In late 2024, several female listeners of our show reached out because of something they had been seeing online and hearing from coaches. New advice was being given based on the belief that, because the benefits of long slow zone 2 training came from research on men, it didn’t necessarily apply to women. The explanation offered was that women naturally have much better developed mitochondrial density and fat metabolism, so they shouldn’t need to do the same training as men to develop those attributes.
The question we were asked by our listeners was whether there was any truth to this notion, and whether they should change their training accordingly. These particular athletes stated that they want to do what’s best for their fitness, but substantially reducing their zone 2 training would be a big change. Understandably, they didn’t want to make a change like that unless it would be prudent to do so.
To debate this topic, joining us today are two top physiologists who are very familiar with working with female endurance athletes. We’re joined by coach Julie Young, whose voice you may recognize as the host of the Fast Talk Femmes podcast, and who is also the owner of Julie Young Training. And we’re also joined by Dr. Dana Lis, the owner of Summit Sports Nutrition.
Together, we’ll dive into the recent research that is being used to make the case that women should do less zone 2 training, to help you assess whether it is a valid argument. Many people like to state their case with “research says” but one of the biggest questions we aim to answer today is whether the research really does say that—or not.
Then, we’ll pivot to analyze the arguments both for less zone 2 training and for doing as much zone 2 training as male counterparts. Finally, we’ll offer our own suggestions on what we think female athletes should do for training.
Joining our primary guests, we’ll also hear from Dr. Kate Bennett, the founder of Athlete Insight, and coach Isaiah Newkirk, the director of the Project Echelon professional cycling team.
So, get ready to question the science, and let’s make you fast!
