Did Bashful+1 again today ( I just happen to be doing the same plan and workouts exactly one year apart!) and after the first set I dropped the intensity by 2%. With this I managed all the intervals 
My FTP is 7% higher than the last time I did it so thatās a definite improvement 
Depending on what you think the HR to VO2max equivalence should be I ended up with 23m28s with my HR above 85% MHR and 9m23s above 90%MHR.
You say that as if you think this is something that is disputed?
Struggled through Spencer +2 today. Not my best performance. First 3 intervals were solid, but the last three, my brain was fighting my legs. Itās kind of crazy how the self-preservation instincts kick in and suck the effort out of you. I guess you canāt get them all perfect.
It happens to the proās too, just that they are better at fighting back. 
Saw a dash cam vid recently of (I think) a Quickstep training camp. Rider going up a hill, driver honks the horn, rider hammers itā¦about 30s later rider dials it down for 2-3 pedal strokes, not by much but noticeable and obvious he wants to stop! But he doesnāt and keeps hammering until the driver honks again to signal the end of the interval.
Anybody here tried Hickson intervals? 6x5 mins @ 113%? Managed them once last year. Probably the hardest vo2 max session Iāve ever done.
Edit: and does anybody know of any workouts similar on TR? Canāt seem to find anything. Maybe for good reasonā¦
Itās pretty interesting how once you flip the switch in your head, everything you were fighting against just drains out literally like you pulled a plug in a sink. Itās kind of crazy that your mind has that much control.
What is the off period? 2.5 min.
Did 5x 5m at 114% two weeks ago, rbi 5m (edit @ 2.5m recovery, ouch)
Tried 5x 6m last week and only made 3 at 110 - 112% and 1.5 at ~106%
Yep, 2.5 min.
This has been interesting to read. I typically am such a plan follower that I get nervous to deviate from the planned workouts. However Iāve been riding a decent amount on zwift with friends as a replacement for workouts. An example is today I have Bluebell scheduled (3 sets 6x 1min 120%/1min rest), but with my group ride we might do 2 or 3, 4-8min āgame onā sections of the ride with decently long tempo ārestā periods between. These sections are typically all out up a climb or to a banner finish.
Are these a good replacement for the Vo2 workout days in the SSB2 plan? Is it mostly about Time in Zone and not so much about the exact interval layout?
All out for 4-8 minutes sounds like VO2 max.
My understanding is that there is no real VO2 max power zone. It is more like a state your body is in when it is using up the most amount of O2. You can reach this state at various power levels, all above FTP, by riding long enough intervals at that level.
Right. Iāve been keeping up some intensity all winter with these rides so a 1min on /1min off āintroā VO2 workout doesnāt seem to be that necessary.
Bluebell is an introduction to these workouts. For me it did not get me close to VO2 max. Today, with Mills, was the first time in the SSB program that I felt the pain people are talking about.
Actually now, 5 hours later, I can still feel a mild sting in my quads.
I donāt buy into all this 1M On/ 1M Off is VO2Max āintroā workout talk, it is not a VO2max workout at all, never mind āintroductory.ā
It did get me thinking what would make that format close too or actually a VO2max workout,
12x
On 1 min 135 - 140%
Off 1 min 95%
rest 3 min
Couple of sets?
You arenāt a descendant of the Marquis de Sade are you? 
Doing that would put me in A&E with a cardiac arrest! 
I did Bashful +1 today, 7 x 1min @120%, 30sec off (40% but would have been fine with 75%) and had to turn the intensity down a tad for the second and third sets. That gave 23m28s above 85%MHR which @old_but_not_dead_yet states is a proxy for 90%VO2max i.e. what all these threads give as the target.
This is a reasonable outline of what it would take for āshort/shortā interval workouts to be good VO2 sessions.
Hmm , that is just terminology. It just helps people get used to the 120% range.
Yes, I think thatās a better way to think about it, not intro to vo2 max workouts, but intro to 120% of FTP. I think perhaps the issue is, this is perhaps more beneficial to the newbie rider that has never done structured training before and based on the prevalent use case, these workouts are repeated over and over by experienced folks. Perhaps these need to be in base I and not base II or in their own plan for new riders.
But then I think it was Amber who said in a recent podcast that Taylor was one of her favorite workouts.
I been doing a minute on 30s off the day before my longer VOs. Its a good opener / workout. Last week did 12 x 60on/30s off. No erg, 60s on as hard as I though (knew) I could do.
Maybe 90% on the off, was I being to harsh?
Iāve got Baird +6 tonight and will have a mental reminder to tell myself to HTFU since Iām not doing real Vo2, should help 
