In short: Zone 2 is the second of five heart-rate zones: an easy, steady effort where you can still talk in full sentences, up to about your first lactate threshold. To train in it with Apple Watch, start a run or ride and turn the Digital Crown to the Heart Rate Zone view, which shows your zone, your heart rate and your time in the zone. If you’d rather be told when you drift too high, Kiito’s 45-minute Zone 2 Run (Kiito Pro) does it with spoken cues and zones from your own data, and its free Zone 2 mode does the same on any run or ride.
What Zone 2 is
Most training splits effort into five heart-rate zones, from very easy (zone 1) to all-out (zone 5). Zone 2 is the second: you breathe a little harder than walking, but you could keep a conversation going.
Its top is roughly your first lactate threshold (LT1, also called the aerobic threshold), the point where lactate in your blood starts to rise above resting levels. Below it, you can keep going for a long time.
Endurance athletes do most of their training at this kind of easy effort. A common split is about 80% easy and 20% hard, the “polarized” or 80/20 approach. Easy sessions build endurance without much fatigue, so you recover in time for the hard ones.
How to find your Zone 2
- The talk test. If you can speak in full sentences, you are probably in zone 2. If you can only manage a few words at a time, you are above it.
- From your maximum heart rate. A common rule of thumb puts zone 2 at about 60–70% of your maximum. “220 minus your age” is only a rough estimate of the maximum, and people differ from it a lot; a maximum you have actually seen in a hard effort is better.
- From your thresholds. The most personal way. If you know your first lactate threshold, from a lab test or from your own training data, the top of zone 2 sits at about that heart rate.
Expect zone 2 to feel slower than you think it should, especially at first. On hills, slow down or walk to stay in the zone.
Zone 2 with the Apple Watch Workout app
- Start a cardio workout, such as an outdoor run or ride.
- Turn the Digital Crown to the Heart Rate Zone view. It shows your current zone, your heart rate, your time in the zone and your average heart rate.
- Check your zones. Apple Watch works them out from your health data, once your date of birth is in the Health app. To set them yourself, go to Settings › Workout › Heart Rate Zones on the Watch, tap Manual and enter the limits for zone 2. On iPhone, it’s in the Watch app under My Watch › Workout › Heart Rate Zones.
Zone 2 with Kiito
Kiito is a private triathlon and running app for iPhone and Apple Watch, with no account.
- The Zone 2 Run (Kiito Pro). A 45-minute guided run you start without a plan: five minutes of warm-up in zone 1, then 40 minutes in zone 2, with a heart-rate target and no pace target. If your heart rate stays above zone 2 for 10 seconds, Kiito says “Heart rate above target. Ease off and let it settle”, repeats it every 45 seconds while you’re still over, and says “Back on target” when you’re back. You start it on your iPhone; your Apple Watch mirrors it with your heart rate and zone.
- Zone 2 mode, free. A switch in Go’s setup for any run or ride. With the voice coach on, Kiito watches your heart rate against the top of zone 2 and tells you to ease off when you stay above it.
- Zones from your own data. With Kiito Pro, Kiito detects your first and second lactate thresholds in your recorded runs and rides, or you can enter values from a test. With a running threshold, zone 2 runs from 85% of your LT1 up to LT1. Without one, Kiito estimates it from your maximum heart rate.
- See whether it’s working (Kiito Pro). Analytics shows your time in each zone, and a Zone 2 Pace card shows the pace you run while your heart rate sits in zone 2, comparing the last six weeks with the six before. Getting faster at the same easy effort means your aerobic base is growing.
- A plan built on it. Polarized 80/20 is an 8-week plan with most of its time easy and a few hard sessions (Kiito Pro).
- Live zones on iOS 27. With iOS 27 and watchOS 27, Kiito shows your current heart-rate zone and the time in each zone on iPhone and Apple Watch as you train.
Tips for staying in zone 2
- Start slower than feels necessary. Heart rate takes a few minutes to catch up with your effort, so an easy-feeling first kilometre can still push you over later.
- Watch the drift. On long or hot sessions your heart rate creeps up at the same pace. Slow down to stay in the zone rather than chasing your usual pace.
- Walk the hills, or shift to an easier gear on the bike.
- Be patient. Zone 2 pace improves over weeks and months, not from one session to the next.
Common questions
What heart rate is Zone 2?
It depends on you. A rough rule of thumb is about 60–70% of your maximum heart rate. It is more accurate to set it from your first lactate threshold: the top of zone 2 sits at about that heart rate.
Does Apple Watch show heart-rate zones?
Yes. During a cardio workout in the Workout app, turn the Digital Crown to the Heart Rate Zone view. It shows your zone, heart rate, time in the zone and average heart rate. Zones are calculated from your health data, or you can set them manually in Settings › Workout › Heart Rate Zones.
Can Apple Watch tell me when I go above Zone 2?
Yes. In the Workout app you can add a heart-rate alert to a workout, such as a range that matches your zone 2, and it’s used every time you do that workout. Kiito’s Zone 2 Run (Kiito Pro) and its free Zone 2 mode tell you out loud to ease off when your heart rate stays above zone 2, and the Zone 2 Run says “Back on target” when you’re back in it.
How long should a Zone 2 session be?
Long enough to be steady once you’re warmed up. Kiito’s Zone 2 Run is 45 minutes: a 5-minute warm-up and 40 minutes in zone 2. Many people do longer sessions as their endurance builds.
Why does Zone 2 feel so slow?
Because it is meant to be easy. Many people run their easy days too hard. Keep the heart rate in zone 2 even if it means walking hills; the pace comes with time.