I have a few ways I prescribe this block; the most common is 3x3 with a day between and then two days between once a week. Really I’ll slide things around as needed but goal is 9 workouts over 3 weeks. Other way is 3x2, with back to back on the 2s. Last is the nuclear option which ends up being 3 in two days with about 60 hours between sets, then go again, repeat 5 times.
So it depends on a lot of things but I strongly recommend against the nuclear option for most people. 3x3 is good if you’ve done structured training in prior seasons.
A huge part of this is the mental “dread”. I’ve never given 3 back-to-back-to-back. Could it work? Sure. I think most people would probably hate it especially by the third day. With the nuclear option, you’re essentially doing 3 workouts in about 30 hours, so you don’t really have time to feel bad. When I did it a couple of times, the third workout was often my “strongest” one and then I’d want to throw my bike in the river, so almost 3 days off between those was good for a reset to go again.
I’m planning to do a 2 week VO2-block starting next week. I’m guessing that 8 VO2 workouts should be feasable but I’m still figuring out how to organise them - any ideas here?
I’m thinking that 2 back-to-back workout days followed by 1 recovery day could be doable. Repeat 4 times (totaling 8 workouts in 11 days) and allow room for some extra recovery if needed.
Couple of questions:
How much extra (z1/2) volume should I add? I’ve averaged ~20 hrs per week for the winter and ~1000 hrs per year for the last three years. I have two weeks off from work and I have pretty much nothing else in my calendar during those two weeks so plenty of time to ride my bike
Should I do anything else but VO2 workouts? Any threshold or anaerobic work needed for maintenance? How about gym work?
Stick to one workout (e.g. 5x5min high cadence) or rotate a couple different ones?
Not a great layout in my opinion. Either stack them MORE (like two in one day) with MORE rest between, or spread them out more. Planning to do 4 of these workouts in 5 days (twice) is a bad plan.
General rule of thumb is EASY volume about the same as what you’re used to. A little drop in volume is OK, but endurance needs to be bottom of zone 2.
Jesus, no. Gym work OK, but no legs.
Depends on how you structure it and structure it overall, but most people don’t need 25 minutes of stimulus in a workout especially if you’re doing a focused block.
Yeah, I think I need to spread those workouts a bit more. Maybe 3 workouts squeezed together as you mentioned earlier (morning, evening, morning) followed by 2 or 3 easy days? That would yield 9 - 12 workouts total.
Easy volume - check, light gym work - check, additional workouts went out of the window
I’ve done two one week blocks previously, both of which went great. One week is just short enough that you can kinda hammer trough it but two weeks seem way more intimidating. Heck, outside of VO2 blocks I do maybe 10 VO2 workouts in a whole year
I will say this being my first time doing a block like this. It is mentally fatiguing as much as it is physical.
There have been a few days where I was procrastinating big time, didn’t think I could do the work. It was all in my head, so far I think I’ve done well this block. Really focusing on that harder start and keeping the cadence high. I don’t feel burnt out because I understand the reason behind doing this block. I’m keeping my eyes on the long term benefits and taking it day by day.
Also, I have been trying to eat in a small surplus and focusing on carbs with moderate protein. Usually I’d eat a protein bar as a snack. This block I would eat some home cooked sourdough bread instead.
One more “hard day”, and I’m ready to rest, mentally.
Definitely have to fuel more (eat more) when you’re doing this kind of intensity. And yes, agree, it’s as much a mental challenge as anything. If you do the work correctly, your body can do this (and more in some cases), but there is a “dread” that starts to hit that second week for sure. That’s due to CNS fatigue because each set is very taxing, IMO, but we push through that as long as physically we’re hanging in there. Eventually, the wheels come off. That doesn’t happen often for trained people doing the 3x3 I typically use, but definitely will happen with the nuclear option. Usually that’s what stops the block (the wheels coming off). And again, not something we’re after very often at all. The "I don’t wanna"s are a great indicator for short-term overtraining/acute fatigue and we almost always listen to that.
From what I’ve seen in your workouts, they’re looking good!
I’m trying to replicate end of race finishes… and the finishes sometimes end in the violent two minute effort then the sprint…
I can’t find any(or very minimal) workouts that target threshold then end that interval in a sprint/VO2 effort… they all “start hard” but they don’t end hard.
If it fits your race needs, you might try what I use. It’s 3x20 at 90%, so sweet spot, but on the last one you gradually ratchet up the effort during the last 5 minutes so that you end up at VO2 emptying the tank. Not a TR workout, FWIW, YMMV, all that.
When training max VO2 you should be aiming for max ventiliatory rate, and if you can finish hard, you’re not going hard enough throughout the interval. Your power should be decreasing as you’re holding on for dear life here.
As @Twowkg said, what you’re proposing is more race-specific training, and what we’re largely discussing here is training to improve physiology (so early season stuff vs. your race-specific stuff). There’s a place for both. But the point of the hard start is to kick-start elevating HR and respiration right off the bat of “all-out” intervals, nothing more than that.
But that’s why we do this once a year and not really ever more often than that.
