VO2 Max
144 min
High intensity
Start each 30/15 block already at high oxygen uptake, with five minutes at CP immediately before it, so more of the sixteen micro-intervals land above 90% of VO2 max. Three blocks across a long ride also train durability.
Killian O'Brien
Athlete
VO2 Max
144 min
High
9 / 10
Advanced
Outdoors
The session
The workout
Written as a share of critical power, so it fits every rider. In Vekta it becomes your watts, with the W′ cost shown before you ride.
Killian O'Brien
Why this workout
The breakdown
Inside the workout
A strong VO2 max stimulus with a twist: five minutes at CP immediately before each 30/15 block, so oxygen uptake is already elevated when the micro-intervals start and more of them land above roughly 90% of VO2 max, a major driver of adaptation. Spreading three blocks across a long ride adds durability to the aim.
Each block is sixteen 30/15s at 120–130% of CP, preceded by the five-minute pre-load and a minute of easy riding. Ten minutes of endurance separate the three blocks. The pre-load is the whole idea: without it the first several micro-intervals are spent getting up to speed.
In Vekta the pre-load and the micro-intervals sit in one structure written against CP; the analysis afterwards shows time above 90% per block, and whether block three matched block one, which is the durability reading.
A VO2 block session for riders with the base to carry three blocks, once a week, outdoors. Cut to two blocks if the third falls apart.
VO2 Max
Stimulus
Advanced
Workout level
Outdoors
Best ridden
Road,
DISCIPLINE
The stimulus
VO2 Max, explained
Short, hard repeats that push oxygen uptake to its ceiling and raise it.
What it is
Efforts of roughly one to five minutes above critical power, usually between 105 and 130% of CP, with recoveries short enough that the next effort starts before the body has settled. Formats vary from classic 4×4 and 4×3 to 30/15s and 40/20s, where the "rest" is a tempo effort that keeps oxygen uptake high.
Why it matters
VO2 max is the size of the aerobic engine. Everything below it, threshold, tempo, endurance, is a fraction of it, so a higher ceiling lifts every other zone. It is also the quality that decays fastest without stimulus, which is why the sessions are short, frequent in blocks, and brutally specific.
These are the sessions that change what you can hold for three minutes on a climb or after an attack. Expect to see them in blocks of two a week for three to four weeks, then a rest. They cost more W′ than anything else in the library and should be ridden fresh.
The variable that matters is time above 90% of VO2 max, not the number of reps. Short-interval formats accumulate it with less perceived strain; long formats train the ability to hold it. Watch W′ balance in the preview: a session that drains it in the first set has the wrong recovery.
Add the session to your Vekta calendar and the targets convert from % of CP into your watts. The preview shows where W′ will run low before you ride; the analysis afterwards classifies every interval and tells you how much of the session was actually spent above 90%.
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