VO2 Max
146 min
High intensity
Spike oxygen uptake in the first minute of each four-minute effort, then hold on: two sets of three hard-start intervals at 125-140% then 115-125% of CP, primed by a set of 30/30s.
Team AMANI
Team
VO2 Max
146 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.
Team AMANI
Why this workout
The breakdown
Inside the workout
A hard start is a trick for spending more of a four-minute effort at VO2 max. Oxygen uptake takes time to rise; by riding the first minute at a power you could not hold for four, Team AMANI drive it up early and then settle to a power that keeps it there. The result is more time near the ceiling for the same four minutes.
The set of eight 30/30s before the main work is a primer, not a workout in itself: it wakes the system up so the first hard start lands properly. The two sets of three are separated by thirty minutes of zone 2, which is long enough to reset and long enough to make the second set count as durability work as well.
The instruction to let the power fade inside the effort is deliberate. The target is a zone, 115–125% of CP after the opening minute, not a number to defend. In Vekta the intervals are set as a share of CP and the preview shows where W′ will run low; the interval analysis afterwards tells you whether each effort's first minute really was the hardest.
Place it early in a VO2 block, twice a week at most, with the rest of the week easy. The session is very hard; that is the design.
VO2 Max
Stimulus
Advanced
Workout level
Outdoors
Best ridden
Road,
Gravel,
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%.
Common questions
How often should I do VO2 max intervals?
Should I use heart rate or power for VO2 max intervals?
Are 30/15s better than 4×4s?
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