Recommended short vo2 max/threshold workouts

[ajh127]

So this is quite an open ended question but would love to get some feedback.

I am currently restarting SSB - LV1 after a build and half a specialty phase. I chose LV as I want to get a couple of outdoor rides in at the weekend and use the Monday/Friday as rest days. What I have found is that I feel like I do need a leg spinner where there is a potential of a 2 day gap between workouts but more importantly due to the high base work I haven’t done any threshold/vo2 max workouts in a while. I find that Taku or Petit are great but as soon as I hit a threshold or vo2 max workout by body is like “wow not used to this!..struggle and reduce intensity”, which I don’t want to do going forward. I have found in the build phase there was at least one threshold/vo2 max workout which helps tick this over so never really noticed this “struggle”. I was just wondering if there are any workouts people can recommend to help keep on top of threshold/vo2 max without it being a high TSS or over an hour long workout which could possibly push me into too much TSS/getting too fatigued. Or perhaps a short workout out the day before a vo2 max workout that will help reawaken that part of my training. I think this might also help the day before the ramp test rather that coming off a complete rest day.

I found Scott Peak which I did earlier this week, would this be a good one to do going forward?
Or perhaps as a secondary workout to do at least once a week? Any tips would be great.

[nordic]

Something like this perhaps, lungs shredding? Stangate +1
It is 45min long and 80TSS if I recall.

[ajh127]

Looks brutal. The Stangate -3 looks possibly like a better variation. Is there any concern that the intervals are too anaerobic. I don’t know the science would it be better to do slightly longer 45second intervals at say 150%?

[GeorgeAnderson]

Ouch

[michaelfrommelbourne]

The science that I’ve read suggests shorter VO2Max intervals: 30/15’s. See:
Rønnestad BR et al. Short intervals induce superior training adaptations compared with long intervals in cyclists – An effort-matched approach. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2015;25:143-151.

If you are a moderately trained cyclist you might consider the following:
15-20 min warm up
30 sec high-intensity / 15 sec low-intensity do 10 - 13 of these at 120 - 140 % of FTP
3 min recovery
30 sec high-intensity / 15 sec low-intensity do 10 - 13 of these at 120 - 140 % of FTP
3 min recovery
30 sec high-intensity / 15 sec low-intensity do 10 - 13 of these at 120 - 140 % of FTP [you should just be able to finish this at the target power]
5-10 min low-intensity cool down

[nordic]

I did fail on the one prior to last interval as you may see. Also for whatever reason I could not do it in erg mode, was done in standard pushing over the target. But once cadence is up, it is hard to keep the power too. This is pretty much sprinting workout. Last 10 seconds of each interval feel quite hard. There is a series of these workouts and they leave a hollowness feeling in the lungs and taste of iron.

[ajh127]

If you are a moderately trained cyclist you might consider the following

Would be interested to see how this would equate in TSS

[themagicspanner]

You’re probably looking for something along the lines of 4 x 4 minutes with 2 or 3 minutes rest at 105-110% of FTP to keep your hand in.

This is my own workout with the warmup I like. It’s only 44 minutes and not a lot of TSS:

Not sure what TR workouts are similar.

The intervals @michaelfrommelbourne references above look something along these lines with the 15 second rests at 50% of the work interval intensity:

It’s worth noting that although the population study showed that they were generally better than the steady state efforts, some people just can’t get to high percentages of VO2max, making them much less effective. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

There are quite a few topics on the subject if you want to do some further reading: https://www.trainerroad.com/forumsearch?q=Rønnestad

Mike

[grenhall]

Around 85 TSS for me.

https://www.strava.com/activities/1978990958/overview

[ajh127]

Thanks I’ve gone back through the catalogue to see if there are any similar, I quite like the look of maybe Truuli Peak -2 (Or even just Truuli might be good) or Goddard -5. The description of the Truuli’s seems fairly tailored toward my question. That being said I do think Goddard -5 seems to cover both vo2 max and threshold pretty good without being overly taxing.