Grrrr...L5's WTF! Any alternatives?



rmur17 said:
hmm ... what does Vo2max have to with anaerobic fitness? :confused:
I should have stated that the 2-minute intervals wouldn't be at his VO2 max power. They would be done at a higher power. I left that out. Thanks for getting me back on the subject.

By the way, Rmur, are you a rider from the Washington, DC area?
 
1. What intensity relative to FT are you riding these intervals at?

FT is 240W (no laughing ... I'm a lightweight!). These I do at 270W

2. What happens with the volume of other stuff, threshold tempo, L2?

Not much! I do these on the trainer, so I get my longer/hilly ride on the weekend, plus perhaps one other 2 hour "spin" ride. I usually do a block of 3, then a day or two off, then another one or two. Compared to 5 x 5's I find them much more manageable, but my understanding is that they are long enough to be working VO2 systems.

3. How many weeks before target races do you do vo2max workouts?

I don't race. I throw in a week or two of these to break up L4 work once in a while.

4. What sort of improvement gains do you see?

Hard to say. Power is on my Tacx Flow. But ... I have a couple of regular loops I do and am definitely getting faster .. whether it's these or my regular diet of L4, can't say. Will test FT again in a couple of weeks.

Subplot here is that I do hilly century/event rides, where the hills are short and sharp. I figure 4-5 minute intervals are near the top of the list of what I need to be working on.

B
 
Bailsibub said:
I should have stated that the 2-minute intervals wouldn't be at his VO2 max power. They would be done at a higher power. I left that out. Thanks for getting me back on the subject.

By the way, Rmur, are you a rider from the Washington, DC area?
DC - no I'm afraid I'm around 2000 km NE of there ;-)

St John's, NL, Canada 47° 37' N 52° 45' W
 
Simone@Italy said:
Anyway, you could try to use shorter interval, perhaps 4' x 4,

Remember that the levels are guidelines. All you can do is all you can do. I would not recommend shortenning the intervals.

The idea is to get to your VO2 max and hold it as long as possible. Breaking up a workout into 5 minute intervals allows you to spend more time near VO2 max.

that being said, if you can't do 5x5 @ 340 (i would recommend 6x5 BTW) then drop the power until you can. As you get fitter, the power will come.

Someone mentioned anaerobic fitness too - I've got a pretty decent AWC and find that as I'm doing 6x5's, my power levels go from about 110% FTP to about 120% of FTP in four to six weeks.