How & Why to Get Weekly "Zone 2" Cardio Workouts | Dr. Andrew Huberman
What this covers
Dubbed by ElevenLabs
Dr. Andrew Huberman explains the importance of Zone 2 cardio for overall health and how to incorporate it into your weekly routine.
Dr. Andrew Huberman is a tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford University School of Medicine and host of the Huberman Lab Podcast.
Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/LYYyQcAJZfk Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or other podcast platforms: https://go.hubermanlab.com/science-supported-tools-to-accelerate-your-fitness-goalsYC Show notes: https://www.hubermanlab.com/episode/science-supported-tools-to-accelerate-your-fitness-goals
This clip was dubbed by ElevenLabs and is available in Spanish (Mexico) and Hindi. Learn more: https://elevenlabs.io/huberman
Social & Website Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab Twitter: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter
#HubermanLab #Zone2 #Exercise
The Huberman Lab podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
Source description (no synthesized summary yet).
Zone two cardio should be integrated into daily activities rather than treated as formal exercise, because it delivers critical cardiovascular and health benefits while enhancing rather than impeding other fitness domains and life activities.
- Zone two cardio is non-negotiable for cardiovascular health and health span, requiring 200 minutes weekly minimum
- Zone two cardio does not impede and actually enhances strength, hypertrophy, and speed training
- Reframing zone two cardio as daily movement rather than scheduled exercise increases adherence and enjoyment while freeing time for work and social connection
This asset isn't compiled yet
You're seeing its claims, ranked. Compile it to build the argument threads, weight them, and check each claim against your library — the full view.
Conceptualizing zone two cardio as part of daily life rather than as a formal fitness training program makes individuals more likely to accumulate and maintain zone two cardio activity.
“But if one looks at zone two cardio as just part of their daily life, you're far more likely to get that zone two cardio in and all the benefits that come with it.”
Zone two cardio is absolutely critical to health for multiple reasons and does not impede, and in fact can enhance, other aspects of fitness including strength training, hypertrophy training, speed work, and other types of cardiovascular training.
“he said, 'First of all, zone two cardio is absolutely critical to our health for a number of reasons that I already mentioned. But in addition to that, zone two cardio does not impede and in fact, can enhance our other aspects of fitness.' So for example, our strength training, our hypertrophy training or any type of speed work or other types of cardiovascular training one might do.”
Reconceptualizing zone two cardio as daily movement rather than formal exercise increases enjoyment and psychological motivation to accumulate the activity.
“In doing so, it's also allowed me to really enjoy that a lot more. There's something about considering something a fitness training program that shifts it from just recreation and enjoying life to training.”
The best way to achieve zone two cardio is not necessarily to schedule dedicated sessions, but rather to increase the amount of walking, particularly rapid-paced walking, and to increase the total amount of movement throughout the week through daily activities.
“the best way to get zone two cardio is okay, if you want to schedule it, schedule it as a session but that to simply increase the amount of walking and in particular, walking at a rapid pace that one does, and to increase the total amount of movement that one's getting throughout the week.”
Zone two cardio can be effectively accumulated through routine daily activities such as carrying groceries, running around with children, walking with coworkers during work discussions, and pacing or walking while taking work calls.
“So taking groceries in and out of the grocery store, running around with the kids, taking a walk with a coworker while having a work discussion, taking your calls for work while pacing in the office or going outside.”
Reframing zone two cardio as daily movement rather than exercise opens up time for work, social engagement, and attention to other aspects of fitness.
“And you're also opening up time for work, for social engagements and pay attention to other aspects of fitness.”
Zone two cardio sessions are preferably performed outdoors because outdoor activity provides the benefits of sunlight exposure and fresh air in addition to the cardiovascular benefits.
“I will mention that whenever possible, I try and do that once a week, zone two cardio session out of doors because I like being in nature and I like getting sunlight, and I like getting fresh air.”
Zone two cardio can be integrated into daily activities without impeding other important health and life priorities such as adequate sleep and social connection with family and friends.
“I'm extremely busy. I don't have time to schedule in more cardio per week or at least I don't see the way I could do that without reducing the amount of sleep that I'm getting or without reducing the amount of social connection that I'm getting with family and friends, both of which are extremely important to our mental health and physical health. So the basic tool here is yes, get 200 minutes per week minimum of zone two cardio.”
If zone two cardio is sufficiently integrated into daily activities, one probably does not need to explicitly count or track the total amount of zone two cardio accumulated to ensure meeting the 200 minute weekly minimum.
“if you're doing enough of it, you probably don't even have to count the total amount of zone two cardio that you're getting. If you simply make the effort to move around a lot more during your daily activities and to mesh that zone two cardio with your daily activities, you're going to hit that threshold of 200 minutes per week minimum.”
Scientific data establish that individuals should be getting 150 to 200 minutes per week minimum of zone two cardio for cardiovascular health, cerebrovascular health, and other aspects of health important to health span and lifespan.
“The scientific data tell us that we should all be getting anywhere from 150 minutes to 200 minutes per week minimum of zone two cardio; for sake of cardiovascular health, cerebrovascular health, and a number of other aspects of health that are important essentially to everybody for health span and lifespan.”
Dr. Andy Galpin does not consider zone two cardio to be exercise at all, reconceptualizing it as a different category of activity.
“What he said was, 'Look, if you want to schedule zone two cardio and head out for a long Sunday jog or hike, terrific. If you want to schedule zone two cardio as two or more sessions on the treadmill or on the bike, great.' But that he doesn't actually think of zone two cardio as exercise at all.”
The speaker has revised his training architecture to include three weekly resistance training workouts, two other weekly cardiovascular training workouts, and no longer counts his long Sunday jog or hike as exercise but as general movement.
“Now that's a great message for me because I'm already doing the three resistance training workouts per week. I'm doing what now I can just call the two other cardiovascular training workouts per week because now I don't even count that long Sunday jog or Sunday hike as exercise.”
The speaker personally schedules one weekly session of zone two cardio (typically on Sunday) lasting 60 to 90 minutes that consists of either a slow jog where nasal breathing can be maintained throughout or a hike lasting 1 to 4 hours.
“For me, I have one day a week. For me, it falls on a Sunday where I go out for a jog that lasts anywhere from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. It's a slow jog, I can maintain nasal breathing the entire time or have a conversation with somebody else or myself the entire time, if I like. Or sometimes it consists of a hike by myself or with other people. And sometimes those hikes extend anywhere from an hour to four hours.”
A single weekly zone two cardio session of 60-90 minutes does not always allow reaching the 150-200 minute weekly minimum threshold, sometimes achieving it and sometimes falling short.
“I acknowledged that that once a week session doesn't always allow me to reach that 150 minute to 200 minute minimum threshold of zone two cardio per week. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't.”