WHO THIS IS FOR
IS THIS YOU?
The time-crunched amateur
You have 6–10 hours a week and want to know how to split them.
The rider who thinks easy is wasted
You feel like a slow ride isn't 'real' training and keep pushing the pace.
THE ROADMAN VIEW
The Roadman view
Here's what nobody tells you about pro cyclists: they spend about 80% of their time riding at a pace so slow that plenty of recreational riders could sit on their wheel. Anthony has said it on the podcast more than once, and Seiler's research backs it — the easy riding is not filler between the hard sessions. It is the training.
The problem is ego. Riding slow feels like you're not working, so amateurs nudge the pace up until their 'easy' ride is actually a moderate one. That grey-zone riding is the single most common error trained amateurs make. It feels productive and it quietly blocks progress, because it's too hard to recover from and too easy to drive real adaptation.
So the honest prescription isn't a magic number of minutes — it's a ratio and a discipline. Keep roughly four-fifths of your weekly time genuinely easy, hold your hard days for the 20% that's meant to hurt, and let duration do the work. Zone 2 isn't a session you tick off. It's the base everything else stands on.
EXPERT EVIDENCE
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
- Professor Stephen SeilerExercise physiologist, polarised-training researcher
Across elite endurance sport, the durable pattern is about 80% of sessions easy and 20% hard. The mechanism in Zone 2 is real and specific — mitochondrial density and fat oxidation — not just 'recovery' riding.
Hear it: Secret To Cycling Fast At A Low Heart Rate | Prof Seiler - World Tour coachesAs discussed on the Roadman podcast
The coaches behind Grand Tour riders prescribe huge volumes of properly easy riding. The amateur takeaway isn't to copy the hours — it's to copy the discipline of keeping easy days genuinely easy.
Hear it: Zone 2 Training: What World Tour Coaches Actually Say | Roadman Cycling
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
DO THIS WEEK
Set your Zone 2 ceiling honestly
Zone 2 is roughly 56–75% of FTP, or under ~75% of max heart rate. Use the lower half of that band. If your power meter says Z2 but you're breathing hard, trust your breathing and ease off.
Make your long ride genuinely long
One ride a week of 90 minutes to 3+ hours, all in Zone 2. Duration is the stimulus — the last hour of a long easy ride is where much of the aerobic adaptation happens.
Protect the ratio
Add up your weekly time. If more than ~20% is spent above Zone 2, you're doing too much intensity. Cut a hard session before you cut an easy hour.
COMMON MISTAKES
WHAT CYCLISTS GET WRONG
MISTAKERiding Zone 2 in Zone 3 because slow feels unproductive.
FIXCap it by feel: conversational, nose-breathing pace. If you can only speak in short bursts, you're too high.
MISTAKEChopping Zone 2 into lots of short rides.
FIXConsolidate the time. Longer continuous rides deliver more aerobic adaptation than the same minutes scattered across micro-sessions.
MISTAKETreating Zone 2 as optional once intervals start.
FIXThe base is what lets you absorb and recover from intervals. Drop it and your hard sessions degrade within weeks.
FAQ
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What heart rate is Zone 2 for cycling?
Is 30 minutes of Zone 2 enough?
How many days a week should I do Zone 2?
Can I do too much Zone 2?
Should I do Zone 2 indoors or outdoors?
Why do I feel like Zone 2 is too easy?
RELATED EPISODES
HEAR THE CONVERSATIONS
RELATED TOPICS