I’ve a question on TrainerRoad VO2max training/workouts – and the effectiveness of the training when heart rate does not go above threshold at all (I am fresh/rested).
In short, to my understanding VO2max training in the sense that it actually increases max. O2 uptake correlates strongly with heart rate above threshold – which is what I do not achieve on the VO2max workouts I get from TR at all.
Should I do more traditional 4 x 4’ type VO2max workouts to get my actual HR > THR?
My threshold heart rate (THR), as determined from a 20 min TT (98 % of that HR), is 167, max HR is 185, rest HR in the range of 40–50 depending on state/rest.
THR is also still reasonable, for instance based on data from a “errants Tempo ride” I did last week, 2 x ~1 h with 40 min break in-between. This is from some near-threshold section at ~20 min into the second hour, with HR = 165 just below THR after ~4:30 min at 90 % FTP:
Now, if I look at my TR VO2max workouts I never get to these HRs… For instance, following a recent FTP bump, and corresponding PL decreases, and an easy weekend, yesterday I did the TR suggested Sleeping Beauty +2 workout, a variant of 30/30s at 125 % – which I marked as hard, leaning toward moderate.
Now, for this VO2max workout my HR never went above 160 < THR = 167.
In fact, for all the TR VO2max (or anaerobic, for that matter) workouts my HR zones never have any contributions in VO2max (independent of using, e.g., Friel or Coggan HR zones).
Here’s the power and HR zone distribution of yesterdays workout:
HR zones from Coggan, Friel looks even “worse”:
Now, are these workouts effective in increasing VO2max despite never getting HR up?
Or should I bite the apple an do more traditional 4 x 4’ type VO2max workouts to improve my VO2max?
SN: Newbie, <2 years of cycling, <1 year with PM, ~8 month of structured training, ~5 month with TR.
(AI) FTP now at 319 W, ~80 kg, >50 years.