Hey, friends. Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️ You’ll see some love-based references throughout this newsletter 🥰 

We’re keeping it on the shorter side (for me) this week with a simple but important concept. 

Yes, you have my permission to go buy some 50% off candy tomorrow. No, you don’t have my permission to eat it all at once. Stretch that heart-shaped box out till Easter 🐰 

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Cardio shouldn’t be hardio!

Most of y’all are probably going too hard, too often when you’re doing cardiovascular exercise. 

One TikToker has even started a trend of “Cozy cardio,” helping viewers to understand that cardio doesn’t have to be balls-to-the-wall-intense all the time!

Let’s nod back to one of my earliest articles about building your aerobic pyramid (thanks, Dr. Attia, for the analogy). 

To be an optimally healthy human, you want your aerobic pyramid to have a wide base, which consists of low-to-moderate intensity cardio training. And you also want a high peak, which is your maximum aerobic capacity, or VO2 max.

• Keep it equilateral; a short and wide pyramid or a tall and skinny pyramid aren’t ideal for your health and fitness; you’d be leaving something on the table.

Building your base (80%) & your peak (20%)

To build the wide base, you need a large amount (the majority) of your cardiovascular training to be at relatively lower intensities. For most people this is at the level just above casual walking but below intense running.

• Some rough parameters to help you estimate are 60–75/80% of your maximum ❤️ rate, or somewhere between a 5–7 rating of perceived exertion (RPE) on a scale from 1 to 10.

Even the most elite endurance athletes (think marathon winners and Tour de France champions) spend the vast majority (~80%) of their training time in lower and moderate intensity training. 

Why? This lower intensity training has robust benefits for metabolic and mitochondrial health. Our mitochondria are even more important than your 10th grade biology teacher could possibly convey. They are quite literally our engines of vitality that keep us functioning well.

Building long-duration endurance is essential and has robust health benefits. This is also where our body trains to maximally oxidize fat for energy.

So that’s good news! There is simply no need for most of your cardio sessions to be at a high intensity! You don’t need to be at 80+% of your HR max every session.

But sometimes you do. The golden ratio seems to be about 4:1. 80% of your cardio in lower and moderate intensities, and 20% of your training at near-peak intensity, really pushing it. 

Zone 2 sessions should last somewhere in the realm of 30–60 minutes each, or longer if you want. 

VO2max sessions can be shorter but require more warmup and cool down. The best way to work your maximum aerobic capacity is to go at max effort for 3–8 minutes, then “rest” at a low & slow activity for about the same amount of time, and repeat this for 2–5 rounds.

Maximum intensity sessions are just as important; we just don’t need to do them more than once, maybe twice, a week. This builds our VO2max, a major indicator of function in old age and longevity. It teaches our body to function at a very high output.

While there are some benefits to the kind of no-man’s-land intensity between these two levels (sometimes referred to as Zones 3 and 4), most of us will get the most bang for our buck by just training around Zone 2 ~80% of the time and pushing Zone 5 (and Zone 6 high intensity anaerobic sprints around 10–90 seconds) for the other ~20%. 

• Don’t feel pressured to drudge through sessions in the in-between of those zones, where you’re miserable for 15–45 minutes but not really in either Zone 2 or 5. 

Planning your cardio cycles

How do I personally keep track of this? It’d be great if I did cardio five days a week, dedicating four to Zone 2 and one to max intensity. But my schedule isn’t always consistent, and I’ve not reached that frequency yet. So I try to do four Zone 2 sessions at whatever rate I can get them in, then know it’s time for a max effort session next, before repeating the cycle. 

You’ll know you’re in Zone 2 when you could maintain a conversation on the phone, but the other person would certainly know you’re exercising. In Zone 5, there ain’t no time (or breath) for chit chat.

Zone 2 should be enjoyable! Whether jogging, rucking, incline treadmill walking, cycling, or whatever else, you should be able to call a loved one ❤️, watch a show, listen to a podcast, or enjoy some leisurely music. 

Another sign of Zone 2 is that you could’ve kept going long after you stopped. Find something you enjoy doing! Just like with finding a romantic partner, choose one you wouldn’t mind spending lotsss of time with. ❤️ 

Zone 5, on the other hand, should truly be intense. You should be reaching near your max predicted heart rate (220 minus age for a rough estimate). Personally, I need intense hype music to fuel the focus required in these sessions.

Bottom line: Cardio shouldn’t be hard, yo… 80% of the time, anyway. The other 20%, get out there and work your @$$ off. 

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Take stock of your current cardiovascular exercise. Note what proportions of your workouts are spent at what intensities.

Level 2: Try to reach about a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of low/moderate intensity to high intensity cardio.

Level 3: Reach 5 days a week of cardio and really push maximum intensity for 3-8 minute repeats on your high intensity day, while taking the pressure off of the other days and just putting in 45+ minutes of steady state work.

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✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Read & watch: The cozy cardio trend

• 🤠: “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by the Queen Bey, herself

• Listen 🤧: “How to prevent and treat colds and flu” by Dr. Huberman

Happy love day, friends. Hope Cupid shoots you in the butt. See you next week! ❤️ 

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).