I would do first a threshold block. I did it the first time ever and found het really helpfull to learn to ride at threshold and slightly above and then move to VO2max
Vo2 max makes the room for your threshold to go up, especially if your FTP to pVO2 max is high. Not to mention that my FTP usually goes up after vo2 max block and then threshold block pushes a little more and extends the TTE.
i just wrote from my personal (n=1) experience. Last year I did the same move, long sweetspot then directly VO2max and result was not positive. This year, I did FTP after sweet spot and my base is much “deeper”. I now move to vo2max and hopefully the result will be better than last year.
What you should know is that when I focus on VO2max my anaerobic power also moves significantly upwards.
What you want to do is grow your FTP up towards your VO2, then hit the VO2 hard to raise it. Rinse Repeat.
So this has one doing SST into threshold, to get that FTP up, then push on the roof with VO2 work.
If you are tracking this in WKO you can use the VO2 FTP chart which shows FTP as a % of VO2. I started all of this out at about 81%, currently half way through my threshold block am at 83.8%.
Yes, but you have to be for sure that your pVO2max is up to date.
So when you first do a SST block and FTP block your VO2max can already be moving up, but when you dont test your pVO2max in during SST and FTP block, it looks that your FTP is come closer to your VO2max, is that the reality?
This is what I have meant in my answer.
I did 3 weeks, 10xVO2 workouts. Felt ready to go after 5 days, but when I restarted after a week my legs were still shot. Pushed through, but had to take another week off after 2 weeks. Next time I’ll definitely take a longer recovery period.
All through the blocks you need to be testing residuals, these include short, medium and long term targets. Your VO2 should remain up to date if you stay on top of this.
Simple 5 min test before planned vo2 max is enough. It is also good way to measure results of the vo2 max block.
On the other hand if your FTP is not moving with threshold block, vo2 max is always an answer to add another stimulus.
yes i know, but I said it to make it clear
I was about 6-7 days after my 9 Vo2 over 3 weeks block before I felt good. However, I live at 5k elevation, and was out of town in Las Vegas riding at 1.7k, eating just about whatever I wanted, and sleeping longer than normal, so that may have influenced my recovery quite a bit 
.
I think if I stayed at the higher elevation I would have been around 1.5 weeks (my legs felt cooked until day 4). Compared to a typical build training block where I am normally 3-4 days easy then build back up.
This is actually one of the reasons I do a ramp test as part of my testing protocol as I come off of recovery week. 1) it takes very little out of you, 2) its a repeatable test 3) it hits both VO2 and aerobic systems. So in terms of PDC it actually does a great job in that 5min range.
I prefer (it is too strong word because I hate it) 5 min test. But whatever works. I personally test only when needed or I feel I need the test.
5min is great if you know the approx target wattage to be going after. The issue with a 5min test is its too long to go all out, but just long enough that you can absolutely blow yourself up if you dont pace it appropriately.
If you’re not sure the target wattage you can start out too easy and there simply isn’t enough time to make it up once you realize that you’ve got more in the tank, as well if you come out too hot there is no way you’ll hold the full 5 without blowing. During race season i absolutely use 5min efforts though as they are a great way to benchmark and i use these as 4x5 and 5x5 sets.
It is no other than pacing any other test. Yes, knowing the ballpark of power is useful, but it is simple all out test - I always start near the last result and then go all out till I feel I will pass out. So I pace it like FTP test to be honest.
So I’m toying with doing 4x8 tues, 5x5 thurs, 30/15s saturday for my next bloc. The biggest issue, I have no idea where to put the 5x5 power target. So I’m thinking 115% to start and then lets see how it goes.
This is going to be the last block I get before some racing is back so it’s pretty important to smack it.
Also You guys give me 3 reasons to not get WKO5 because I’m now soooo close
If you are on WKO go look at optimized interval targetting chart.
Hey Kurt, 36 here. 3 kids, and quite a bit of non-exercise life stress.
Last season I increased my annual volume by 10% and included a couple dedicated blocks to VO2 max training. Specifically working on my 3-5 minute repeatability. Looking back I can’t really see any dedicated rest after these blocks, but I suspect it was a week of easy riding. Nothing too crazy and certainly not 2-3 weeks. While it was painful, I really enjoyed my 2 VO2 max days and the rest of the week being more-or-less long slow distance.
As we’re back talking about vo2max (in the sweetspot thread), a question: Is dedicated vo2max work still needed when you do a lot of z2 volume? As we know lots of z2 also improves vo2max. Or is that why the pros seem so rarely to do vo2max work?
Pros “rarely” do VO2 max work because there is only so much you can do (typically 20-25min per session twice per week) before you get diminishing returns. SO when you look at it as an overall of someone doing 20-30hr weeks it does look like a small amount, but its the required amount.