It has allowed me to build a cardiovascular base that will let me move forward hour after hour without breaking down. The lower impact on both my heart rate and my muscles’ capacity to cycle, run and swim means I can train more than ever before, with the goal of being to be able to complete a 12-15 hour Ironman (which consists of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle, and 26.2 mile run).

Here are a few tips to help you to focus on controlling your heart rate and improving your endurance.

The Playlist

I have moved from fast beat, heavy metal music to a mixture of podcasts and BPM-focused music. Podcasts help keep my pace slower and occupy my mind through long workouts.

I also search directly for songs via the beats per minute, and try matching this for the type of training I’m doing. My zone 2 training means I’m searching for 140bpm songs and Spotify shows me a great list of playlists.

Nutrition and Hydration

The amount of sweat you produce when training for so long has been really shocking. I am now sweating almost double my normal amount. I’ve been able to track this through my Garmin and it has been a huge focus to increase my hydration and salt levels during training.

On top of the hydration and salt, my nutrition has been another element of real focus. The constant movement of training has increased my calorie burn from 3,500 calories a day to 4,500-5,000 calories a day.

Record Everything

Recording my heart rate in every workout and noting down the changes has been very helpful. I use my Whoop to monitor my resting heart rate, along with the impact of all my sessions.

Keeping a record helps me to see improvements and progress, but it also allows me to see the impact on my body from sleep, stress and my recovery. Using both Whoop and my Garmin I have been able to focus on staying in the training zones that I need to be in. Losing sight of this can lead to burnout and overtraining. The goal here is to be able to change while increasing your volume.

Try adding some zone 2 work to your training, even if you don’t want to take on a triathlon or ultra run. The goal is to live longer, build up the cells in your muscles and be fitter across the board, regardless of your sport or type of training. Try this session to find your zone 2 and get use to staying in it.

Zone 2 Workout

Over 50 minutes complete as many rounds as possible of:

1) 400m run

2) 400m bike (any stationary bike)

3) 40 air squats / 40 lunges (alternate each round)

Add 200m to the run and bike each round over 50 minutes. The goal is to never allow your heart rate to go above zone 2, throughout. If you find it creeping up, slow your pace.

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.    

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.   

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.   

 You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.