shawndoggy said:Saw this in the determining FT thread and decided to create a new thread rather than my usual MO of contributing to massive thread drift...?
It appears we have someone here who wants to be different!
shawndoggy said:Curious (and this is being asked with the UTMOST sincerity)... how do you know that you aren't doing anaerobic capacity (i.e. level 6-7) work during those intervals then?
After last year's training effort of riding with a power meter mainly as a data collection baseline, I'm trying to be much more rigorous with the data this year in structuring my workload. And now that I'm starting the "hard interval" phase of the cycle, I'm wondering how to structure the work (as opposed to the relatively simple 2x20 threshold work)?
In short, what sort of intervals are going to help me transition to the VO2max/AC work?
As for AC and Vo2max or similar... Personally, I don't think that a 4-5 minute interval at a fairly steady pace or 30/30's are going to invoke quite the same stimulii as an interval more aimed at anaerobic capacity, like 4' at threshold followed immediately with a 30-60" sprint, with short recoveries between intervals.
However, at these intensities there are similarities and cross-over and the reason for doing these (really hard periods during races) are probably more similar than different. I don't get too caught up in labeling a given interval block as being VO2max, or a.c., or lactate tolerance, threshold, etc. because those terms are fairly specificaly measured efforts but racing tends to wander around so much that your race efforts are kind of blending from one to another.
I've said before, do you want to train to get better at a one minute interval, all-out, from complete rest, or do you want to get better at the really hard one minute periods in races? Same for VO2max. Do you want to lab test better at VO2max, or do you want to train so that you're better during really hard 3-5 minute periods during races?
The transition... Blue Jersey brought this up the other day and I should have responded then but the thread went in a different direction about fatigue...
I don't jump all at once from training one ability as a focus, to another ability, like from threshold to VO2max. For example, let's say you want to do 5' minute intervals at 40-50 watts over your threshold power, (probably near your power at VO2max and your max power over 5-7' periods). A reasonable amount of VO2max training could be 10-12 minutes total for a session, not including the periods during the early part of your intervals where you're not really utilizing as much oxygen, dealing with lowered ph issues and oxygen debt/deficit, etc. that influence your racing ability during those really hard 3-5 minute periods in races.
Instead of jumping right into 4x5' efforts at TP+ 40watts, my approach is to incorporate some of these efforts in shorter amounts in the 4-8 weeks before I want to be doing the 4x5' at TP+ 50 watts. Maybe 3 x 3' at TP+40 one week, and 2x6' of 30/30's at TP + 30-50%. Gradually the intervals get to 4 x3', 4x4', 5x4', then 4x5', then some threshold intervals right before the 4x5'. Along with this the 30/30's are increasing in reps and sets until they are around 3x7-8'. Some weeks both approaches are used, some weeks it's one or the other, depending on other training and racing efforts. For me, this progression takes about 8 weeks. Is there a reason to do it faster?
In the early weeks when these efforts aren't especially hard there can be other efforts done that session that create significant stress in other areas, but by the time I'm doing a session that includes significantly hard training of 15-20' way above threshold I would only include other hard efforts in that session with caution-concern about overdoing things to the point where the added training stress isn't really helping and extended recovery is needed.
