ZONE 2 — 8 x 5:00 ROTATION (40 Minutes)
Everybody starts on a DIFFERENT station. Rotate on the clock every 5 minutes. No rest — the walk to the next station is the rest.
1) ROW
2) BIKE
3) FLOW A — repeat continuously for 5:00, slow and controlled:
12 Glute Bridges
10 Bird Dogs (5 each side)
10 Cossack Squats (5 each side)
4) SKI or ROW
5) JUMP ROPE (singles) — or walk/easy jog outside
6) FLOW B — repeat continuously for 5:00:
100m Light Sled Drag
10 Slow Push-Ups
:30 Bar Hang
7) BIKE
8) ROW or RUN — athlete's choice
THE ONE RULE — TALK TEST: you should be able to speak a full sentence at any point in the 40 minutes without gasping. Roughly 60–70% of max heart rate. If you're wearing a watch and you're above that, slow down.
THE FLOW STATIONS ARE NOT FOR REPS. They are the easiest place to blow this workout. Pick a pace you could genuinely hold for 30 straight minutes. If you're breathing hard on the cossack squats, you're doing it wrong — that's a different workout on a different day.
Why this matters: This is the highest-return 40 minutes of your training week for long-term health. It builds the aerobic base that lets you recover between hard efforts, and it's the strongest lever we have on VO2max and metabolic health. It is not a filler day and it is not a light day — it's a different job. The rotation is here so you'll actually finish it.
Scaling / logistics:
- Fewer than 8 people? Run the stations in order, 1 through 8.
- Training solo at open gym? Same thing — start at 1, go to 8.
- Bad knee or hip? Swap cossack squats for :45 of easy machine work and the sled drag for a slow 100m walk.
- Rather hold one machine for the full 40? Still a valid Zone 2 session. Tell your coach and go.
Week 7 note: heavy week — Monday's handstand work, Wednesday's overhead squats, Thursday's EMOM at 75–78%. Keep this genuinely easy. If it feels hard today, drop the pace, not the time.
Leave a comment on how it went — machine splits, how the flows felt, where your heart rate sat.
Score · Your result