What is the ideal heart rate range for the "Green" zone?

The ideal heart rate range for the "Green" zone is correctly identified as 71-83% of an athlete's maximum heart rate. In the context of Orangetheory Fitness, this heart rate zone is essential for promoting endurance and improving cardiovascular efficiency. The Green zone allows participants to engage in sustained activity that challenges the heart and lungs, enhancing overall fitness levels while still being manageable enough for longer workouts.

Training within this range is crucial for building stamina and treating the heart as a muscle that needs to be trained in a way that encourages adaptability and performance. In the Green zone, individuals are typically able to maintain a conversation, indicating that they are working hard but not overexerting themselves, which makes this zone ideal for longer, more sustained cardio sessions.

In contrast, the other ranges fall outside this ideal zone, focusing either on lower-intensity recovery work (60-70% and 40-50%) or higher-intensity efforts (84-90%), which can lead to fatigue and require longer recovery periods. Understanding these distinctions allows coaches and participants to strategize workouts effectively to match fitness goals and manage training loads effectively.