6 training sessions EVERY cyclist can use to improve their vo2 max, with WorldTour cycling coach, John Wakefield. From where to begin if you've never trained your vo2, through to a session designed for extremely well-trained athletes, each of these sessions is guaranteed to help lift and transform your vo2 max to new levels.
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Additional training videos:
- IMPROVE your FTP: • How To Improve Your FT...
- Strengthen your BASE FITNESS: • 4 Training Sessions to...
- A 7 Day Training Plan: • How To BOOST Your Cycl...
- A 28 Day Training Plan: • A 28 Day TRAINING PLAN...
- SKYROCKET your CYCLING FITNESS: • 4 KEY Training Session...
A big thank you to John for his knowledge and openness in sharing this training information. If you're interested in being coached by Science To Sport (from anywhere in the world), head to www.sciencetosport.com or email info@sciencetosport.com
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Please note: the training sessions discussed in this video are designed to improve your cycling ability when followed correctly. They should not be attempted without sufficient warm up. Please always ride safely, on roads with minimal traffic and pedestrians, and never go beyond your limit. The best fitness gains will come from following each session properly, maximising your rest periods, eating properly before, during, and after your rides, and consulting your coach or dietician if you have questions. This video is a guide only and does not constitute an a training plan written specifically for you.
00:00 Intro
02:39 What is vo2 max training?
03:09 When to do vo2 max training
04:11 Session One
06:42 Session Three
08:50 Session Five
10:24 Session Six
11:15 How many sessions per week?
This interview was filmed at the Science 2 Sport lab in Girona, Catalunya, Spain; a cycling mecca that has been home to many professional cyclists including Ben O'Connor, Jack Haig, Esteban Chaves, Ryan Mullen, George Bennett, James Knox, Dorian Godon, Jay Vine, and at one point George Hincappie, Lance Armstrong and Tyler Hamilton. Girona is used for training for races such as the Tour de France, Volta Catalunya, Vuelta Espana, Paris-Nice, Giro d'Italia and more. Teams such as Bora-Hansgrohe, INEOS-Grenadiers, Israel-Premier Tech Pro Cycling, Human Powered Health, Soudal-Quick-Step, UAE Team Emirates and others use Girona for team training camps and rider testing.
Thanks for watching! For anyone looking for additional training information, I've included links to other videos with John in the description, covering base training, improving your FTP, plus a 7 and 28 day training plan every cyclist can follow.
Thanks you legend. Keep it up man. Might be time to jump on the podcast bandwagon
Great video, will definitely be using some of these this summer!
Great workouts and info , cheers
Thanks for these videos Tristan, invaluable. Anyone can put together a solid training plan with this content, truly appreciate it!
Been loving this series Tristan!
This is incredible content! I may shorten them slightly but as a relative beginner who enjoys pushing it, this gives me some structure 🙏🙏
thanks for sharing this training tips...
Appreciate the videos Tristan.
Love these video’s! You know what would be really helpful is a spreadsheet with an overview of the sessions. Im now manually typing the data in excel and I might not be the only one😉
Glad you’re liking the videos 🙏🏼 I usually recommend people grab a screenshot of each of the different sessions, pop them in a folder on your phone and then you’ve got them on hand when you need them.
I love 30/30's and 40/20's. I ride with plenty of folks who only focus on sweet spot/ threshold efforts and have high FTP's but when they need to go hard up that 2 minute kicker they get dropped.
Excellent, no questioning of the training plan required when John Wakefield is the coach! Keep them coming!👍👍
Thanks!
Muy bueno. Ejemplo de intervalo metabólico!! Saludos desde España.
Descubri este canal hace poco y me esta resultado muy util para mis entrenos!. Muchas gracias tristan!
Gracias!
i love Science 2 Sport, I see the team here in Cape Town! Top level professionals!
really good video, my fav from the training series with John Wakefield so far
Thanks so much, glad you liked it 🤝🏼
Best coach. 👊🏻
Great content ! I wonder what is John's thought about shorter vs longer vo2max intervals !
Great stuff Tristan. Really like how you overlay the session charts, helps me visualise what I can’t process quickly enough when described verbally! One thing I’d really value is if you could make a “how to set your Wahoo up for planned sessions outdoors”. Wahoo’s documentation is terrible so some real user guidance would be awesome.
Amazing
Amazing video as always. Love your guys energy very pleasant to watch. John seems like a very nice human being to have as your coach 😂.
Haha he’s a legend, until it comes time for 13x30/15’s 🥲
@@tristantakevideo 😂😂🥵
very interesting approach. to increase the intensity as we head towards the race. I do it the other way around. lots of 80/20 in the winter and then a big SST/FTPblock with KA3 (low Rpm)8 weeks before the race to reduce Vlamx
What are KA3 and Vlamx?
@@MarkBurghouwtVLA Max I know, but am not familiar with KA3
Love the Video! Definitely will incorporate these VO2 workouts on my training. I'm 2nd year cyclist who fell in love with the sport and looking to join some local races this year... These kind of video will really helps us out a LOT especially when it comes to our training regimen... Thanks Tris and Coach Jon! You guys are the best 💪
Very cool videos 🕺.. having access to a legend like this in the sport is 🎉🎉 Are you using salt - lemon juice or maple syrup in your sports drink ?
From playing bass in Green Day to cycling coach, amazing…
Wow, I really appreciate all these great workouts that you provide for free. They are so useful; however, just thinking about them makes my heart skip a beat. 😅
I reckon you’d smash them! 😏
Great video! Quick question though: What are the metabolic intervals recommended on day three of the example training week?
If you watch some of his previous videos you will understand what he means by metabolic training
Good question. I've included a bunch of links in the description to other videos we've made covering different kinds of training - the 7 and 28 day training plan videos in particular discuss metabolic intervals and give a more thorough run-through with visual explanations.
@@tristantakevideo cool, thanks a lot!
@@johankarlsson1344 No problem, good luck with it!
By the way, what is warm up ride....? Newbie here 😃,and should we do it before do some interval day?
Thanks heaps for taking the time to do these videos John - just getting a bit confused by what exactly you mean by metabolic training? (Fat max, sub LT1 or more lactate shuttling/clearance etc, etc?) It seems to mean different things to different people - and obviously don't get Andy Coggin onto the subject!
If you watch some of his previous videos you will understand what he means by metabolic training
Can you make a podcast with training sessions about climbing faster? Thanks!
I know, I'm asking too much but do you have a Pdf with the information just to have it more handy. Great video though
For the 3 x 13 x 30s / 15s @ max. I'm ready to vomit after literally 2 reps if I do these at 100% effort. Well, looking forward to trying the other 5 sessions lol.
Lower your power, you’re bound to drop out of sprint power eventually so I don’t know why they just do vlamax power/z6
Yeah that's what I'll do, good call mate. But when he says maximal sprint, does that mean my full 1800W for 30sec? Because if it does, I need 5-10min recovery to even think to go again otherwise it's definitely vomit time.
Lower it to what you can sustain for 30s (say ~1000w if your one-time 30s power is 1800w), and hit the 13 of them. It’s still a neuromuscular effort each time and your heart rate will still be sky high with lactate coming out your ears by the time you’ve done a bunch.
@@tristantakevideo ye sorry my all out peak power is a shade over 1800, my best 30s power is a shade under 1300. being a track sprinter (the running kind...) in a previous life has left me with a weird power curve. ftp of a newborn baby, but reasonable anaerobic ability, but always need a stupid long rest between big efforts. will give 800-1000w a go and see how it goes. i actually have a feeling i may never be able to do this session at a decent power. i think i'd misinterpreted the idea of maximal here.
@@DDai-qd8uk For these efforts, don't worry about hitting a specific number and rather try make it through all 13. As John says, aiming for a power number isn't all that realistic because often you'll fade during the effort. It takes some time to work out what 'sustainable' is for these efforts, but instead of power, aim for a RPE that is high, but sustainable over multiple repeats. If you fail, it's okay, you can have a few days off (or a week) and go again when you're ready...thats the beauty of training.
Question 🙋♂️ For the 30/30s or 40/20s etc. is it better to: A) Target the effort that one can sustain over the duration of all repeats, e.g. hit 500W for every one of 10x 30s repeats or B) Go as hard as one can for every single burst risking that the first effort will be done at e.g. 700W but the last one at only 400W?
Good question. I always suggest aiming for the same number for all of them, so 500w if that’s what you think is sustainable, and if you’re still feeling good by the last few, you can lift it for those. You’re better off completing the session as planned rather than completely blowing your doors and limping home having only finished 70% of the intervals. Hope that helps 🙏🏼
Translates pretty well to running 👍🏻. I‘d be curious what the amount of recommended vo2max session would be outside the 1-2months leading up to a race.
I’ll ask John next time I see him. Going off what I’ve been prescribed over the past 12 months, not many sessions (if any) have been focussed on vo2 max when I’m not in the race season. We’ve focussed a lot more on metabolic and threshold work.
What is the difference between longer efforts of 5-7 mins at low Z5 and higher Z5/Z6 efforts for only 1 and 2 mins?
Their different body systems, vo2 is around 8-12 min effort and 3 min effort is getting to high intensity to get the load in
Please make a video on how to increase our ITT 40km performance With ITT specific workouts
Do some FTP 20 min under overs 👍
What are “metabolic intervals?”
How do u set up your Garmin head unit to any of these sessions ?
My lap page is set up with speed, 3 second power, lap average power and lap time. Keeping it nice and simple so you can see just the data you need when you look down quickly. I then have a second page set up with last lap time, last lap average power and last lap normalized power.
@tristantakevideo Can you make a video for diferent garmin page setups?
I will try to integrate it into a future video for you. 👌🏼
Inspired by your comment, I made a reel on my Instagram with a short version of how I have my Garmin pages set up.
Some really horrible ones amongst that. Could you maybe do a video on warm up? When I just do a normal ramp before a VO2max session, my legs just hurt and there is no power, if I do a few 5s sprints before, somehow my legs remember that you can also produce lactate instead of just hurting and the power is there.
going hard on the bike - giggidy
😏
Anybody know if Zwift has any workout blocks that replicate these sorts of efforts? Instead of having to custom one myself
Any advice for flat earthers? Aka areas with no hills anywhere..
John Wakefield is THE BEST
was there a mention of breathing techniques? ie breathe in through the nose.....out through the mouth,as this is considered one of the best ways to increase lung capacity.
If you can breathe through your nose you are far away from VO2max…
Sounds like you already have it figured out!
Intelligent reply.
3x 13x 30/15 is actually not ment to be all out sprints but the upper end of your vo2max watts otherwise you just blow up after two reps... doesnt make sense. 40/40 I would replace with 40/20 since recovery time is to high to stay in the vo2max zone. can recommend Steven Seiler for that stuff. I often use to do decreased intervals, so first min of a 5min interval going harder to faster reach the vo2max zone and then settle to a certain output for the rest. its a bit similar to the "winner" intervals but without 10sec sprint and no all out at the start.
Good tip is to fuel these sessions well as you will be burning through the carbs
Absolutely, proper fuelling is a must for these. Especially as one progresses and extends the number of repeats.
@@tristantakevideo Harry Sweeneys videos put me onto the eat my ride app
wow wow wow beautiful
30x15s at 200% of FTP???? I'm not sure that's physically possible if your FTP is calculated correctly.
13x30/15 x 7 per week everytime
I've only seen one athlete ever be able to manage that. A guy who rides for Standert. Lives in Berlin. You'd get along with him well.
@@tristantakevideo totally cracked in November
Metabolic training video here: kzhead.info/sun/dZSShquChaOCiZs/bejne.html
The 6 session is do for only 1 day? correct me if I'm wrong
Yeah, only if you want a super, super hard workout. Don't repeat this too often as it's extremely difficult.
Real ones watched the first upload
What is a “Metabolic Ride”?
If you watch some of his previous videos you will understand what he means by metabolic training
I've included some links in the description to other training videos we've made, with a proper discussion of metabolic riding or intervals. The 7-day and 28-day videos in particular cover this.
How are these zones defined?
Z1: 121%
@@tristantakevideo do you have them in terms of %hrmax or %hr lt2 ? Thanks!
@@dastolh Based off heart rate threshold: Z1: 106%
@@tristantakevideo thank you! :D
Great video Tristan and Jon. Awesome sessions and thanks for commenting. Still have not summoned the will power to hit the Elite session, but it’s coming in a few weeks😂 All the others I’ve tried in some form the past year. Regards,
Most cycling youtubers seem to prescribe around 16-20 minutes of total time in zone per VO2 session, but all the really fast cyclists I know are doing at LEAST 20-25 minutes per session with multiple sessions per week. Why are y'all keeping the secret to elite fitness to yourselves? 😉
We aren’t professionals
@@brankoladon2189 Fair enough
I'm trying to get into a development team rn, im 15 yo and ATM I do 2 HIT sessions with about 30-40 min in vo2
I am masters racer and keep improving on one 12-16min vo2 sesh in 8-10 days
Because we aren't all elite athletes with the time or need to train like a professional
Is this all in a row? Or broken up over days?
Two of these sessions per week with plenty of rest in between. We discuss this at 11:15 in the video.