the urge to push. That's what makes it simple and hard. Even though the adaptations are slow and invisible, they are deep. The problem to solve: Fat Oxidation Our bodies run on two primary fuels: fat and glycogen (carbs). Glycogen is fast and powerful but limited. Most people carry roughly 90 minutes of hard-effort fuel. Fat is abundant but slower to access. Long rides are a fat oxidation event. You cannot carry enough carbohydrates to fuel 10–12 hours of riding from glycogen alone. Even with aggressive fueling you are always augmenting, not replacing, what your body needs to produce from fat. Zone 2 training teaches your body to use fat more efficiently, earlier, and at higher intensities. - Builds more mitochondria where fat actually gets burned - Trains your body to prefer fat as fuel over months of consistent training - Shifts your crossover point from fat to carbs to a higher wattage or pace - Develops your slow-twitch muscle fibers that are densely packed with fat-burning enzymes - Improves lactate clearance (better you clear lactate the longer you ride on fat) Zone 2 is the sweet spot where the hormonal conditions for fat burning are optimal. Cortisol is low enough to not suppress fat mobilization and adrenaline is just high enough to release fat from storage. The results aren't immediate. Staying consistent at it with work-life and parenthood has its own challenges. But you will discover changes first-hand along the way. The 100 km rides slowly don't feel as daunting as they used to. Backpacking cycling trips become a reality. And most importantly, you stop treating fitness as something that must hurt to count.