One of the most important factors for your success rate is motivation. When you are motivated for what you train, there is no limit for what you can achieve. I know that many of you like to do training races or criteriums mid-week. Today we will use such races to help you to achieve a higher VO2 max. If you for some reasons can’t participate in a criterium or similar event tonight, there is still hope for you. The keyword is fartlek training which I will also explain to you.
Fartlek as VO2 max training
In wikipedia they have described it as following:
“Fartlek, which means ‘speed play’ in Swedish, is a form of conditioning which puts stress mainly on the aerobic energy system due to the continuous nature of this exercise. The difference between this type of training and continuous training is that the intensity or speed of the exercise varies, meaning that aerobic and anaerobic systems can be put under stress. Most Fartlek sessions last a minimum of 45 minutes and can vary from aerobic walking to anaerobic sprinting.”
My experience with fartlek training is that it works best when you have a group of motivated riders who understand the rules of this training type. Then you will have a great time with racing like activity that will bring you all physiological benefits you would have achieved in a criterium.
Races as VO2 max training
Races are a very effective way to improve performance. It is often said that races is the best kind of training you can get. I would rather say that races might be the easiest way to improve performance. Today you don´t have to speculate about doing specific VO2 max intervals. You just follow the pack and try your best to make a good result. During the race you get plenty of different intervals including several minutes close to your VO2 max. Races train a wide range of skillsand won’t be as focused as the intervals from the previous days.
Nevertheless this day will be a great training for you and you might experience that the last 8 days already have helped you. If that is not the case, don’t worry. I don’t expect you to super compensate for the accumulated training load before at least a couple of days after the VO2 Max Booster Program.
Day 9
Total training: 1hr15min
15min incremental warm up
50min criterium/fartlek
10min cool down
Next step: Day 10 – More Active Recovery (Did you miss day 8?)
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
i totally agree with you jesper for mid week races or fertlek to improve
your VOmax improvement, for me as a head coach for bahrain cycling team i always focus on a fast motor pacing fertlek which i play in speed
of the motor bike , so i go like 50 to 55km for 5 to 8 minuts then i keep the speed for lets say 40– 45km for 15 mints before i increase the speed again, but make sure that you have the riders that they can do
this sort of work and they have enough experience to get the wheels of other riders.