2nd VO2 test

what's your point

hei bikeguy.
i'll tell you the key to a good VO2max test...Hengittäkää syvään!

am i reading this right?...your relative VO2max went from 60.2 (4412 abs) to to 73.7 (5343 abs)

and max steady state power ie before the blood lactate really ramps up went from around 275 watts to 325 watts?

in a little over 14 months.

may i ask how much training you had done before the first test, and what you did between the tests? i know its very depenednt on the individual, but i'm interested in the extent that VO2max can be improved from a given starting point.

i had my first VO2max test in september, measuring 5002 abs, i would like to think i could hit 5.5l next year.

Hi Robkit,

yeah, you read it right, when I type the tables in they are much neater then what they come out looking here when I post. My VO2 was definitely higher
last year then the test says, gas escaped from around the mouthpiece, but it was very tight for this years test.

Where have you picked up finnish? Your spelling is pretty good, mine isn't yet.

Actually, I couldn't maintain 275 watts last year for 30 minutes, now it's probably close to 325 for an hour. I don't know how accurate the wattage measuring equipment was (everybody was saying it's off, 4 people tested in one go) but the VO2 and lactate numbers were done by a professional and should be accurate. A week prior to the test, I experienced a feeling of being incredibly fit (cycling wise) a feeling I haven't had before.

Training wise I probably did maybe 6000 km last year and about 8000 km this year. Before my 1st VO2 max test, I was doing maybe 3-4 rides a week of 30 km and one longer ride of 40-60 km. Riding more than 70km would make me very tired. I didn't do any intervals (didn't know how cycling training goes).Not anymore.

A month after my 1st VO2 max test, I suffered a bout of pericarditis and my training was minimal for 30 days after.

This last winter and onward I have done maybe two consecutive (i.e 400-425 w no break) intervals of 90-100% VO2 max power comprising of about 4 minutes time in one workout, coming after a ramp to 350 watts about 2x per week. Last couple months I've done intervals at 125% of VO2 max, about 2x a week 4 efforts of 2-3 minutes with 4 minute relaxed cycling inbetween. The indoor trainers I use measure watts, but the power isn't accurate. I can tell you the last interval of 2 minutes is very hard to do, and
I never feel like a 5th.

During the spring / summer my training mostly consisted of outdoors riding for
hard 1 hr efforts, about 3x a week and 1 longer ride of 2-3 hours at a more relaxed but not easy pace. Sometimes I did 4-5 1 hr rides at a fast pace in a week, but always ended up feeling fatigued. Recently I've been able to
do 4 hr long rides without feeling particularly fatigued, even in much worse weather.

Hope that helps. Basically, very intense intervals or short efforts at 90-125%
of VO2 max have improved my performance all round. I've experienced greater
gains this year then last year.

Ok, I'm going to bed now (almost 2 am).

-Bikeguy

bikeguy said:

A week prior to the test, I experienced a feeling of being incredibly fit (cycling wise) a feeling I haven't had before.

When you feel like that the day of a race, you'll be a man to beat. Congrats and keep spending time in the "pain box" 😎

Big numbers bikeguy. Huge. Great improvements. Legendary.

I've just started doing 4 minute intervals (up hills). The improvements from this type of interval work are dramatic !

But ... my numbers are a lot lower than yours !

Regards from downunder, MJH

Hey, thanks guys. If I could say one thing it would be that do your intervals (and they have to be hard!), they work!

-Bikeguy