globecanvas

Let's crush these vo2max intervals. Beast mode! Kill! There, crushed the first one! Yeah! Again!

Ow. OK, finished it! Another!

Ow. Ow. Jesus has it been only a minute? Don't look at the time. Don't look at the time. A minute and fifteen seconds?! 16... 17... Maybe I'll stop at 2 minutes. 2 minutes down, I can go another 2 minutes right? Maybe I'll stop at 3 minutes. Time... crawling... ow... ow... thank god that's over. I have to do three more of these?

Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Don't look at the time. 45 seconds?! Is this thing even on? Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Let's get analytical. What is it exactly that hurts? Legs hurt. They'll feel better as soon as I stop, they aren't going to break. Heart doesn't really hurt. It just feels really really bad. Don't look at the time. A minute. Stare at the time. A minute and one second. Stare at the time. Don't look at the time. Whoops, I'm letting off the power. Not even half way. Focus on a rhythm. Two strokes hard with the right, two hard with the left. A minute and ten seconds. Ow isn't really the right word. Bad. Bad. Bad. I can't quit now, everyone on strava will see that I bailed on an interval. Maybe if I stop at two minutes exactly it will look intentional. I'm gonna stop at two minutes. **** this.

gsteinb

god dammit. I think I sprained a lung.

echappist

i actually prefer build to base. relatively shorter workouts to save me from boredom. also i lose weight quite a bit easier during build for some reason.

Wylde06

Im glad im not doing vo2 yet. I probably will soon, but im glad im not yet...

gsteinb

incorrect

Doge

Son has a VO2 test in 2 weeks that I had owed to me from a year ago so I have to use it soon. Now (like power) I'm wondering how my son uses what he takes away from that. So we get a number/s and can compare to others, and compare to last year - I get that part...

But what does one change / do differently because now they know they have a 60 or 90 VO2 max? How does that translate to how they race?

TheKillerPenguin

I'm already missing the volume, I feel like a slacker... even though I'm doing ~16hrs this week with intensity. I've been in eat all of the things mode for a few months now so if I'm not careful I could pull a Betancur pretty easily.

That said the intensity is fun, if not exactly ...pleasant? Sure, let's go with that word.

gsteinb

I had gotten down to a really light weight before christmas (147-148) after new year's my eating habits got a a bit less refined and I've drifted up. I doubt it really matters (I do find that with the extremely hard efforts if I've eaten anything salty the night before I have a heck of a hard time), but I miss the extreme vascularity I had. Tightening things up a bit, but it might just be vanity.

gsteinb

I'm going to be a mess when my kid goes to college. You're going to need to hire a full time therapist.

TheKillerPenguin

I fluctuate between 157 and 158 in the morning, though my weight has trended ever so slightly upward in the past month. I'm pretty sure it's due to my legs gaining ~4-5 inches in girth since early November though. Like overfilled tubes of toothpaste.

Doge

I know that. I was as bad with my daughter - just shifted. So far in my life I have been able to move from one obsession to another just fine. I plan on focusing on making money then.

gsteinb

Money is good to pay for college! We've been spending our weekends doing college visits. It's fun to see them sprout, but **** it also carries a really high sense of obsolescence.

Doge

I can tell this is your first one.
Anyone want to answer the VO2 question.
I'm finding with all the cash I'm spending there are many things that provide a number and I want to know how that number applies to what a rider will do in a race.

For example.
A believe seemingly useful number for a race is knowing Anaerobic Threshold. The rider knows if they go over that they need to pay it back, so they try to adjust their HR to where they think they will perform best.

What does one do with a VO2 max number?
Seriously I was thinking a good number may impress a college rowing coach - which is a much better ride than cycling.

TheKillerPenguin

This...sounds very similar to my last ftp test.

Doge

Number one went to Notre Dame for athletics. Now - no athletics or athletic money and studying in Rome for the year. So - yes - I feel your pain, but you will find you go numb after a couple years. That's why buying a few silk tires don't bother me so much.

echappist

If you go on the wattage forums, you'll find that VO2max does not correlate as well with success in long-duration aerobic sports. Most definitely not in running, though it's a bit better in cycling.

OTOH, i'd imagine it to be very important if you want to focus on individual pursuit. From the way a pursuit is ridden, the initial power spike to get up to speed drains all that you could get from creatin phosphate and anaerobic pathways, leaving the only remaining means by which to obtain energy to be the aerobic one. You are also operating at maximal aerobic output, ergo, anything past one minute in a pursuit-style effort is strictly aerobic in nature. So think of sports where you have to do things in a similar fashion, 4-5 minute in duration, except with the caveat that in most other sports, anaerobic reserves gets drained while you go whereas in pursuit it gets drained off the bat.

also this is pedantic, but you are not adjusting HR when you go over anaerobic threshold; that's just a result of the physiological changes.

Doge

First - thanks for responding ^^^. I understand higher VO2 is better for certain activities.
But why does anyone need to measure it? What would an athlete do differently based on a 60 or 90 number?

I know TdF guys measure 60-90s. I have no idea what they do with that number - how do they use it. Is it like "Mike - don't go in that break because your VO2 is 60", or "Dave - you chase down because you are 85.". My kid will be tested and get a number. Now what? I think the number serves no purpose in the real world.

If the idea is to know one's AT I am of the opinion most already know and that varies by weather and fatigue but seems more useful than knowing one's VO2 max.

wens

If I'm lucky, I'll ride outside three times in all of February. 2 times seems more likely. I'm over winter.

gsteinb

I'm shooting for none.

gsteinb

WKO is a goddamn liar!

wens

There's maybe a bit more nuance, world class winning pursuit is almost always negatively split, with the fastest lap splits coming near the end so you don't entirely blow the anaerobic system on the start. It's also not a constant power effort because your center of mass is moving downhill into turns and uphill out of them, so it's alternating bursts over what aerobic system can produce and recovery under aerobic system limits.

echappist

dude, are you really splitting hair with me here? in the future i'll make sure to use adverbs such as approximately and almost...

The OP asked when is knowing VO2max helpful in terms of actual performance, and i gave perhaps the situation where it would be most relevant.






knock yourself out with the following: Training and Racing With a Power Meter Journal: How to estimate VO2max using a power meter

shovelhd

Number two is in a five year program at Syracuse, currently $62k per.

TheKillerPenguin

The trainer is cruel. 3x4min, #4 to failure @ 1:40ish. Then did 3x2min with 3min recovery just to get the time in zone. Finished it up with 1x3min toward the top end of vo2, somehow managed to recover which makes me think this was due to overheating and general trainer wonkiness. Wound up with an extra minute of vo2 in the workout today, finished up with an hr easy spin.

Now, to go purchase some big fans.

ridethecliche

5 Year, huh?

At my undergrad we could have done a tuition free 5th year for a masters if your 4 years had been good and you'd worked in a lab and done significant research. I had a few friends that did that. Would have been nice.