00:00if you've ever tried to keep your heart
00:01rate low during a run you know how
00:03frustrating or even impossible that can
00:05feel at times well today we're going to
00:07be talking about how slow you should be
00:09running your easy runs at and we'll also
00:11be going over how to calculate your own
00:13personal heart rate training zones as
00:16well as some tips on how to improve your
00:17running form and how you can ultimately
00:19run faster at a lower heart rate
00:22mastering the art of running easy or in
00:25zone 2 is crucial for building that
00:27strong aerobic base and that overall
00:30endurance and by the end of this video
00:31you'll know exactly what you need to be
00:33doing to achieve this so how slow should
00:36our easy runs be well you should be able
00:38to hold a conversation at this pace
00:41running with a friend or a colleague or
00:43just someone you know going out for a
00:44little bit of a chitchat and catch up is
00:46a great way to tell you're running at
00:48the right sort of intensity there's also
00:50some calculators online our favorite is
00:52the Jack Daniels calculator where you
00:54can put in some recent race results or
00:56just some times of where you think your
00:58Fitness is currently at and then will
01:00give you some rough guides for where it
01:02thinks your various training zones are
01:04most importantly we're here we're
01:06looking for that zone two for that easy
01:07Pace but for some people they won the
01:09absolute gold standard the most accurate
01:11way of doing their easy runs and how are
01:14we going to do this well we need to
01:15calculate our heart rate training zones
01:17there's basically three different ways
01:19you can do this the first one being
01:21another form of some online calculators
01:24these are very very generalized but
01:25they'll give you a rough idea of where
01:27you're at the second option which will
01:29give you the very very very best data
01:31now I've done this a few times who put
01:33some footage of me in the lab is to go
01:34into a lab and get your lactate
01:36threshold and your V2 Max tested and as
01:39part of that they will give you your own
01:41personal heart rate training zones that
01:43you can then take and use those in your
01:45training in the UK this is going to be
01:47around about £ 150 to2 200 and then
01:50what's going to appeal for most people
01:51the middle ground between those two is
01:53to test these out yourself and for this
01:56you're going to need to know your
01:57maximum heart rate and also your resting
01:59heart rate rate so to calculate your
02:01maximum heart rate and I would always
02:02say please get some medical advice if
02:04you're at all unsure and definitely you
02:06should be doing this in a supervised
02:08environment but you basically need to be
02:10pushing yourself to the absolute limit
02:12this is very very tough on the body
02:14please don't do this if you got
02:15absolutely no running Fitness or you're
02:17feeling slightly ill now the best thing
02:19is to do is to get yourself a heart rate
02:21monitor a chest strap or at the very
02:23least a armband these will be far more
02:26accurate than the heart rate monitors
02:27that are built into some of our watches
02:29these days these are very vague at best
02:32they're very good for looking at heart
02:33rate longterm but for in the moment
02:35they're really not going to be accurate
02:37enough for what we're trying to achieve
02:38here there's a couple of options here of
02:40what to do when you're all set up heart
02:42rate monitors ready to go the first one
02:44is to run 400 m fairly hard fairly
02:47intense and then another 400 m
02:50absolutely flat out the maximum heart
02:52rate will be somewhere towards that
02:54second rep of 400 m and then you can
02:56just look through the data and see where
02:58your heart rate gets up to and another
03:00option you can do here is to find a
03:02decent Hill in your local area and then
03:04progressively pick up speed pick up
03:06intensity as you start running up that
03:08hill do this for around about 60 seconds
03:10for that rep and again then look at the
03:13data afterwards super fit people might
03:14want to repeat this two or three times
03:16for those 400 m reps or two or three
03:18times to do those Hill reps and just see
03:20where that heart rate is spiking to at
03:22the end of the data before you do this
03:24you want to make sure you're properly
03:25warmed up you're going to be getting
03:26some very intense running straightaway
03:28so i' say at least around 50 minutes of
03:31super easy jogging lots of dynamic
03:32stretching as well before you get going
03:34if you are a little bit injured or a
03:35little bit unwell or don't want to go
03:37out and do something like that straight
03:38away go back and look at some of your
03:39historical data from the last couple of
03:41months leading up to where you are now
03:43have you done a hill rep session have
03:45you done some allout efforts have you
03:47done a Max 5K for example just look
03:49through that data if you've got reliable
03:51chest strap or arm strap data have a
03:54look see where it is peaking some of the
03:56running apps as well such as Garing
03:58things will be able to tell you what
03:59your max heart rate is by reading the
04:01data that is fed into it as well so
04:03there you go you've got your maximum
04:04heart rate data then we need to find out
04:06our resting heart rate now what a
04:07recommend here is to take your pulse
04:09first thing in the morning just over the
04:11course of maybe 2 or 3 days most modern
04:14watches will give you a resting heart
04:15rght data and this is going to be fairly
04:17accurate watches these days with the
04:19wrist-based heart rate are pretty good
04:20at looking at long-term heart rate data
04:22so I would trust the figure that your
04:24watch is giving you if you have that
04:26available to you so now we've got those
04:28two figures and for Simplicity I'm going
04:29to say my maximum heart rate is 180 and
04:32my resting heart rate is 60 now again
04:35there's some online calculators where
04:36you can plug these figures in that
04:38you've now calculated it will spit out
04:40your exact heart rate training zones
04:42again we'll link to those down below lot
04:43of links Down Below in this video but
04:46for example maximum heart rate 180
04:48resting heart rate 60 gives us a heart
04:51rate reserve of 120 beats a minute this
04:53is the range of what's available to us
04:56in our daily life basically the lowest
04:58it will be and the highest it will be in
05:00our current state of health so for Zone
05:02one this is going to be 50 to 60% of our
05:05heart rate Reserve very easy recovery
05:08jogging zone two 60 to 70% of our heart
05:11rate reserve for our easy runs our
05:13conversational pace and also some of our
05:15long runs as well to build that
05:17endurance zone three 70 to 80% of our
05:20heart rate Reserve this is going to be
05:22some moderate intensity we don't spend
05:24too much time here in this Zone Zone 4
05:2780 to 90% of our heart rate res this is
05:30our Tempo our threshold efforts
05:32intervals this builds performance it
05:34builds speed it really helps to build
05:36our ability to run faster and then
05:39finally zone five 90 to 100% of our
05:42heart rate Reserve this really is
05:44reserved just for those race Sprint
05:45finishes and really short intervals as
05:48well and potentially some Hill reps and
05:49things like that just when we're peaking
05:51right at the top of a rep so let's
05:53calculate our Zone 2 heart rate using
05:55our data of 180 for our maximum and then
05:5860 for our resting heart rate so our
06:00really simple formula here for
06:01calculating it is that percentage of our
06:03heart rate Reserve plus adding back on
06:06our resting heart rate so here we're
06:08looking for that 60 to 70% range so 0.6
06:11for our 60% Times by 120 for our heart
06:15rate reserve and then add on 60 which
06:17gives our lowest value of 132 beats a
06:20minute which is where our Zone 2 Section
06:22starts and then our upper end of that
06:24zone here we're looking for that 70% so
06:270.7 times 120 for our heart rate Reserve
06:30adding on that 60 for our wrestling
06:32heart rate gives us 144 so our Zone 2
06:35heart rate section in our example is 132
06:38to 144 beats a minute but what do we do
06:41with this data now we've got it well
06:42like with anything the more you practice
06:44something the better you're going to get
06:46at it and in this instance it's that
06:47zone two that easy Pace running we want
06:50to be practicing so for your easy runs
06:52around about 80% of our total weekly
06:55volume put your heart rate monitor on
06:57your chest strap or your arm strap we
06:59link to recommended heart rate monitors
07:01down below as well stick to that zone to
07:03running you can set up alerts on your
07:05watch if it goes too high or too low
07:07just to keep yourself dialed in in that
07:10exact right zone now for some people
07:12especially when you start out me
07:14definitely including in this running in
07:16zone 2 will feel painfully slow and it
07:19can be quite frustrating you feel like
07:20you're hardly moving but believe me
07:22stick with this and you will speed up
07:24over time your easy runs will get a lot
07:26faster because over time your Fitness
07:28will grow your body will be adapting and
07:31you'll be able to run faster at this
07:32lower heart rate so practice and be
07:35patient you might need to walk I
07:36definitely did when I first started out
07:38doing this just to bring your heart rate
07:40back down get it dialed in back in the
07:42correct Zone you also really need to
07:44lose the ego and have some patience as
07:46well a lot of people putting their runs
07:48on social media on straa want to be
07:49running fast all the time that's not how
07:51you're going to improve you need to lose
07:52that ego you might be running a lot
07:54slower than you're used to for those
07:56first few weeks but stick with it you
07:58will improve you will get faster and you
08:01will see yourself naturally running at a
08:03faster speed at a lower heart rate
08:05eventually over time you'll know what
08:07this will feel like and this is why a
08:08lot of elite runners or more experienced
08:11Runners will say I just run on feel and
08:12I do a lot of my running now like that I
08:15know what easy Pace feels like I know
08:17how my body should be feeling and so
08:19when I'm out on my easy runs I don't
08:20always need to be monitoring this sort
08:21of stuff because you just get a good
08:23feeling of what it's like but for some
08:25beginner Runners some people trying to
08:26improve learn more about running use
08:28that technolog to monitor it make sure
08:30you know what you're doing your body
08:32will adapt and then you'll start to
08:33understand what it all feels like
08:35quickly guys if you are finding this
08:36video all please smash that like button
08:37potentially share it with a friend
08:39that's always running too fast on their
08:41easy runs and also check out my website
08:43benp parks.com we've got five star rated
08:45training plans on there helping Runners
08:46all over the world improve their running
08:48we've got awesome running hats and some
08:50of the very best technical gear out
08:51there to help you with your running
08:52thanks very much guys right back to the
08:54video there's also some other really
08:56important things we need to have our
08:57chat about when we're trying to run at a
08:59nice low heart rate in our easy Zone too
09:01there's some things that might be
09:03affecting as well such as temperatures
09:05high temperatures high humidity as well
09:08the body is going to have to be working
09:09a lot harder so when we are running in
09:11the summer or warmer climates you're
09:13going to be running again a little bit
09:14slower as well this is when heart rate
09:16monitor training could be really really
09:18good because you always know you're
09:19going to be training in the right Zone
09:21but you might be running a little bit
09:22slower as you're used to because your
09:24body's having to work that little bit
09:25harder to keep cool also hydration is
09:28really important if you do become a
09:30little bit dehydrated your body's going
09:31to have to work a little bit harder to
09:33deliver that oxygen to the muscles so
09:35make sure you're definitely hydrated and
09:37keep hydrated when you're going out in
09:39your long runs the elevation of the
09:41route you're running on will play a big
09:42factor as well if you're going up a hill
09:45your heart rate is going to spike you
09:46might need to have to walk or slow it
09:48down a lot just to bring that heart rate
09:50back down and I would say if you are
09:51running on a particularly hilly course
09:53you could just look at something like
09:54your average heart rate over the course
09:56of a run it' be how hard if you're
09:57having to stop all the time just have
10:00average heart rate potentially on the
10:01data field on your watch also altitude
10:03if you are running up in the mountain
10:05somewhere again there's less oxygen
10:07available you'll be running a little bit
10:08slower as well and then finally things
10:10like caffeine alcohol lack of sleep and
10:12fatigue these are going to affect how
10:14your body is going to be feeling these
10:16are other things we have to factor in of
10:18why we might be running a little bit
10:19slower Right Moving On Let's have a chat
10:20about running form and efficiency this
10:22is all about how we can cover the ground
10:24from point A to point B using as little
10:27energy as possible keeping that heart
10:29rate nice and low there's some really
10:30good things we can do here to improve
10:31our running form very very simple the
10:34first one is all about strides running
10:36at a very fast rate just for very short
10:38burst of time about 20 seconds maximum
10:41also doing things like Hill reps as well
10:43super important it's very hard to run
10:44with bad form with Hill reps both of
10:46these things will get you running well
10:47and also get you nice and strong some
10:49other things we can focus on as we're
10:51running making sure we're Landing nicely
10:53under our Center of mass not out in
10:55front of you which can be a bit of a
10:57breaking force and then finally all
10:58about increasing our Cadence potentially
11:00depends where your Cadence is a lot of
11:02people when they start out their Cadence
11:04is quite low in the 150s the 160s which
11:07just means we're not moving in the most
11:09efficient way possible the area we're
11:11going to be focusing on for a lot of our
11:12easy running is around about sort of 175
11:15up to 180 potentially just over 180
11:17we've got a whole video on how to
11:18improve your cence again we'll link to
11:19that up here and down below as well so
11:22lots there to get stuck into hope you
11:23found the video useful please let me
11:25know any questions down in the comments
11:26we'll hang out down there to answer your
11:28questions we're always here to help with
11:29your running that's it guys keep on
11:31working hard K wa down we see you very
11:33soon in the next one
