recovery time impact on VO2max hill intervals

I could do my usual 1x a week hill interval session (6-8, 5 minute hills at 110-120% FTP with 4-5 min recovery time). But I could use a change of pace. Given boredom factor, plus heat factor (90 degrees today), I know of a route I can do which gets me 7 different hills which are longer (5-7 minutes) while still keeping my total time within my time constraint. BUT, there is more recovery time in between each one (maybe 10 minutes). I would do each hill at high end. My question - given I am trying to work the VO2 max system - does the increased recovery time negate this effort? Or do the longer hills and higher effort per hill offset this negative impact? Or am I really just working FTP versus VO2max?

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"Over the Hill......and on to the next one".

there may be something to that.

for example, sometimes i do 1min intervals with very little rest between to raise the power i can make repeatedly.

other workouts i do 1min intervals with 'almost' full rest to raise the absolute power i can make for that duration.

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Chann McRae Cycling Coach
Velossimo Racing Team
Racing Blog
john@cmcoaching.com

Being no expert in this field, I think, it strongly depends on the length of the efforts. If the efforts are long, your aerobic engine has enough time to reach it´s maximal output, if the intervals are short, you have to keep the rest periods short in order to avoid total recovery of the anaerobic system. With a lenght of 5-7 minutes, I feel that your workout should not suffer from the rest period and you may benefit from the variation of the hills. Give it a shot!