# Zone 3 training Sources: - [[ChatGPT]] ## Summary **Zone 3 training** involves moderate to moderately hard aerobic effort, typically performed at **70–80% of your maximum heart rate**. It's often referred to as the **"tempo zone"** or **aerobic threshold zone**. Zone 3 training targets aerobic endurance and metabolic efficiency. It helps athletes sustain faster paces for longer durations but should be used strategically to avoid overtraining or stagnation. ## Notes ### 🧠 Key Concepts - **Effort level**: Sustainable but challenging; speaking is limited to short phrases. - **Heart rate zone**: ~70–80% of HRmax - **Perceived exertion (RPE)**: 5–6 on a 10-point scale - **Primary fuel**: Mix of fat and carbohydrates ### 💡 Benefits - Increases aerobic capacity and endurance - Improves lactate clearance and buffering - Enhances cardiovascular efficiency - Bridges the gap between easy base training and harder threshold work ### 🏃 Examples of Zone 3 Workouts - Continuous 20–60 minute tempo runs - Fast endurance bike rides or long intervals - Sustained efforts at marathon pace (for trained athletes) ### ⚠️ Notes - Zone 3 is sometimes called the “grey zone” because it's too hard for full recovery but not hard enough to elicit max adaptations—yet it has value when programmed properly. - Best used in **periodized training** where it's balanced with both Zone 2 and Zone 4 work. |Training Zone|Energy Substrate|Muscle Fiber| |---|:---:|:---:| |[[Zone 3 training]]|fat-CHO|type I-IIa| Zone 3 training may improve blood flow to the posterior cingulate gyrus and improve executive functioning.[^flow] [^flow]: [[On cerebral blood flow and exercise]]