By Gerard Donnelly, head coach at TriVelo Coaching and 1988 Australian Ironman Champion, and coach Jordan Donnelly. From the Get Fast Podcast.
VO2 max is your maximum oxygen uptake: the volume of oxygen you can consume per minute for each kilogram of body weight. To improve it, most athletes need one or two VO2 max sessions a week inside a balanced program. A VO2 max workout is a set of short, hard efforts of 30 seconds to about five minutes, well above your threshold, usually with a recovery about as long as the effort. Six by three minutes with three minutes of recovery is our staple, and it is not the only session we use. You can do this work in swim training, on the bike or on the run. For triathletes we put most of it on the bike and in the pool. Keep your easy days easy so you can do these sessions properly, and do them in blocks at the right time of the year.
We don't hand out one fixed VO2 max plan, and we don't believe in one magic workout. As Jordan puts it, "there is no golden VO2 sessions that are far superior." Which session you do depends on your event, your experience and what you are weak at. What follows is how we choose and build VO2 max training for the athletes we coach.
On this page
VO2 max is the volume of oxygen you can consume per minute for each kilogram of your body weight. The more oxygen you can get into your blood and sustain, the better you can perform.
We explain it with a car. Your VO2 max is the size of your engine. Your threshold is how much of that engine you can use. We train both. As an example, an athlete with a VO2 max of 70 who can work at 95 percent of it is a better athlete than one with 90 who can only use 60 percent.
VO2 max intensity in training does not mean flat out. It is a specific range well above your threshold that you can hold for anywhere from 30 seconds to about five minutes.
Four things decide your VO2 max: genetics, altitude, training and doping. You cannot change your genetics. Altitude helps if you have access to it. Doping is cheating. Training is the factor you control, and most athletes are well below their ceiling.
Dr Stephen Seiler, a guest on Ep 156, added that VO2 max also goes up with more training volume in athletes who still have room to develop. People, he said, "think that only high intensity work improves VO2 max. That's totally wrong."
For most athletes, VO2 work starts at about 105 to 110 percent of threshold power (FTP). The shorter the effort, the higher you can go. The numbers below are the ones we have given on the podcast. Your own targets depend on your level. If you push so hard that you cannot repeat the effort after a short recovery, you have gone too far.
| Effort length | Example targets | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| 30 to 60 seconds (30/15s, 40/20s, 60/30s) | 110 to 120% of FTP, sometimes up to 130% | Half the effort time (2:1) |
| 1 minute, low cadence, on a hill | 110 to 120% or more. One strong rider we coach rode 120 to 140% | Not given on the podcast |
| 2 to 3 minutes | 105 to 110% to begin. Experienced athletes build toward 120 to 125% for 3 minutes | Equal to the effort (1:1) |
If you can only hold 110 percent, think about a shorter effort so you can hold more power. In every version you should be breathing very hard.
Every target on this page is a percentage of your FTP, so you need a tested number first. If you try these sessions without power and without baseline testing, you are most likely doing them wrong.
For most of the triathletes we coach, most VO2 max work is on the bike, because it carries the least injury risk. These are examples of sessions we use. The version, the number of reps and the target depend on the athlete.
| Workout | Reps and effort | Recovery | Who it suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/15s | 30 seconds at 110 to 120% of FTP, about 10 in a row, a short break, then a second set | 15 seconds | A generic example. You might do more or fewer. Closer to a race we often push these to 120% or more |
| 40/20s and 60/30s | 40 or 60 seconds on, at 120% or more | 20 or 30 seconds | Same family as the 30/15s, and equally hard |
| One minute hill repeats | For example 9 x 1 minute at low cadence, if you have a hill | Not given on the podcast | The strength version of VO2, which we often use a long way out from a race |
| 6 x 3 minutes | Six efforts of 3 minutes | 3 minutes | Our staple, not the only one. For experienced athletes we sometimes cut the recovery to 2 minutes or 90 seconds |
| 4 or 5 x 3 minutes | 105 to 110% of FTP | 3 minutes | Where we often start beginners |
| 5 x 2 or 5 x 2.5 minutes | VO2 max intensity | Equal to the effort | Where many athletes start before they build to 6 x 3 |
| 5 x 5 minutes | 105 to 110% of FTP | Not given on the podcast | Experienced athletes only |
For example, if your FTP is 200 W, the 30/15 session is 30 seconds at 220 to 240 W and 15 seconds of rest, about 10 times, then a break and a second set.
These points apply to most athletes in these sessions.
Joe came to TriVelo in 2017 as a cyclist who trained a lot, trained hard and had stopped improving. Most of his riding was medium hard. We gave him threshold work and specific VO2 sessions: 30/15s, 40/20s and one minute hill repeats at low cadence. His hill repeats started at 390 to 400 W. After nine weeks he did all nine efforts at 430 W and reached the top of the same hill 10 seconds faster. Joe is now the World Masters age group time trial champion.
The same six by three minutes with three minutes of recovery works for running. It is harder than it looks on paper. As an example, for a runner whose pace is 3:00 per km, three minute efforts mean trying to run 2:30 to 2:40 per km.
For most triathletes, we push VO2 work away from running. A hard VO2 run is the hardest session you can put on your body, and running has the highest injury risk of the three sports. You already get VO2 work on the bike and in the pool.
Harris is a TriVelo athlete who ran a 10 km best of 39:09 in February. For about eight weeks after that he ran only 10 to 12 km a week. We kept his VO2 and threshold sessions going on the bike. A week before his 70.3 he set another 10 km best. In the race he ran the half marathon in 1:30. The year before it was 1:35. That is one athlete, but we see the pattern often: athletes who train hard on the bike and in the pool, and keep some easy running, still run well.
Triathletes need VO2 work in the swim too. The pool is probably the best place to stretch your heart and lungs, and hard swimming affects the rest of your week less than hard running. The big limit is your swim technique. What you need in the water depends on you: more fitness, more speed, or better swim efficiency. Beginners need confidence in the water before any of this.
These are two sets we use as examples.
The common set of ten by 100 m with 10 or 15 seconds of rest is a decent swim session, but it is a threshold set. The rest is too short for VO2 work.
For most athletes, one or two VO2 sessions a week.
Chris came to TriVelo as a confident all round triathlete and a very good threshold rider. He could hold the same power all day, but he was not improving. He needed top end, so for 18 to 20 months most of his weeks had two VO2 sessions, with efforts from 30 seconds to three minutes. That is more VO2 work than a lot of our athletes get, and it was right for him. His 20 minute test number went from 287 W to 318 W, and his best 60 minute power went from 274 W to 301 W.
Gerard is clear on this: "you shouldn't be doing it all the time."
You don't race a 70.3 or an Ironman at VO2 intensity. We do these sessions to lift your FTP, so that race power feels more comfortable. In Gerard's words, "this is a session for triathletes, make no mistake about it."
You need both, on different days.
In Ep 179 we compared two of our athletes. Their hard sessions were similar and mostly VO2 based, and one did far more zone 2 around them. Both stayed consistent for three to four months and both improved. The lesson we took from that one comparison is consistency.
In our zones, VO2 work sits in zone 5 and zone 6. Heart rate is a poor guide during the efforts, because it lags.
The only accurate way to measure VO2 max is in a lab, where your oxygen use is measured directly. Sports watches give an indication, and it is not very accurate.
A lab test is the best way to find your VO2 max and your lactate threshold points, and to see what you are capable of right now. We used to say lab testing was helpful and not necessary. We now think it is one of the best things you can do if you want accurate data about yourself, and we send the athletes who want it to a lab.
Our guests added two cautions.
Your score is not your potential. Jordan and Gerard have recorded the same VO2 max in several tests, and Gerard still beats Jordan on the bike.
These are numbers our guests have given on the podcast. They are not a chart.
| Who | VO2 max | Who said it |
|---|---|---|
| General population | About 40 to 45 | Nick Jankovskis, Ep 119 |
| Typical amateur athlete tested in his lab | 50 to 55 | Nick Jankovskis, Ep 119 |
| Most age group triathletes | 50 to 55, which is normal | Dr Stephen Seiler, Ep 156 |
| High values | 65 to 70 | Dr Stephen Seiler, Ep 156 |
| Extremely rare | About 90 | Dr Stephen Seiler, Ep 156 |
How far can you move? Opinions on the podcast differ. Dr Seiler said an athlete at 50 who already trains might reach 52 or 53 after an interval block, and will not reach 65. Nick Jankovskis said an amateur at 50 to 55 could reach 65. Our view is that an untrained person at 40 to 50 could reach 60 or 70 with proper training, depending on genetics.
On age, Joe Friel described on Ep 157 a 20 year study of runners. Those who kept racing and doing high intensity work had very little change in VO2 max. Those who did only long slow distance lost about six percent, and those who stopped lost about 12 percent.
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