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personal vo2 max analysis

nom_de_plume · 2006-12-01T22:50:00+00:00

Hey everyone -- I'm new here but was hoping some of you could offer some feedback on the following. I drove up to Sac State to have my threshold testing done yesterday and came away with the results. Of course a large part of why I took it was because I'm curious, but I'm also hoping to return every few months to monitor my progress and as such train smarter. This being the first test, I don't have much to compare it to. Compounding this is the fact that I feel like I'm out of shape because I led a sedetary lifestyle for 3 months while I recovered from ITB Syndrome and have only 2 months of weights in the legs now (with one day on the rollers at low HR) and maybe 4 to 5 hundred miles in the legs in the past 6 months. In fact the day before the test I did my first hard ride outside and came in 10% slower than (or 2 minutes off) my best on a benchmark climb of the region. ------- Test performed on a bike ------- Max Variables: 5.05 L/min (vo2max) or 66.77 mL/kg/min Power 420 watts or 5.55 watts/kg max HR 198 bpm (for the test) Thresholds: LT: 73.9% vo2max; 175bpm at 280 watts AT: 91.1% vo2max; 189bpm at 367 watts And my terrible economy: Watts/L 65.6 -------- Dr. Parker was happy with the results considering that the 2006 season was my first year both riding and racing. I didn't do much before the road bike, some mtn biking with friends, running as a freshman in HS (back in 96) and serious but recreational hockey about 8 years ago (also in HS). I never could run for more than 4 months on before stopping to start again a year or two later. I'm curious whether as I spend the next few months regaining my lost conditioning, and gearing up for the next race season, can I expect to see rapid increases in my vo2max and watts? I'm also hoping my terrible economy is partly due to lack of riding since July. And regardless of the answer there, can I expect to see these numbers improve much over the next few years. Everyone talks about vo2max being trainable only to another 10%. Have I already reached that 10% limit in my first year of training (which went terribly btw -- spent 2 months over trained and hardly able to pedal only to start a comeback and injure my IT Band). Or can I expect that I might have reached that 10% already, but with lack of riding it's fallen again and is therefore lower than it was last year. Sorry for all the questions and being so verbose. I guess the real answers won't be known until I return for the next battery of tests, but am hoping to learn something about the nature of these things in the meantime... thanks! mark

Started by nom_de_plume · 1 December 2006 · Last activity 3 December 2006 · 6 posts · 1,282 views

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Original section: Cycling Training
Published: 1 December 2006
Last activity: 3 December 2006
Original author: nom_de_plume
Posts: 6
Discussion status: Public discussion
Total views: 1,282
Views / 30 days: 0
Topics: VO2 max Indoor trainers

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Original post
nom_de_plume
Archived post

1 December 2006, 22:50 UTC #1

Hey everyone -- I'm new here but was hoping some of you could offer some feedback on the following.
I drove up to Sac State to have my threshold testing done yesterday and came away with the results. Of course a large part of why I took it was because I'm curious, but I'm also hoping to return every few months to monitor my progress and as such train smarter. This being the first test, I don't have much to compare it to.
Compounding this is the fact that I feel like I'm out of shape because I led a sedetary lifestyle for 3 months while I recovered from ITB Syndrome and have only 2 months of weights in the legs now (with one day on the rollers at low HR) and maybe 4 to 5 hundred miles in the legs in the past 6 months. In fact the day before the test I did my first hard ride outside and came in 10% slower than (or 2 minutes off) my best on a benchmark climb of the region.
-------
Test performed on a bike
-------
Max Variables:
5.05 L/min (vo2max) or 66.77 mL/kg/min
Power 420 watts or 5.55 watts/kg
max HR 198 bpm (for the test)
Thresholds:
LT: 73.9% vo2max; 175bpm at 280 watts
AT: 91.1% vo2max; 189bpm at 367 watts
And my terrible economy:
Watts/L 65.6
--------
Dr. Parker was happy with the results considering that the 2006 season was my first year both riding and racing. I didn't do much before the road bike, some mtn biking with friends, running as a freshman in HS (back in 96) and serious but recreational hockey about 8 years ago (also in HS). I never could run for more than 4 months on before stopping to start again a year or two later.
I'm curious whether as I spend the next few months regaining my lost conditioning, and gearing up for the next race season, can I expect to see rapid increases in my vo2max and watts? I'm also hoping my terrible economy is partly due to lack of riding since July.
And regardless of the answer there, can I expect to see these numbers improve much over the next few years. Everyone talks about vo2max being trainable only to another 10%. Have I already reached that 10% limit in my first year of training (which went terribly btw -- spent 2 months over trained and hardly able to pedal only to start a comeback and injure my IT Band). Or can I expect that I might have reached that 10% already, but with lack of riding it's fallen again and is therefore lower than it was last year.
Sorry for all the questions and being so verbose. I guess the real answers won't be known until I return for the next battery of tests, but am hoping to learn something about the nature of these things in the meantime...
thanks!
mark

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USCswimming
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2 December 2006, 01:03 UTC #2

Nice to see somebody else get tested by Daryl. He really knows his stuff and offers a huge knowledge base when it comes to all of this testing. I just got tested 2 weeks ago with daryl. Are you going to have Daryl coach you as well? He is relatively cheap compared to most others. I just started his program this week.
I am by NO means an expert on this stuff but looks like a few areas you could improve upon would be economy as this is one of daryls biggest things. Power and your L/min seems a little low but by your numbers you must be significantly smaller than myself. When you average out your numbers over your KG things look pretty good considering. Your thresholds look really good.
I wish I could offer you more insight but there are some really knowledgeable guys on here in addition to daryl to really help you out.
Kent

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nom_de_plume
Archived post

2 December 2006, 01:59 UTC #3

Hey Kent,
Yeah, Dr. Parker was well worth the ridiculously long drive through traffic. I think next time I go up I'll try to schedule it so I'm not doing it the day after a hard ride, and on the tail end of a work day that had me up by 5 and sitting through 3.5 hours of traffic to make my appointment at 6pm.
I'm actually working with a coach in San Mateo. But I'll be going over the numbers with him and hopefully be on my way to improving many of the areas you and Dr. Parker highlighted.
He had told me the L/min was a very good number for me (I understand bigger people tend to have a higher absolute vo2max). I can't help but feel I need to improve it though. Hopefully someone who has studied the effects of not training for several months can help me understand whether is likely to have deteriorated in such a span. And also whether my regimen of weights and light roller work outs (below 60% vo2max) would have had any positive effect on it since returning to training in Oct.
Anyway, if you're ever in the Bay Area and want to go for a ride, let me know. I don't think I'll be making it up to your region too often ; )
-m

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USCswimming
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2 December 2006, 04:11 UTC #4

Well your VO2 max wasn't bad at all especially considering your recent training.
I was a world class swimmer from the late 80's through 1997. BUT since 1997 I havent done a damn thing until May of 2006 when I started riding. I trained myself over the last 7 months and my results were decent considering my background. My L/min dipped below 6 and my weight is significantly higher than when I retired from swimming. So dropping to 5.7 L/min and adding 30 lbs since I retired my overall VO2 max number dropped vastly. Overall it is extremely different when you factor my age 31, my inactiveness over the last 9 years and my additional weight.
Overall your numbers were pretty good I thought. I don't exactly know what your background brings ie age, weight, athletic experience/training. When you averaged you numbers over your weight, the numbers were pretty good but then again I don't know where your heading or trying to get to. I am sure Daryl probably let you know exactly where you stand as he has a lot of experience in the game. Good luck to you and your future endeavors.
I am in the city from time to time. My mother in law lives at sansome and lombard and I ride down that way atleast 1-2 times a year. If you are ever up this way, there is some AMAZING riding out here. If you are looking for flats, flats & hill or just flat out hills, you can find it all here.
Kent

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bikeguy
Archived post

3 December 2006, 01:44 UTC #5

nom_de_plume said:

-------
Max Variables:
5.05 L/min (vo2max) or 66.77 mL/kg/min
Power 420 watts or 5.55 watts/kg
max HR 198 bpm (for the test)
Thresholds:
AT: 91.1% vo2max; 189bpm at 367 watts
And my terrible economy:
Watts/L 65.6
--------
thanks!
mark
Hi, I have some familiarity with VO2 max protocols. There seems to be some mistake with your economy - at 4.5 liters(90%) and 367 watts, your economy is 80 watts/liter at that power output. That's considered very good. At LT (73.9% VO2) your economy is 75 watts/liter. The bad news: your AT is 90% of your VO2 max, which means it can't go much higher.
VO2 is max is protocol dependent, so I'm wondering what the ramp length and amount was, i.e, watts increase per block of time?!
Considering you haven't done much training during your layoff, I'm very surprised your AT is so close to your VO2 max, that just doesn't make sense.
-bikeguy

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nom_de_plume
Archived post

3 December 2006, 15:56 UTC #6

bikeguy,
Ill have to look into that when I get back home -- I've been out of town since Fri night and have limited internet access.
As to economy, 66 seems very low, but 80 seems very high. I wonder if the fact that I didn't warm up before the submax portion of the test, which I believe is the part where the pedaling economy is measured, could have affected that. In terms of effort I don't believe the warm up would have helped, but it always takes me 10 or 15 minutes to get to the point that my legs are feeling like they know what to do.
Also, for kent: I'm 25yo, 166lbs (162 is my norm). I have been coached with running in the past (HS), but again, never stuck with the sport for more than 4 to 5 months at a time (only ran on the team in 96) before laying off for a year or more. That's essentially the reason I've started biking to: remove any questions of what I could do (actually ran for about 3 months before getting the bike but came down with tendonitis that only hurt running/walking, not biking) before I miss the chance to peak at a decent age.
Ill write more when I get back from sonoma.
Thanks for the input guys.

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