Derny › Workouts › Adaptive Endurance
Adaptive Endurance · zone 2 training
Set your zone 2 heart rate and Adaptive Endurance holds you there for the whole session. As you tire, Derny eases the power or the belt speed so your heart rate stays put. On a smart trainer, a treadmill or an elliptical.
New to zone 2?
Zone 2 is easy, steady endurance effort. Training plans split effort into zones by heart rate, usually five, from very easy (zone 1) to all-out (zone 5). It’s the second: you’re breathing harder than at rest, but you could still hold a conversation in full sentences and keep going for a long time.
It’s the effort most endurance training is built on. Studies of successful endurance athletes find they do most of their training at low intensity, roughly 80% of it, and save hard sessions for the rest.
Long, easy sessions train your heart and muscles to deliver and use oxygen, which is what every harder effort draws on.
It’s gentle enough to repeat, Tuesday and again Wednesday, without wrecking your legs for the sessions that matter.
At easy effort your body relies more on fat for fuel, and regular zone 2 work trains that.
All you need is a heart rate to aim at. Beginners and experienced athletes do the same kind of session.
The hard part
Over a long session your heart rate drifts up even when your pace or power stays the same. Hold the same speed for an hour and you drift into zone 3 without meaning to. Staying in zone 2 means slowing down as you go, and most people don’t.
Adaptive Endurance does that for you. When your heart rate creeps above your target, Derny takes a little off. When it falls below, Derny adds a little back. You finish having done the session you set out to do.
Using it for zone 2
Derny suggests a target heart rate from your resting and max heart rate and how long you plan to go. On longer sessions that suggestion sits in zone 2. On shorter ones it can sit a little higher. For zone 2, set the target yourself, before you start or at any point during it.
A common way to work out zone 2 is 60–70% of your heart-rate reserve, the gap between your resting and max heart rate:
If your watch or coach already gives you a zone 2, use that instead. Zone definitions vary, and the best one is the one you trust. How Derny’s suggested target is worked out →
What the session looks like
On a trainer or elliptical, the power opens easy and climbs a step at a time until your heart rate reaches your target. It ends when you get there, not on a clock.
Derny holds you at your target heart rate, taking a little off as the session wears on you. On a trainer, if your cadence starts dropping, it stops asking for more until your cadence comes back.
You choose how long: from 20 minutes to two hours.
On your machine
On any FTMS smart trainer in ERG mode. Trainer compatibility →
Derny counts down, starts the belt at your starting speed and adjusts it from there, never above your max auto speed. Lower the speed on the console and Derny stops speeding up until you turn increases back on. It can still slow the belt. Treadmills →
On an elliptical that takes a power target, Derny sets the watts. On others, it shows the target and you set the resistance. Ellipticals →
What you need
Questions people ask
Zone 2 is easy, steady endurance effort: harder than resting, but easy enough to hold a conversation and keep going for a long time. Most endurance training is done at this kind of effort because it builds your aerobic base and is easy to recover from.
A common way is 60–70% of your heart-rate reserve: take your max heart rate minus your resting heart rate, multiply by 0.6 and 0.7, and add your resting heart rate back. For a max of 185 and resting 48, that’s 130 to 144 bpm. If your watch or coach gives you a zone 2, you can use that instead.
It’s built for zone 2-style training: one long, steady session at an easy heart rate. Derny suggests a target from your heart-rate range and the session length, which sits in zone 2 on longer sessions and can be a little higher on shorter ones. For zone 2, set the target to your zone 2 heart rate and Derny holds you there.
Over a long session your heart rate drifts up even at the same effort. To stay in zone 2 you have to slow down a little as you go. Derny does that for you by lowering the power or belt speed.
Longer sessions give zone 2 more time to do its work, and many plans use 45 minutes to a few hours. In Derny you choose from 20 minutes to two hours.
Yes. On a treadmill that takes speed commands, Derny sets the belt speed to keep your heart rate in zone 2, never above the max auto speed you choose.
No. Zone 2 in Derny is set by heart rate. On a trainer, Derny uses your FTP if you’ve entered one to choose where the warm-up starts. Without one, it starts easy and climbs until you reach your target.
Reference
Try it
When Derny launches, it will be a one-time purchase, not a subscription.
Ready for something harder? See all workouts.