Ask the Experts: Avoiding the Z3 Plateau
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 9:43AM 
QUESTION: I have been following an "Olympic Beginner" workout plan. I'm in decent shape and I am finding the running and biking workouts to be easy at times and have trained a little harder on some days than the planned workout suggests. I would like to push a little harder if I feel good that particular day on all of my workouts. I know there is always a risk of overtraining and I want to stay focused on long term. However, I would like to do more than just "finish the race".
ANSWER: I would caution against pushing harder on those bike & run workouts than the workout prescribes. Pushing harder on every ride and run can bring about the dreaded "Z3 plateau". Don’t get sucked into the hammerfest mentality. Resist the urge to jump on the first group that comes flying by during that Zone 2 workout. Otherwise you may find yourself in a persistent state of mediocrity - a Z3 plateau of middle of the road fitness. Z3 is (generally) not hard enough to cause a desired physical adaptation but at the same time is too hard to allow for proper recovery. Your training should follow a planned pattern of alternating stress and recovery to avoid overtraining.
You may have heard that your easy workouts need to be very easy so that your hard workouts can be really hard. Pushing too hard on those easy days results in a failure to train your aerobic threshold and you will not accomplish the goal for the workout. You will work on those Type IIa (fast-twitch) muscle fibers a bit and you'll begin to work on your LT, but you won't be working on your aerobic efficiency nearly as much.
All this being said, keep in mind the golden rule of specifity. There is a reason for each workout, and as you approach race day workouts increasingly more resemble race conditions. Focus on the basic abilities of aerobic endurance, force, speed skills and muscular endurance before progressing to the more advanced abilities. Be confident in your coach, the plan you both have set up and the path to that next goal.
TrainingPeaks' online tool for athletes can help you log and monitor the intensity of your training and help you avoid over- and undertraining by showing you trends in your fitness with tools like our Performance Management Chart (PMC). Find out more about our Software for Athletes.
Jeff Vicario is an Elite TrainingBible and USA Triathlon Youth and Junior Certified Coach. He coaches athletes of all levels to extraordinary results ranging from first time racers to Ironman personal bests in addition to increasing youth involvement in triathlon, promoting healthy lifestyles and encouraging participation and achievement as the head coach of Southern California’s Youth and Junior Team I Tri (www.teamitri.com). For more information about Jeff’s coaching, to ask a question you’d like to see here on the TrainingPeaks blog, or to simply contact him for further information, you can email him at jvicario@trainingbible.com.
Reader Comments (3)
This is a great post. Thank you for this. I wanted to explain this to a couple of friends but now I have the words. Best regards.
"Z3 is (generally) not hard enough to cause a desired physical adaptation but at the same time is too hard to allow for proper recovery."
Why do people keep perpetuating this myth? Cycling in Z3 (particularly upper Z3, known as the "sweet spot") is one of the most time-effective ways to train your aerobic system, and it shouldn't impact your ability to recover if you scale back your volume appropriately.
@Jordan –
I do agree that there are definitely benefits to training in Zone 3 and race specific intensity is a key element to success come race day, who doesn’t want a higher LT right? The problem is that to swim, ride and run to your potential you must also have a superior economy and efficiency. If your only looking at ways to produce more power without looking at ways to use less energy at the same time then perhaps you are missing out on possibly your best race yet.
The more efficient your movements, the less energy wasted, the longer you’ll be able to go without becoming fatigued and faster you will get to the finish.
Jeff