Threshold sessions hurt!

Is it just me, or do threshold sessions hurt more than any other type?

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Depends on the rider….and the length of the interval.

I can knock out threshold stuff pretty regularly, but VO2 stuff kills me.

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Interesting… I find the vo2max easier than the thresholds… By some distance.

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There you have it…depends on the rider and their strengths.

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[Raises Hand] Threshold is a bruiser for me. Anything above or below that I’m multi-tasking. I despise it and gulp every time it comes up on the calendar, but understand its importance - so, I push through as best as possible.

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I’m in the same camp. It’s top of my list of the workouts I dread. I’ve been reading that thread on the new FTP AI and read about all of the folks that dreaded the ramp test. All I could think about is that I’d do a ramp test in a heart beat if it meant I could skip the 90 minute Threshold workouts i have in my plan every Saturday. Which reminds me… tomorrow is Saturday… gulp.

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Yep, Threshold is the worst. Anaerobic? Piece of cake. (well, not quite, but bearable). VO2 Max… hard but doable (although the, um, enthusiasts talking about several minute intervals to exhaustion in another thread sound like they’ve found a way to make it worse). 90 minutes of O/U intervals or even 2 endurance intervals with O/Us sandwiched in between, and I’m dying.

Fortunately this is my rest week so I just have the 90 minutes of endurance tomorrow. Only my butt will hate me.

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Same here… :raising_hand_man:

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It’s not just you! While that type of workout is not universally held as the most uncomfortable type…it is considered the worst by a great many riders! Over/unders & VO2max are also two popular choices.

For me it’s tmax intervals. Those things gave me ptsd.

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O/U I always dread abit, Vo2 not so much. I just tell myself to harden up cupcake, and swallow another concrete pill. Muhahaha

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Same here! I’m fairly good with VO2max, and I look forward to Anaerobic workouts, but the threshold sessions knock me out pretty consistently. Had one just yesterday and thought I was going to die. Glad I’m not the only one.

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Curious as to what type of VO2max workouts people are doing who feel this way. Threshold shouldn’t hurt like VO2max does, IMO.

Said a long time ago in another thread that the people who think they’re good at VO2max must be doing 30/30s because no one who’s done 5 or 6 min VO2max intervals thinks they’re good at them. :rofl:

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I did 4x5min@113% this week. That was much preferable to 3x12@100%.

VO2 is painful because I can’t breath, but I’m surprisingly ok with that. Threshold is painful because while breathing isn’t a problem, it physically hurts by 6-8min in.

I can do 3-4 VO2 workouts a week and feel relatively good. Change that to even two threshold workouts in a week and I’m struggling to recover.

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I must be in the minority that actually enjoys threshold work. Over-unders, long supra-threshold intervals, i love them!

Give me 3 min vo2 intervals at 120% on the other hand and i’m falling apart very quickly.

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I did McAdie+4 yesterday (4 x 15mins of 90/90 over-unders :flushed:) with just three minutes recovery between sets. Had to take a break before the final set, I would probably have been OK with five minutes recovery. first time with AT I’ve had to fill out the “I’m not as good as I thought I was” survey :grinning:

The last indoor threshold workout that was similar was Mount Grant which is 3x16mins at 100% but that was a month ago, the others have been outdoor rides (with no power meter) that I’ve associated with whatever workout was scheduled.

As per the first paragraph, it’s recovery time that seems to characterise the RPE for me, whether it’s threshold or VO2max there’s an inflection point below which I’ll struggle. Of course that’s something that can be trained and quite a few of the old plans had this - basically the same workouts but with five minute recoveries then four minutes, etc. It’s a bit harder to figure out with AT as things change over time.

Yup :wave: I’m on the camp that Vo2max sessions seem easier than long threshold intervals. For me, It takes more motivation especially when they are 12+minutes of constant grinding. They are doable but tough, Vo2max I feel are hard but I know the pain will probably end soon :joy:

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Sounds like the 95/105 on trainer road workouts can be very hard. Some say a 90/110 can be a tad easier
I suck at anything above sweetspot

My2 cents. Threshold hurts - no doubt. But the pain stops (mostly) when I stop pedaling. VO2max OTOH has me feeling like I am dying/drowning when the interval ends. I’ve read somewhere in the forum that this is common and means I’m doing them right.:joy: For some reason this sensation is usually worse for me with rapid short intervals.

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This is so me… It’s the extended periods of O/Us that kill me… 9+ minutes of 95%/105% is just so painful.

So far the vo2max have been 30/30s but (though 2x40 repeats is quite a bit) the next ones are 30/15s so that will probably be a lot harder.

Ps just checked… Next vo2max are 4 minute blocks so probably a little later t more painful.

I also hate threshold training with the fire of a thousand suns. I can sit at sweet spot fairly comfortably and even longer than I would expect if I have to. I actually get excited anytime VO2 appears on the calendar. But threshold? 3x20 are the most horrible, miserable intervals I know…

The only thing that comes close is 4h endurance without any spikes to provide you with contrast and entertainment