Shadowing Practice: I tried zone 2 training for 30 days (what I learned) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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If you want to live a long life, health experts recommend you get 150 minutes of Zone 2 training per week.
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And for the past 38 years of my life, I've done approximately zero minutes.
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Oh god, this is going to be really...
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Some call it hype, the new 10,000 steps, jogging rebranded, a complete waste of time.
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Others call it one of the foundational principles for longevity and health.
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There's no question that discussions around the importance of Zone 2 training have exploded over the past few years.
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Zone 2.
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Zone 2.
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Zone 2.
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Zone 2.
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Zone 2 training.
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If you missed it, Zone 2 is a low to moderate intensity cardio effort where you're working hard enough to raise your heart rate, but not so much that you can't hold a conversation.
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It's roughly 60 to 70% of your max heart rate.
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So if your max heart rate is 190 beats per minute, Zone 2 is between 114 and 133 beats per minute.
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So I'm in Zone 2 right now.
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The heart rate is 140 beats per minute.
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can have a conversation but it is winded.
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Does Zone 2 training unlock the secrets to a long life and optimal performance or is it just another self-development trend?
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Let's find out.
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Andrew Huberman was wrong.
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This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
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I'll share more about how they help me build all my websites later.
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One of the biggest surprises after just one day of Zone
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2 training has been how slow the pace really is when jogging.
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I almost have to hold myself back, remind myself Not to go too fast.
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I think that is the appeal of zone 2.
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It's that it's not this really intense
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cardio workout It's not soul cycle or a hip program
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or any one of these things
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that leave you feeling destroyed at the end of the day
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And so if you're able to get the health benefits of cardio without killing yourself every single day, I see the appeal
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I'm starting out just doing 10 minutes of zone 2 per training session
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but my goal is
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that by the end of the month I would have averaged about 150 minutes of zone 2 training per week
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and so that means eventually I'm gonna have to start picking it up.
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Zone 2 has become a staple in health circles because it supposedly helps improve your aerobic base,
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boost your metabolic health, and strengthen your heart but it's not so intense that it gets you injured or kills your recovery.
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Oh god, I feel like my lungs on fire.
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According to one of the world's leading experts in Zone 2 training, Dr. Peter Atiyah, one of the biggest fa- Sorry, what's that?
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There are over 1,700 mentions of Peter Atiyah in the Epstein files.
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I mean, I'm sure that's just some kind of misunderstanding.
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He refers to women's genitals as low-carb.
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Oh yeah, that doesn't sound very good.
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Here's another email he sent to Epstein.
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I would really love to add five years or more to your life, even if the only reason to do so is to have more sex.
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He also wrote to Epstein's assistant, I go into JE withdrawal when I don't see him.
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He had been meeting with Epstein while his son, who had just been born, was in the ICU.
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This is not going to be good for the Zone 2 movement.
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As I looked more into the health benefits of Zone 2, and tried to avoid any mention of Peter Atiyah, which was honestly quite difficult, I realized the story is a little more complicated than I thought.
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A pretty damning analysis on Zone 2 training was just published, and it concluded that the current evidence does not support Zone 2 training,
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as optimal intensity for improving mitochondrial or fatty acid oxidative capacity.
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A 2025 review brilliantly titled, Much Ado About Zone 2, argued that a lot of the hype around Zone 2 comes from studying elite athletes,
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but that might not be the best group to study when applying the lessons to the general population.
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The authors raised two worries about this type of thinking.
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First, elite athletes, they also incorporate some high intensity exercise, so it isn't clear that their low
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or high intensity training is more important for the benefits that we're interested in here when it comes to our own health.
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And the second worry is that most of us aren't elite athletes, so those elite athletes might be training for over 20 hours a week, while many of us, we struggle to fit in 2 hours a week.
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That difference has a huge impact in terms of the type of exercise strategies
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that make the most sense to maximise our gains.
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That's not to say zone 2 is a waste of time or isn't effective, it's just that if you don't have a lot of time, high-intensity training is probably a more efficient way to get the health benefits.
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But there are perfectly good reasons to keep training in Zone 2.
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If it helps you stay consistent, if it helps you avoid injury, or if you simply enjoy it more than high-intensity training.
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The exercise that you keep doing is more important than finding the technically optimal one.
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And since I've avoided cardio my entire life, Zone 2 has been a great way to introduce it into my daily routine.
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So I have found that jogging specifically outside has been quite challenging in terms of staying in zone two consistently.
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It's easy to get distracted and there are stops, turns, and hills that make it difficult to keep a steady pace.
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So to try to be more consistent, I decided to bring my cardio onto the treadmill.
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Instead of jogging, I increased the incline
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and aimed for more of a brisk walk so I could keep my heart rate in zone two the entire time.
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It ended up basically being that awkward place between walking
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and jogging where it looks like you're rushing home so you don't your pants.
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So you guys might have noticed something about self-development content lately.
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It's getting more and more extreme and I'm trying to push back against that trend.
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That's why this year with all the 30-day experiments I'm doing, I'm trying to make small, meaningful progress forward.
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I'm trying to do things that are actually sustainable for my life as a busy Dad
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while that might not get the most views to me It feels the best
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and so if you want to help support the work
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that I'm doing one of the best ways that you can do
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That is to hit subscribe and turn on notifications on this video.
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Thanks so much for considering.
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Hey, how's it going?
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Hi, I'm Matt.
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Yeah, nice to meet you.
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Have you guys seen the place yet?
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No. No, so this is our main little gym area So a couple different treatment rooms, main little rehab gym space.
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That's the treadmill You're actually gonna be completing your VO2 max on.
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It's staring at you and It's in your face.
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Taunting me.
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Yeah.
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I decided to go to a performance center to get a physical assessment.
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I'm working with EverLab and their partner facility, Power Potential.
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EverLab is a performance, testing, and longevity company based in Australia.
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Full disclosure, I told them about the video that I was making and they set me up on their platform for free.
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Just one of the many perks of being a YouTuber.
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Today they're running me through a battery of tests, including a DEXA scan.
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Main purpose of today from this machine, full body composition scan, identifying fat mass, muscle mass and full bone density.
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They measured my grip strength.
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Push, push, push, push, push, push, push, push, and relax.
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Best one yet.
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Vertical jump.
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40.2 centimeter jump height.
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Apparently I have really good balance.
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Best single leg balance I've seen with eyes closed.
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Really?
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Holy shit.
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Very, very good.
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Wow, thank you.
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I think that's all the karate that I did when I was in high school.
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But the big things
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that I'm looking to walk away with for the purposes of
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this 30 day experiment is my max heart rate to better determine my zone two range
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and my VO2 max to better understand my cardiovascular health.
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Your actual cardiovascular fitness, so it's how efficiently your body is consuming and supplying those muscles, the working muscles, with oxygen.
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Higher VO2 max levels have been strongly linked to better long-term health outcomes.
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And the VO2 max is like, it's like intense?
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Oh, no, it starts off quite easy, and then it sort of ramps up to
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that point where you either can't keep up the treadmill or you physically can't keep up yourself.
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You fall off, and then you're like, okay, the test is over.
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Exactly, exactly.
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Feeling good?
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Alright, and a 5.5. And up and incline.
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Going up.
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Good, well done.
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Catch your breath, catch your breath.
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Well done.
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Nice deep breaths, that's it.
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VO2 max 43.2 so honestly not a bad score you said you were training about 122
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and 129 yeah for a heart rate for a zone 2 you should be between 138
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and 145 a little bit more yeah yeah definitely to actually
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see some sort of fat burning change in terms of
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that zone 2 equipped with a more accurate zone 2 range
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I was ready to get back to training okay maybe after a day's rest holy shit
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that was crazy oh my god
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so I haven't been as consistent as I would like especially in in the first two weeks of doing zone two, I've really just been struggling to find the time to train.
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And so I've been trying to think of ways to make it more effortless.
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That's our Peloton that has completely taken over our sunroom.
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The Peloton made a lot of sense for us because Nat really loves the studio cycling classes.
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And that's something that they do exceptionally well.
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For me personally, it's a little bit overkill.
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Life with two kids is a little bit busy these days.
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I've got less time than ever before.
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So being able to fit in workouts after my kids go to bed
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or even during the weekend when the timing works out has just been so helpful.
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So Nat's watching both the kids right now.
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I'm squeezing in hopefully an hour session.
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Then I'll give her an hour break.
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Let's go.
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Since getting the bike, my training sessions started to get longer and more consistent.
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And I was getting closer and closer to my goal of hitting 150 minutes per week on average.
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So my total training volume per day has increased a bit over time.
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So now I'm at the point where I'm doing 45 minute training sessions each time I work out.
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Now I'm getting to the point where while it's not entirely enjoyable, I am finding it less painful to hit that 45 minute goal.
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This video is sponsored by Squarespace.
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I've been using Squarespace for over 15 years, much longer than they've been a sponsor on my channel.
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And the reason why I choose to use them to build my websites
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and why I recommend them to all my creator friends is very simple.
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They make publishing websites incredibly easy.
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From getting your domain name to designing and developing your website, you don't have to know anything about code, development, or design to get started.
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And that's really good because I am terrible at all of those things.
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What I really like is that if you want to, you can keep things incredibly simple.
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You can use a template, you can use their blueprint AI tool to whip up the website pretty quickly.
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Or if you're somebody like me, who's a little bit more pixel perfect,
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you can work with a designer or a developer to put together a website that really matches your creative vision.
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And then later on, when I want to make changes, when I want to tweak things, I can jump in and do that myself.
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That has made a huge difference for me as someone who's largely a solo creator that works with freelancers.
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And of course, with Squarespace, it's not just about publishing a website there are
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so many other tools that are really handy as a creator from building an online store to growing an email newsletter,
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booking consulting gigs, tracking analytics, and so much more.
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If you are looking to get started, build your own website, I've got a code.
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Go to squarespace.com to start your free trial and
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when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com slash mattdiavella to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.
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Thanks so much for considering.
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Gotta say, I don't love riding on the bike.
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I find that for the first 10 to 15 minutes of my workout, my legs are just on fire and my butt is uncomfortable for the entire ride.
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That might just be because I haven't built up my leg muscles
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or my butt muscles enough
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And I just need to put more time on the bike
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definitely for me It's definitely a lot more difficult riding on
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the bike than it has been going for a walk on the treadmill You might be wondering right now.
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You're like Matt.
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You must be getting into zone 4 zone 5 I'm like 142 beats per minute right now,
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which is like kind of at the top end of zone 2 so Fuck man Andrew Huberman was wrong.
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He was wrong.
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Okay, for context here, I came across a podcast where Andrew Huberman said
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that you can get into Zone 2 by watching your kids.
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Zone 2 cardio can be meshed throughout the daily activities that I and everybody else generally have to do.
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Running around with the kids, taking a walk with a co-worker while having a work discussion, taking your calls for work while pacing in the office or going outside.
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I just don't see how this could possibly be true going for a casual walk
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or watching Bluey with my kids hasn't gotten me anywhere close to the kind of effort I put in
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when I'm actually training.
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Sorry, Andrew.
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I started hitting more sessions each week, a few during the day, but most after the kids were asleep.
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I turned the baby monitor on, lace up, put on my headphones, play an audiobook, and start pedaling.
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One thing that sucks about training in the sunroom is that there's no air conditioning, and so this just turns into a sweat lodge.
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Since I got off to a slow start, I extended this one a little bit past the 30-day mark.
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I ended up training for 22 days over 42 days in
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total for a grand total of 793 minutes of zone 2 or an average of 132 minutes per week.
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Just a bit short of my goal, but still way more cardio than I've done over the past 20 years combined.
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So I was pretty happy about that.
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My longest streak was six days straight.
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By the end of that run I could feel my energy was dipping.
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I wasn't recovering enough.
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And that was a good reminder for me that more isn't always better.
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Two big lessons that I've learned that might help you if you're looking to get started on a practice like this yourself.
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First, having an at-home solution was just like such a game-changer for me.
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It made consistency more realistic.
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And I'm even considering getting a small weight set at home as well to help me lift because again with parenting,
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It's like I just I just never have time.
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Second, while I'm sure that this is good for me, outside of my actual training sessions,
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I haven't felt any kind of like knock-on effect.
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During my sessions themselves, as I kind of like get into a flow state, I feel a lot better.
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Like just my heart rate getting up, moving around a lot more.
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Like I definitely like that feeling.
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But again, it hasn't really translated outside of those workouts.
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I think the lesson you can take away from that
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and this is something that I've learned through a lot of the 30-day Experiments
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that I've done is
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that 30 days is a great starting point It helps to build the routine
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and the habit It helps you to understand whether it's something
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that you might enjoy going forward how to squeeze it in
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and find that extra time in your day To make it work But
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if you really want to see the health benefits of something
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like zone 2 every day It's probably gonna take a little
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bit more time zone 2 was the perfect way to introduce cardio into my life
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But since I don't have a whole lot of time, I'm planning to dial up my intensity going forward with some new 30-day experiments.
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Next up, I'm gonna run one mile a day for 30 days.
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Speaking Goals for This Clip: Mastering Conversational Flow and Topic Transition
This video is perfect for IELTS speaking practice and improving your ability to discuss complex topics—like health trends—with natural rhythm. You’ll learn to transition smoothly between ideas, express skepticism, and explain concepts clearly, all while maintaining a conversational tone. These skills are key for fluency milestones like holding extended discussions and adapting to unexpected shifts in a conversation.
Phrase Bank: Reusable Expressions for Everyday English
- "There's no question that..." – Use to emphasize a widely accepted point.
- "Others call it..." – Great for contrasting viewpoints in debates or explanations.
- "I see the appeal" – A natural way to acknowledge the value of an idea, even if you’re unsure.
- "The story is a little more complicated than I thought" – Ideal for softening a strong opinion or introducing new information.
- "It concluded that..." – Useful for summarizing research or expert findings.
Fix Your Weak Spots: Pronunciation and Rhythm in Casual Speech
The dialogue’s mix of casual and informative language makes it perfect for practicing the shadowing technique (or "shadowspeak"). Focus on mimicking the speaker’s relaxed pace—notice how they slow down to explain "Zone 2" and speed up slightly when expressing surprise ("Oh god, this is going to be really..."). Pay attention to connected speech in phrases like "I've done approximately zero minutes" (link "done approximately" smoothly) and "it's not soul cycle" (reduce "it's not" to "it's nuh" in fast speech). These details will make your English sound more natural. For shadow speech practice, repeat short segments (5–10 seconds) immediately after the speaker, matching their tone and stress. This trains your brain to process and reproduce English rhythm in real time, a critical skill for fluency.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've really just been struggling · I've been trying · I've been using |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | I've done · have exploded · has been |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | is winded · is sponsored · been born |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.