Whilst I have a perfect hill that I use if I want a 5x5 Vo2 max session (with perfect 5 minute rest intervals!), what (if any) are the real world benefits of doing them continuously as opposed to a general ride where I can ride different hills but the rest might be as much as 9 or 10 minutes?
Is the main factor here that heart rate will not be elevated? What if I could nail each interval with a longer rest at 118% but maybe only hit 110% for the last 1 or 2 if doing continuous.
The purpose of doing them with not too much rest is to create the proper stress level in your body. Chad at TR did this talk in the podcast 261 i think. Like doing short shorts as chad calls them 30 sec with 30 rest. The Creatine/Phosphate cycle takes between 1 to 3 minutes to recover. If you make the recovery too long then heart rate drops a lot hence when you come to do the effort getting the Heart lung working again feels really tough and later intervals are difficult. Hence you are finding the last 1 or 2 are needing to be done at 110%, This is still a VO2 effort. It Might be better to try 115% with the same recovery time and see if you can nail them all at 115%.
Your VO2 system will not be taxed doing single reps as it would by doing a set of reps.
Think of doing 20 push-ups in a row vs doing 4 push-ups 5 times spread over 12 hours.
Remember, VO2 is NOT a power target. You are not doing VO2max workouts to develop 5min power; you are doing them to develop a physiological process â uptake, delivery, and utilization of oxygen. Power is set as a general guideline because generally this point works for most people to illicit VO2 adaptations.
However, many studies have shown VO2max intervals can still force growth at lower power levels (e.g. 100% FTP). Even if your last couple of intervals are at reduced power, what are your other markers like HR and breathing telling you? Your legs might not be able to produce that power, but that does not negate the functions of the rest of the VO2 chain.
If you were looking to increase absolute 5-min power you could and should definitely increase the length of the rest/recovery interval so that each 5-min power interval is done absolutely the most fresh. Like otherâs have said, for repeatability you want as little rest between intervals as you can handle.
TRâs Elephants is 6x5min @ 108% with 3 minute recovery valleys.
5 min is a good amount of recovery. You should be able to push higher watts. Maybe 110%.
You can also try hard starts to minimize the delay before reaching VO2max. Because a real life hill is fixed length, your overall interval would also be shorter.
That would certainly be a really killer workout if you can nail that 5X, with any length of recovery interval. Seems pretty daunting, as itâs pretty much all out.
Which begs the question though⌠if you dial back your power to 110%, how long is the repeat? Would it be closer to 5:30-6:00?
Itâs not all out, though. All out would probably be 5-10s power, 30sec power at the most.
You donât even want to do short/shorts using all out power because it wonât be repeatable.
I recently did Mount Foraker, 7x5min @ 112%, with over 24min in VO2max. However, I was doing hot starts @ ~175% which is around my 1min power. Most of the 5min was spent around 100%, definitely not all out, yet resulting in much more TiZ than doing the intervals at the prescribed 111%.
@Supermurph19, here is my opinion for what it is worth. Let me explicitly state some assumptions:
1.) VO2 max adaptation is maximized by spending time at or around VO2max
2.) More time at or around VO2max means more adaptation
You will spend more time at or around VO2max if you do the â5x5 continuousâ workout. The accumulated fatigue of previous efforts will allow you to get to a VO2max condition faster in the next interval.
For me, the first interval is the critical one. Iâll post a pic below but I found that I had to go WAY HARDER in the first interval to make O2 consumption match the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) intervals. If you wait 10 or 15 minutes between intervals you have to do that level of effort every time and that sucks.
But even with a constant effort 5x5 approach you wonât start to maximize work at or around VO2max until probably the 3rd interval.
from a science standpoint i think it was answered really well; the key of real world is that a race is going to be more like the go HAM for 5 minutes, get to the next climb, GO HAM, etc etc. So by #5 in the second scenario, you will be more kjâs deepâŚa different type of workout, for sure, but so much benefit.
you know iâm a big fan of different stimulus so my vote is do both kinds!
Arenât those two somewhat contradictory? I mean, if I go as hard as possible, I wonât be able to go as long as possible. So which is more important?
No, just weird screen protector/predictive typing doping â I hate both.
Iâll post a pic below but I found that I had to go WAY HARDER in the first interval to make O2 consumption match the 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) intervals. If you wait 10 or 15 minutes between intervals you have to do that level of effort every time and that sucks.
