Looking for intensity? Look no further. These workouts are designed to increase your VO2 max, your body's capacity to consume oxygen during exercise. Push your limits and keep chasing your fitness potential!
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This workout can be likened to a mountain bike race with a hard start - a steady middle and a hard finish as we complete 2 blocks of efforts at 110% of FTP (Zone 5 - Vo2 Max), with an 8 minute block of Zone 3 (80% of FTP) in the middle.
We are going to complete the first block of the Zone 5 efforts at a low cadence (65rpm) to simulate being stuck on a really steep section, where you are having to navigate around rocks.
We will complete the second block of efforts at your chosen cadence, which should feel a lot easier, and certainly less demanding of your muscular strength!
Here we are again with some 2 minutes at upper VO2 zone. This is the hardest sustained efforts we'll complete for this plan, but I think you are ready. It's really important to mentally find a place to go where you can get through these efforts with a good attitude. No way around it, these hurt. Using those fast RPM's will absolutely help here as you just have to keep the trainer from bogging you down here. A warm up, and then 6x's 2 minutes at 120% with 2 minutes break between. Be ready, these efforts will feel like they are coming FAST!
Named for the atomic number of Oxygen, this VO2 workout is all about what will be in short supply. Twice through a block of intervals up above threshold power will have you wishing for some extra O2, but you'll have to wait until the cool down to get it. Though there is a nice Zone 2 break between blocks of Z5 intervals where you can grab a little bit of extra air in your lungs.
This session is about maximizing your Vo2 Max. Your maximum ability to process oxygen for aerobic exercise.
These workouts have been designed and tested by some of the best cyclists in the world. Olympians and World Champions such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara, Dame Sarah Storey and Kristin Armstrong.
Congratulations on reaching the final workout in the Dirt Destroyer.
This sessions aims to develop your Anaerobic Capacity - your ability to produce a lot of power for a short period of time. We complete efforts at 135% of FTP, whilst reducing the amount of rest we get between each effort - meaning each effort will get progressively harder.
If you look at the demands of Mountain Biking, you are frequently making efforts up around 135%+ of your FTP, to tackle obstacles and get up steep climbs. The effort durations vary significantly, which is what we are looking to train today - your ability to produce big power, once already fatigued, on limited recovery!
Named for the atomic mass of Oxygen, this VO2max workout is designed to help you make better use of that oh-so-precious resource. The workout features two main sets. The first is a block of intervals above threshold, pushing your body to work and recover repeatedly. The second is a sustained sub-threshold effort that asks you to work hard on tired legs. You get to breathe easy - and grab some extra O2 - during the long warm up and cool down.
Today, we have variable VO2max efforts featuring increasing power as the duration shortens. Anaerobic capacity can be a rate limiting factor to our threshold Power. Today, we have our first session in this plan to produce large amounts of Lactate. Many aspects of cycling need these power zones. From attacking, to covering a move, or even hanging on for dear life over the final couple of minutes of a climb. The 'Red Zone' is where bike races are won or lost...be prepared to work today!
During the 'Early Base' training period, it's fine to spend time at intensities above your threshold. The key is in the duration spent above threshold for the interval.
By completing short efforts above threshold you are able to accumulate more time in this area than if completed in longer efforts. Today's session will give you 8 minutes in Zone 5.
The short recovery periods also increase oxygen uptake. Particularly towards the end of the set!
This is a very high level of intensity that requires mental and physical perseverance. Not only is it important to increase your ability to produce short, high powered efforts, so to is the importance of being able to repeat these efforts with little recovery. In today's session the efforts get shorter, but the power increases.
Complete 8 x 1 Min Anaerobic Capacity Intervals, before finishing with a 25 Min zone 2 effort. Observe your Heart Rate response during the 25 Min effort. How much does it increase throughout the effort?
This session is all about increasing your Vo2 Max. Led by Fabian Cancellara, it is guaranteed to get you reaching maximum exertion in a very short period of time!
These workouts have been designed and tested by some of the best cyclists in the world. Olympians and World Champions such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara, Dame Sarah Storey and Kristin Armstrong.
This is a very high level of intensity that requires mental and physical perseverance. As well as improving your ability to produce sustained power above threshold, AC training will also improve your ability to recover from high intensity efforts and repeat them again and again. With a longer set of hard efforts followed by a series of shorter efforts, you will need to stay focused today!
After completing a good warm up the main sets consist of sustained high-power intervals with full recovery. Anaerobic endurance involves high cadence and big power, along with the ability to resist fatigue. Throughout each interval observe your cadence and heart rate. Is your cadence dropping with fatigue and your heart rate rising?
A block of 30s/30s intervals that an athlete once told me (who worked out early in the morning and usually right after breakfast) always caused his "breakfast to return." Even if your breakfast - or lunch or dinner - stays put, one thing will certainly rise - your fitness!
High power and high leg speed. This is an important characteristic to possess in MTB riding, along with the ability to repeat these high intensity efforts multiple times.
With a short recovery between intervals today, we are replicating the demands of a high speed performance.
What are anaerobic capacity efforts? Today you will find out. Simply put, it's short intense sprint efforts that build large amounts of lactate. Today you have 2 rounds of 10 x 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off. Do this workout if you want to improve your anaerobic capacity.
Lionel Sanders says 'Green Days are moderately few and far between when you're in the midst of heavy training. So, if you have the luxury of planning your training around how well you have recovered and slept, you definitely want to utilize these green days to do the really hard workouts, like this one!'
Warm up well including 3 x 6 second accelerations during the 10 minute warm up. Followed by 2 sets of 3 x 5min @ 112%, 109% and 105% respectively, with 5min recovery. Riding between sets is Free Ride. Cool down.
Microbursts are great to do on a regular basis to make sure that you can change speeds anytime in the season and be ready for that group ride. They are annoying, but great for you!
The focus of today's session is to improve your ability to produce power. To be able to turn a big gear faster. By completing high power intervals with slightly less cadence, we increase the torque applied to the crank, boosting muscular endurance power. Two sets of short intervals with short recovery. However, the opening high power effort has a target cadence of 85RPM, before completing the remaining time at a self selected cadence.
Filipo Ganna, equally comfortable on the track for a 4min race as he is during a three-week Grand Tour, is known for his ability to generate huge power in the 3–5min range. This range is a great proxy for an athlete's VO2 Max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body is able to use during exercise. Today's workout will put you through the paces of a VO2 Max workout, Ganna-style!
Y'all wanna do some anaerobic work? No? Well, you're gonna do it anyways. You would be correct to think this kind of effort isn't as important in gravel racing, but you'd be wrong to think it still wont benefit you. And besides, it's fun.
This is possibly a higher watt than you are used to hitting on the trainer, so please set yourself up to be successful by being ready with high RPM's and a positive attitude!
This session is about maximising your Vo2 Max. Your maximum ability to process oxygen for aerobic exercise.
These workouts have been designed and tested by some of the best cyclists in the world. Olympians and World Champions such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara, Dame Sarah Storey and Kristin Armstrong.
In order to go fast, you'll need to be able ride at your Vo2max pace and also your anaerobic capacity, increasing these abilities so that you'll be ready to dish out the pain this coming season. Warm-up 10 minutes and then do 3 x 1minute fast pedaling drills >110rpm, 5 minutes at tempo and then do 3 minutes Vo2 and then 2 minutes AC with 2 minutes recovery between each. Repeat 3 more times for a great workout! Cool down.
Push it to the limits, these 2 min VO2max intervals will help increase the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use and improve your efficiency with which it can use that oxygen. This can lead to improved endurance performance and the ability to sustain higher power outputs for longer periods of time. Additionally, VO2 max intervals also help to increase the body's anaerobic capacity, which is the body's ability to produce energy without oxygen. This can help to delay fatigue and improve overall performance.
This is our first VO2 Max workout of the gravel training plan, and is a good taste of what's to come. VO2 Max training is necessary to raise your aerobic ceiling and prepare you for the specific demands of very steep climbs. REMINDER: You can always adjust the FTP bias via the arrow keys on your keyboard, or the Zwift Companion app. Once you get over threshold, using a %FTP for workout prescription can get murky, so always adjust as needed.
Today, we're entering the pain cave again for some more VO2 Max work! However, this time instead of a steady state effort, we're going to be using a micro-interval, and more specifically 20sec on, 10 sec off, AKA Tabata Intervals. Get ready to put the work in today! REMINDER: You can always adjust the FTP bias via the arrow keys on your keyboard, or the Zwift Companion app. Once you get over threshold, using a %FTP for workout prescription can get murky, so always adjust as needed.
We're back to working at VO2 Max intensity today, but this time we're aiming for 12min and using a steady state interval again. The plan is to ramp up through the entire VO2 Max range and maintain a high cadence throughout. REMINDER: You can always adjust the FTP bias via the arrow keys on your keyboard, or the Zwift Companion app. Once you get over threshold, using a %FTP for workout prescription can get murky, so always adjust as needed.
This workout features some more VO2 Max work. Today, we'll be aiming for just a little more VO2 Max time, but also incorporating a 40/20 interval approach which will challenge you for sure! Let's make it happen today! REMINDER: You can always adjust the FTP bias via the arrow keys on your keyboard, or the Zwift Companion app. Once you get over threshold, using a %FTP for workout prescription can get murky, so always adjust as needed.
This session is about maximizing your Vo2 Max. Your maximum ability to process oxygen for aerobic exercise.
These workouts have been designed and tested by some of the best cyclists in the world. Olympians and World Champions such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Fabian Cancellara, Dame Sarah Storey and Kristin Armstrong.
Today's workout comes to us from Team Jumbo-Visma and is a workout that will sting a bit, but is the type of workout that is shown to increase a rider's threshold. VO2 efforts sit within Zone 5 which is the zone that impacts aerobic capacity. Today we will do 6x2 minute efforts that will keep you right in this zone.