Now we are so close to the finish that I’ve decided to publish the final stages of the program. One thing I haven’t mentioned in the previous days is the principle of overreaching which helps us to achieve progress. Distinguishing overtraining from overreaching is important, because overreaching is a very natural process when we train.
Overreaching vs overtraining
Many riders use the term ‘overtraining’ for both overreaching and overtraining and I guess that is why many riders diagnose themselves as overtrained. The problem is that if you are really in an overtraining situation, it can take several months before your performance is back at 100%. If you have overreached in a period, a week or two is normally enough to get you back on track. This principle is often used in tapering protocols, where training volume is reduced the last two or three weeks before a big event. Overtraining syndrome doesn´t happen over a night or week. It takes 6 to 8 weeks or even longer to develop.
Read more on overtraining and overreaching here.
Day 11
Total time: 1hr
15min incremental warm up
6 x (3+2min) 85% / 50%
15min easy rolling
Day 12
Total time: 1hr
12min incremental warm up
3min 80%
3min 50%
2x(3+3min) 100 / 50%
10min 50%
2x(3+2min) 80 / 50%
10min easy rolling
Day 13
Total time: 40min
20min incremental warm up
5min 85%
5min 50%
10min esy rolling
Day 14
Total time: 1hr15min
20min incremental warm up
8 x (30+30sec) 100 / 50%
7min 50%
8 x (30+30sec) 100 / 50%
7min 50%
?? x (30+30sec) 100 / 50% (Maximum number of intervals possible!)
10min easy rolling
Congratulations! You’re have completed the VO2 Max Booster Program! Afterwards I recommend you to take some easy days, maybe a day off, to recover from this overload of VO2 max intervals. Remember what I said about overreaching? You are not overtrained now, you are overreached and in the next couple of days you will begin to super compensate for the last 14 days impressive workload.
5min max test to find your new VO2 Max
When you have had 4-6 days with easy training it is time to do a new 5min maximum test to track your progress. I will appreciate if you share your results with the readers here at Training4cyclists.com by posting a comment with your results.
Did you miss day 10?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
.. and now?
Let me explain: I read on some article on pubmed that VO2max plateau after 6 weeks of dedicated training. Your booster program only lasts 2 weeks, so there should be another 4 weeks of training. Will it come soon? What are your thoughts about?
Simone,
I’m not planning to publish 4 more weeks. I guess most people who have read the series about VO2 max training now have an idea of how they can improve (and continue to improve) their VO2 max. I have other projects that I plan to publish, so hang on.
It’s clear that you gain the best results in the first 2 weeks and less in the following. It’s right that you will meet some kind of a plateau, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get further. If that was the case we should stop our VO2 max training after only 6 weeks.
Scientific research shows us that well trained athletes need training close to their VO2 max to secure further progress. We’re talking about small, small improvements, but these small steps have huge impact on performance for elite riders (and everyone else).
Best regards,
Jesper
Hello Jesper, many thanks to share for free such a traning program
I will probably have a look at it next winter and I hope I will send you good results. My question is about the 50% recovery intensity (based on 5mn power). I use a powermeter, and during my previous workouts in march, N*(30s@100%+30s@X%), I aimed rather X=35-40% to recover, just pedaling. Is this intensity of 50% is really important for the goal of the program (increasing VO2Max) as the recovery intervals are more difficult, or a smaller value for X can be used?
Thanks !
Jesper, Thank you very much for publishing this program! I found it extremely chanllenging but rewarding mentally and physically. I have only just completed the program yesterday so will come back in some time to offer the results of my test.
Of particular note — I was able to complete all of the training program exactly as specified except for Day 12. I was not able to complete the final set of 2x(3+2min) 80 / 50%, in fact only partial of the 1st 3 mins and none of the 2nd.
Again, thank you!
-Tom
bugno>> The 50% helps you to maintain a high oxygen uptake in the recovery periods. You get more time with high VO2 uptake. Actually there is research indicating that it is possible to maintain VO2 max throughout the 30seconds recovery if you keep it at 50% VO2 max. That’s really interesting.
Tom>> It’s very challenging, no doubt. You’ve done a great job so far, I look forward to hear from you again with some positive test results.
Have a nice day!
Jesper
Damn, Day 12 was *hard*! Puff pant
i have had alot of success in the early season with the vo2 intervals, especially the 30 on, 30 0ff. usually started them in january and continued up til first races of the season at the end of march. i am about to do a 3 week stretch now of your vo2 intervals for the cyclocross season that get under way in middle of sept. i ahve never really targeted the cross season, but want to see a better consistency and hope the intervals help with this.
john mccormick (canada)
I have modified this program as a running program and am currently on day 8 and going well. I will use some of the workouts in the future for sure. 14 days straight is really tough, but I can tell I will have some big time improvements when I rested. Maybe even more than cyclist as improvements in running efficiency are sure to make me even faster.
To any newbie runners reading this, 14 days of intervals will get you injured. Not only are they very tough on your body, this program assumes there will be a volume decrease. 7+ hours/week at these speeds works out to be well over 40 miles.
Jesper:
To increace recovery time, could I do these workouts as 2 a days?
ie: do workout 1 on sunday, workout’s 2 and 3 on monday, take tuesday off then workouts 4 and 5 on wednesday, take thursday off… etc. is this appropriate if it will work for me or must I do the protocol as outlined?
Leo,
It’s better to do one workout per day since each training session is quite difficult. In theory, though, it’s possible to make training plans with two or more high intensity mini-workouts every day. It would be interesting to see how that could work, but the current setup for VO2 max booster program is probably a bit too hard for such experiments.
I think you shall take a recovery day or two during the program, thus making the complete training program last 15 or 16days or more.
Best regards,
Jesper
really helpful, thanks Jesper.
Hi Jesper. I really enjoy your tips and articles. I’m from Tucson Arizona and the racing season here is from January to September with Crit, Road and Stage races every weekend through April. It slows down after that with June through September having time trial series. I race 30-40 races per year as Cat 3 and in 40+ masters. When is a good time to do the 14 day vo2 maxworkouts? Thank you for your time. Look forward to hearing from you.
Well I should preface my results with a little context, It was during the very early stages of my getting back on the bike that I started this program….2+ weeks ago, I had started to get back into shape, but this program definitely kicked that into high gear.
SO then the results: my 5 min at outset was: 270 and I ended up with a 5 min of 310. I just started again and I am expecting a smaller increase…for one the increase is due to: weight loss, just being in general better shape, ect. However the program makes great sense, I love it. However I will try to get in some regular old FTP training in as well just because it helps with pacing…. Thanks Jesper!
I finally got to Day12 today. yesterday I rode 3 hours outdoors after taking a rest day the day before so it was off by a couple days. I struggled to finish the 2nd interval at 100%; the last 90s were brutal but I hung in there. I did not have a problem completing the 2 final intervals at 80%. Look forward to finally being done with this very intense program.
Qualified success:
Background: use PowerTap SL+ (set up a couple of weeks ago) running Golden Cheetah software. The software (GC) has a Critical Power Plot which includes a predicted curve. Based on my few readings to that time, my predicted 5 min power was 350w, although my 5min TT test result was 306w. I decided to do the interval program on the basis that 350w was my 5min power.
Actions and Outcomes: I worked for 11 out of 12 days on the intervals. Yes I skipped from Day 2 to Day 6 (a fellow cyclist suggested it was too easy). The intervals were a struggle and on occasion I lost count and did too many and on one occasion I did 1 fewer than per program. On many occasions I struggled to average the required wattage however on all but 1 occasion I achieved required output (on that occasion I was 3 watts short). My biggest difficulty was maintaining constant output: minor variations in gradient/surface/concentration resulted in wild variation of output…I also found that my initial acceleration at the start of an interval would result in a power spike over 400w. After the program my legs felt sluggish so I had a few days of active and slothful rest
.
Oh the Result: did 5 min TT up “1 in 20″. 349w: yeah I am a wuss…and I was hoping for much better. At least this result sits on the anticipated power curve generated by Golden Cheetah (rather than just being the projected 5 min power value). So you can view it as a 1w decrease or a 43w increase…both are valid answers and I am happy to compromise and take a 20w increase. I suspect I was pushing too big a gear as the quads were burning and the breathing was not quite desperate….there was not much left in the tank as the legs were tingling and it took 5 min of recovery before I resumed generating reasonable power figures.
Power varied from a low of 220w, closely followed by a high of 520w (as I attempted to compensate) just prior to the finish of the test. Speed varied between 16.5 & 24 (km/h). I figure I can easily improve on 349w (not by much) by improved technique, without improved fitness. I aim to go out and just stay above 350w and see what turns up.
Notes: When I was struggling with power I was, by standing able to increase the wattage, however the readings jumped about…a lot. I need to change gears more often in response to gradient change and may need to go 1 gear easier.
I am 51 years, 90kg riding 11kg bike (inc clothing etc), 1 min 554w, 20min 301w.
Lastly thank you for the program and the motivation. Try it you will not regret it no matter the outcome. js