VO2max for Cyclists

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These simple workouts will help cyclists boost their VO2max.

Competitive endurance cyclists are always searching for ways to boost their aerobic capacities (VO2max) but are seldom quite sure which workouts will produce the greatest effect. Now, new research carried out at Odense University in Denmark demonstrates that some very simple, moderately intense training sessions will do the job. In the Danish study, eight cyclists rode their exercise bikes at an intensity of 80-90% VO2max (88-95% of maximal heart rate, 260-300 Watts) for 30 minutes per workout, three times a week. Eight other athletes performed intervals workouts, which consisted of 10 seconds of all-out exertion at a stratospheric intensity of 880-1025 Watts, alternated with 50 seconds of rest. In the latter case, there were 20 work intervals per training session, and three workouts per week.

After just five weeks, the athletes who had ridden steadily at 80-90% VO2max for 30 minutes per workout achieved an extremely useful 6% increase in VO2max, from 53 to 56 ml/kg/min, while the intervals group failed to boost VO2max. This was true even though the interval group had consumed about twice as much total energy per workout.

The interval group did gain one advantage over the continuous exercisers, however; they were better at doing interval workouts! During a test completed at the end of the five-week study, the interval exercisers were able to carry out 26 intervals at a high power output, while the continuous people could only manage 12. Of course, the interval athletes possessed higher anaerobic capacities as well. The Danish study is especially interesting because it reinforces the notion that a fairly modest training session – 30 minutes at 80-90% VO2max – can be a potent source of improved aerobic capacity in a fairly short period of time. It also reminds endurance athletes that super-high intensities and fast-tilt interval sessions aren’t always necessary to boost VO2max; in fact, if the intensity is very high and the interval is fairly short, such efforts may not raise aerobic capacity at all. In addition to the ‘30 minutes at 80-90% VO2max session’, another workout is a proven VO2max booster: exercising for five-minute intervals at the maximum intensity, which you could sustain in a race for 15-20 minutes. As your VO2max goes up, your basic endurance will also increase, and your race times will improve significantly.

(‘Training Specificity in Relation to Intermittent Exercise Performance’, Biochemistry of Exercise Ninth International Conference Abstracts No. 19, p. 18, 1994)
VO2max, Cyclists