Coaching practices for Aerobic Threshold

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Aerobic Threshold, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

• Everyone keeps telling me to train in "zone 2," but without a lab or a monitor I have no idea where my own line actually is
• There’s a pace I can hold comfortably and then a wall I hit fast where my legs flood and I have to back off, and that wall hasn’t moved in ages
• I’ve been logging plenty of easy miles and my aerobic base feels solid, but the top-end number won’t climb
• Every workout I do is moderately hard and leaves me a bit wrecked, and my fitness has plateaued
• On my hard intervals I’m never sure if I’m actually pushing into the high zone or just half-trying, and I also can’t tell when I’ve recovered enough to go again

Practices that may help

1. Find your aerobic–anaerobic crossover with the talk test
   The moment comfortable speech breaks down marks your first ventilatory threshold — the ceiling of sustainable aerobic work.
   The Talk Test: Gauge Exercise Intensity Without a Monitor
2. Lactate threshold training
   Train at the intensity just below where lactate spikes to push your sustainable pace higher.
   VO2 Max and Longevity: The Peter Attia Framework
3. VO2 max intervals (Zone 4–5) to push your aerobic ceiling
   Four-minute intervals at near-maximal effort, repeated 4–6 times, are the most efficient way to raise your VO2 max.
   VO2 Max and Longevity: Training Your Aerobic Ceiling
4. Zone 2 training to build aerobic base
   Low-intensity, sustainable aerobic exercise performed 3–4 hours per week develops mitochondrial density — the foundation of a high VO2 max.
   VO2 Max and Longevity: Training Your Aerobic Ceiling
5. Use the broken-speech threshold for hard intervals
   When you can only get out single words, you are in the high-intensity zone — useful for timing interval work.
   The Talk Test: Gauge Exercise Intensity Without a Monitor
6. Find your personal zone 2 intensity by the talk test
   Zone 2 is the highest pace at which you can speak in full sentences without audible breathlessness.
   Zone 2 Training
7. Build a zone 2 aerobic base
   Log 3–4 hours per week of low-intensity aerobic exercise to develop mitochondrial density and fat-oxidation capacity.
   VO2 Max and Longevity: The Peter Attia Framework
8. VO2 max intervals
   Use 4–8 minute high-intensity intervals at near-maximum effort to directly stress and expand your oxygen ceiling.
   VO2 Max and Longevity: The Peter Attia Framework
9. Train at conversational pace for aerobic base
   Keep effort low enough to speak in full sentences — the sweet spot for building aerobic capacity.
   The Talk Test: Gauge Exercise Intensity Without a Monitor
10. Advanced breath holds — MHT (max hold training)
    Build CO2 and O2 tolerance with progressive maximum breath holds — used by elite freedivers and now applied to sport.
    The Oxygen Advantage, Made Practical

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